Doesn’t pricking cause some of the contents to leak out into the water? I’ve had eggs leak that had unnoticed hairline cracks.
Nah, you just penetrate the shell. If the white starts leaking you’ve gone too far.
What else is there to penetrate except the shell? And how do you penetrate the shell without cracking the egg? Is there some special tool?
How does it relieve any excess air pressure within the egg then?
At the flat side of the egg, there’s a little “air chamber” beneath the rounded shell and the inner egg. You prick it, in Germany usually with the famous Eierpicker, or else you use a single prong of a fork. Takes only a fraction of a second.
Ah, I didn’t know that. Thank you.
I’m beginning to rethink that travel ban…
Uh oh. Let’s not go there–it’ll only encourage the ones who think making soft boiled eggs is a crazy, elaborate ritual:egg pickers/pierces, egg cups, egg spoons, serrated knives, etc. Seriosuly, none of any of that is needed. Just a pot to boil your egg in, and a regular teaspoon to eat it up (and even that can be done without.)
Basically, you penetrate the shell without penetrating the membrane. It’s very simple and takes under a second. You can use a needle, the point of a knife, a fork… An angle grinder, a good bosch drill, a throwing spear…
I use a cyclotron.
Believe me, I’ve never ever thought of making a soft-boiled egg as a ritual, and I prick the egg, I put my egg in boiling water heated with the dreaded electric kettle, put it in an egg cup, crack the top with, no, not with a serrated knife (cause that would be silly ;)), but with a regular butter knife, and scoop it with an egg spoon. But all those activities combined take about ten minutes, and I’m a regular slob, really. I’m the typical half-cultivated middle aged bachelor and usually don’t care too much for exaggerated kitchen etiquette, but that’s just the way it’s done here.
I do have to say, all this talk about soft-boiled eggs, I just had to boil two up a few minutes ago. About 10 minutes from start to finish, (three minutes to get the water boiling, 6 minutes to steam the egg) including making two slices of rye toast with butter and anchovies on it. Oh, this was all so good. No egg cups, but I did use a shot glass to place them in.
[my bolding]
Hey, you’re learning ;). Next time try you prick the egg before? :D.
Too late to edit:
The last two breakfasts, I also had soft-boiled eggs, which are normally only a weekend treat for me. And I have a dear friend of whom I know that she ate a soft-boiled egg this week inspired by this thread also :-).
I’ve always used a shot glass, as stated before. I see no need to prick. Eggs turned out great, as always. Easy to peel.
Membrane? I guess I’m showing my ignorance here. I didn’t know there was a membrane. Just shell, white, and yolk. I just learned something.
Penetrating the shell without breaking the membrane sounds kind of hit or miss, especially with a fork tine.
Also, none of my eggs have a flat side. They’re round everywhere. I’ll just go with “in the middle of not-the-end”.
I’ve never pricked a hole in the eggshell before cooking. I can’t imagine why I would. I’ve never had a bad soft boiled egg.
What?!? You never noticed that an egg has one pointier and one flatter end? This thread is very amusing, but this borders bizarro land 
.
I’ve had quite a few with an unnoticed flaw in the shell, leading to a thin stream of ectoplasmic white goo being emitted. I’m now wondering if this was due to excessive internal pressure. Hmmm.