High School Energy Efficient Boiling of Eggs

[Hornbein]

Put the eggs in the water, heat it to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat. Wait. The eggs will be hard boiled. It has the extra advantage that you don't have to watch a timer. And you will never forget to turn off the stove and boil them dry.

I expect that it isn't even necessary for the water to go all the way to boiling but I haven't tried that yet. I don't refrigerate the eggs, that should make a difference.

 

[kuruman]

Added advice
If you try this at home, do NOT watch the pot; a watched pot never boils.

 

[DaveC426913]

Put the eggs in the water, heat it to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat. Wait. The eggs will be hard boiled. It has the extra advantage that you don't have to watch a timer. And you will never forget to turn off the stove and boil them dry.

Well sure, lots of things would be energy efficient if we didn't have to balance them with other priorities, like time.

I notice your step 4 is "wait". Since you disallow use of a timing device, you have to guess. How long? A day? A week? A year?

What if I am a Turing machine? I'll encounter the heat death of the universe first.

 

[Klystron]

Put the eggs in the water, heat it to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat. ...

While not primarily energy saving, I suggest two additional steps:

1) Begin with eggs and water in the pot at room temperature. Salt the water in order to raise boiling point, also adjusting for altitude above sea level. Higher elevation means lower air pressure lowering boiling point. With shells intact, this will not add excess sodium to your meals.

To avoid food poisoning particularly salmonella, maintain internal food temperature above 185 F. for ~10 minutes. Test your method by inserting a food temperature probe into one egg just to be safe before this next step.

2) After cooking, allow the pot containing water and eggs to cool in your sink. Run cold tap water into the pot until the eggs are cool to the touch. This temperature change slightly separates the shell from the albumin making peeling a snap.

Peel the hard boiled eggs by gently rolling on a hard clean surface with the palm of your hand. Remove the peel and plop the egg in fresh water. Store hard boiled eggs covered with water in refrigerator. I have used this method using cold water to contract the edible egg from the warm shell in restaurants to produce hundreds of perfect hardboiled eggs. Bon appétit!

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edit 03042025: Removed (strikethrough) paragraph on food safety as possibly outdated. For instance temperature readings use different methods than when I owned or worked in a restaurant.

Clarified that "this method" refers to rapid cooling after cooking to improve peeling and reduce food waste.

 

[russ_watters]

In addition to how long, how much water per egg? This will affect the temperature profile and the energy savings, if any.

 

[Baluncore]

Energy Efficient Boiling of Eggs
Put the eggs in the water, heat it to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat. Wait.

... I have used this method in restaurants to produce hundreds of perfect hardboiled eggs. Bon appétit!

Perfection is the enemy of energy efficiency.

Boiled eggs are multidimensional ( Energy efficiency; Time efficiency; Maximise quality; Maximise food safety; Minimise water )

Close pack the eggs in multiple layers to minimise added inter-egg water.
Wrap the container in a thermal blanket to reduce heat loss while approaching the boil. Heat in a microwave oven to avoid convective losses from a gas flame, or conductive losses from a resistive element.

 

[Swamp Thing]

 

[Hornbein]

16 minutes!?! No way.

Microwaving eggs in the shell leads to explosion. I've tried microwaving the interior but found the result unappealing. It was 15 years ago so I don't recall why.

 

[hutchphd]

To avoid food poisoning particularly salmonella, maintain internal food temperature above 185 F. for ~10 minutes. Test your method by inserting a food temperature probe into one egg just to be safe before this next step.

Please provide a reference for this. Most sources I have seen are less draconian. Certainly overcooking your salmonella laden egg (<1:10,000 in US are infected) will take care of the problem but with the lowly chicken egg becoming a luxury food, it seems unfortunate to treat them badly.
I believe that most infections come from soft boiled eggs and denaturing both whites and yolks should be sufficient.
Incidentally I can attest that microwaving eggs in the shell can produce RRBSs (Rapid Redecoration of Breakfast Spaces) At least wear goggles should you be tempted to experiment

 

[Tom.G]

The main (only) cook in this household states that microwaving an egg works fine if you first poke a needle hole in the shell into the air bubble.

According to https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/air-cell-up-when-setting-eggs, the airbubble is at the big, blunt end of the egg.

"The air cell is situated at the blunt end between the shell membrane and the egg membrane."