Slow Cooked Hens Eggs with Crispy Bread Sticks
The perfect breakfast to savour on a bright Sunday morning with the morning paper and a cup of freshly brewed coffee. What better way is there to start the day?
Have you ever dared to cook your hen’s eggs for 45 minutes? Perhaps not and I could guess that these words might have just frightened the life out of you….
A few years ago we watched the Great British Menu and Michelin star chef Sat Bains cooked duck’s eggs in the water bath for 55 minutes. So I tried it, but this time I used hen’s eggs.
I cooked the eggs for 45 minutes at 63°C and then gently cracked the shell. The egg was perfectly cooked but it had the appearance of a poached egg.
The benefit of cooking eggs this way is the intensity of flavour that is provided. The egg white sets like a jelly without being rubbery and the yolks are perfectly liquid but cooked.
The secret is that your eggs must be super fresh. Linda and Roy’s neighbour has a collection of different species of chickens and every now and then I get a box with these beauties. They all have different colour shells and they are all various sizes but perfect for my breakfast!
I like to enjoy these eggs with a drizzle of olive oil and freshly baked crusty bread sticks. Perfect!
- 8 fresh free range eggs
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Course sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Freshly baked crusty bread sticks
Preheat the water bath to 63°C.
Remove the eggs from the fridge at least 30 minuets before cooking.
Wash the eggs and place them gently into the preheated water bath.
Cook the eggs for 45 minutes.
Remove the eggs from the water bath, gently crack the shell and place the egg in a tea cup or bowl, generously season with freshly cracked black pepper and course sea salt and drizzle the oil.
Serve with the crispy bread sticks.
Serves 4
Food Fanatics Tip
These eggs could be served as part of a starter let your imagination run wild!
If you wish to cook duck eggs increase the cooking time with 10 minutes.
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hI i had slow-cooked free-range hens egg at the manoir, it was that nice i would like to re-create it but have seen it has to been done in a water-bath is there a cheap version of a water bath???
hi, I’m right in the middle of trying this after having the most fantastic slow cooked duck egg at Launceston Place restaurant last Friday. I’m just using a pan with a jam thermometer…I’ll put a blog post up once it’s done and you can see how it went – or didn’t :s
Really love the site btw, lots of inspiring articles.
Hi Madalene
I tried this out using a rational and it works great! perfect for doing large amounts
Stewart
Will this work using a Rational Combi oven on steam?
Hi Stewart,
I have never tried cooking the eggs in a rational, I think it will definitely be worth giving it a go. Please let me know your findings.
Regards
Madalene
hi could you use a thermomix on 60c at the same timing
dav bowskill
David,
Yes you can cook the egg in the TM using the internal steaming basket. On the TM UK website there is a recipe done by Sat Bians.
https://www.ukthermomix.com/recshow.php?rec_id=59
Happy Cooking,
Madalene
Wow ! I used the Grant SV100 to cook this. The eggs are fantastic. Best eggs I have ever tasted, drizzle with warm Virgin Olive Oil, Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper. Served with Toast Soldiers. Mmm
Fantastic, thanks for this. I’ll get a thermometer and try this.
My hens have stopped laying for winter and moulting. I have two left and would love to try this. How can you do this at home without the professional equipment?
Maddy’s Reply to Domestic Executive’s question…
Julie, A rice cooker is the next best thing to use, but if you don’t have one, heat a pan of water to around 62C/143F, ideally monitoring the temperature with a digital probe. Carefully add the eggs in their shells and leave at 62C/143F for about 45 minutes -1 hour – the whites will be just firm and the yolks runny. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and carefully crack the shell and turn the egg out.