Coddled Eggs Recipe | How To Coddle Eggs | What's Cooking America (2024)

FAQs

What is an English coddled egg? ›

A coddled egg is an egg that is gently cooked whole in a small dish that's placed in a hot water bath. When this culinary technique is done properly the yolk should be slightly runny while remaining unbroken. It's similar to a poached egg.

To coddle an egg without a coddler, start by bringing a pot of water to a simmer. Place the egg in a heatproof bowl and carefully pour the hot water over the egg until it's submerged. Cover the bowl with a lid and let the egg sit in the hot water for about 5-7 minutes, depending on how runny you want the yolk.

The usual method for coddling eggs is to place them into a pot of simmering water, where they steam until set. We add the filled ramekins to the pot and then pour boiling water around them.

Carefully place egg coddlers into boiling water. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 4 minutes. Turn off heat, cover pan, and let stand for 6 to 7 minutes. Remove coddlers from water, unscrew lids, and serve immediately.

Unlike French oeufs en cocotte or coddled eggs, shirred eggs are not baked immersed in a water bath. These days, “shirred eggs” is used to name any eggs baked this way, usually with a bit of butter and cream, and served in the baking dish.

To use, you would crack an egg into the coddler, screw the top on and then place it into a pot with water to cook. It's a very simple process to coddle eggs and the results are delicious, especially when serves with warm buttery toast.

While a poached egg is cooked directly in hot water, a coddled egg is cooked in a ramekin, small jar or egg coddler which is placed inside a water bath, where the gentle transfer of heat through the ramekin cooks the egg. It is meant to be eaten right out of the cooking vessel, not taken out and placed on a plate.

Coddle: Definition – 1) A cooking technique, in which the egg is cracked into a small buttered dish or ramekin, along with seasonings, and then partially immersed in a hot water bath (or bain-marie) for several minutes. 2) To partially cook an by immersing the whole egg, in its shell, in boiling water for a short time.

In cooking, to coddle food is to heat it in water kept just below the boiling point. In the past, recipes called for coddling fruit, but in recent times the term is usually only applied to coddled eggs.

Some Southerners swear by adding a little milk, cheese, or even sour cream to their scrambled eggs to give the dish a delicious finish, but there is one secret ingredient that is sure to result in the fluffiest scrambled eggs you've ever tasted or served. It's water. That's right.

What is the history of coddled eggs? ›

The truth is that coddled eggs have a somewhat cloudy history. According to Royal Worcester, a centuries-old British porcelain producer famed for its egg coddlers, there's no record of who exactly invented the technique. All we know is that by the late 1800s, coddled eggs were a popular dish found across Europe.

The inside of the egg coddler is first buttered to flavor the egg and allow it to be removed more easily. A raw egg (sometimes with additional flavorings) is broken into the coddler, which is then placed in a pan of near-boiling water for 7 to 8 minutes to achieve a solid white and runny yolk.

You might have heard that you should drop your eggs into room temperature or cold water and then bring the water to a boil. This is a myth. In our tests, bringing the water to a boil first and then lowering the eggs into the bath made for easy peeling and more accurate timing.

As soon as the water comes to a boil, remove the pan from heat and cover the pan. Leave the eggs in the covered pan for the right amount of time. For how long? See cooking times below.

While a poached egg is cooked directly in hot water, a coddled egg is cooked in a ramekin, small jar or egg coddler which is placed inside a water bath, where the gentle transfer of heat through the ramekin cooks the egg. It is meant to be eaten right out of the cooking vessel, not taken out and placed on a plate.

Soft-boiled eggs with toast soldiers are a classic English breakfast. Simply cut toast into strips and serve with dippy eggs for a fun, kid-friendly breakfast recipe.

Good egg is a friendly, old-fashioned way to talk about a good guy or a kind person. When you call your next door neighbor a good egg, it's clear that you're fond of her. The expression originally came from its opposite, bad egg, British public school slang from the 1800's for someone who was not nice.