I went to an aunt's house once and she Made me a fried egg but didn't base it There's nothing I hate more than Undercooked white and she was really Mean and made me eat the whole thing and Then after that I didn't eat eggs for Like years it took me a while to recover We're getting she doesn't know who I'm Talking about like those kinds of FS Never think it's Them Hi I'm Sol El at the New York Times Cooking studio and this is the first Episode in a series of seven where I'm Going to teach you a bunch of culinary Basics so you can be better in the Kitchen welcome to my cooking school but It's free no Deb today we're going to talk about eggs And I'm going to show you all of the Ways to make the best perfect eggs we're Going to do fried we're going to do Sunny boiled scrambled fata every kind Of like basic egg technique you need to Like enjoy breakfast lunch and dinner so I went to the store and I got a few Different types of Eggs when you look at the egg section in Stores now there's a lot of options so First of all eggs come in varying sizes Anywhere down from Peewee to jumbo what You're going to see in most grocery Stores is medium large and extra large And then there's a lot of other labels
And the fact is most of them don't mean A whole lot but it's kind of good to Know where they're coming from so Natural that's a marketing term that Doesn't mean anything all eggs are Natural organic eggs that means that the Chickens have been fed in organic feed And are antibiotic and hormone free and Then there's a whole set of terms that Indicate to you a little bit about how Chickens are living so a very Conventional affordable egg those Chickens are often in battery cages they Are given a lot of antibiotics so to Level it up we got cagefree that means That the chickens are not living in Tight cages but it also doesn't mean That they're they have access to Outdoors or that they have a lot of room To move it just means they're not in Cages free range means that the chickens Have continuous access to the outdoors But how much space they have and how Often they're actually Outdoors isn't Clear it's not a fully regulated term Pasture raised means that they spend the Majority of their life outside but once Again it's not a fully regulated term When you see a carton that's labeled Either certified Humane or Animal Welfare approved that's when you know That a third party has been in there to Really check and see that the chicken's Standard of living is high so that's
When you can make sure that they're Truly pasture raised they're actually Outside that they're actually eating Grubs but another thing to keep in mind Is certified Humane pasturised organic Egg is very expensive so do the best you Can just go forth with this knowledge When you go shop for your eggs so what's The difference between a white egg and a Brown egg or even this beautiful blue Egg it's really just the genetics of the Chicken it doesn't affect the flavor It's no reflection of what they were fed Or how they lived and like we're at a Store right now where all the eggs are Brown cuz it's just the egg that people Are into right now it's just the hot new Egg but honestly it doesn't matter if Your eggs are white brown or Blue in the US we store our eggs in the Fridge and in most of the world you Store it at room temperature which I Know like it's like a controversial Thing it really throws a lot of people Off but the reason why we store our eggs Here in the fridge is because because They're washed eggs naturally have a Membrane on the outside that protects it Eggshells themselves are actually Porous wo I know wild it looks solid but It's actually porous because it's porous Bacteria can penetrate into it once the Egg it cuticle is washed off so if you Get your egg somewhere else in the world
It's likely that the cuticle has not Been washed off and you can store it at Room temperature all of our eggs here Are washed so it's best to store it in The fridge however eggs that are stored In the fridge do last longer so even if You get a unwashed egg it might be a Good idea to store it in the fridge just To increase the shelf life between the Shell and the Egg there's another Membrane knowing that you have that Membrane can be helpful when you're Boiling eggs because if you pop it into Boiling water and then into ice water it Relaxes and contracts and makes it a Little bit easier to peel the egg so It's just good to know that it's there It doesn't affect anything you're not Going to eat it it comes right off when You peel the egg and then you've got the Yolk which has a lot of fat and vitamins And then you've got the white the main Thing to know about the white is the White is not one consistent Mass it has Alternating layers of thick and thin White that's just to like give it more Cushion you know when things are Jostling around to protect that like Baby chick and also protect that yolk And keep it nice and centered that's why When you go to beat an egg it actually Takes like a minute to thoroughly mix up The whites especially the fresher your Egg is the higher ratio of thick white
You have the majority of the vitamins And nutrients in an egg are actually in The yolk while the white is like this Protective cushioning for the chick so It's kind of like I have a baby chick Right now and it's surrounded in Amniotic fluids so the White's almost Like that amniotic fluid kind of like Protects it buffers it but it also gives It protein and water while it grows it's A very like beautiful thing when you Think about it how it's designed to have Like everything necessary for life so What a great way to start your day with A couple of Eggs we're going to start with a simple Fluffy scrambled egg it's going to be a Little bit higher heat and you stir it a Bit less the next scramble which is Going to be very creamy we're going to Go for a low heat constant whisking and You get like a custardy texture then It's really interesting how just by Changing the temperature a bit you can Get a totally different texture because Eggs are incredible I always like to Crack my eggs on a flat surface like the Counter I find that when I crack it up Against the rim of the bowl it's very Likely to like lose a bit of shell into The eggs themselves now I like to Salt My eggs in advance old French chefs love To say not to Salt your eggs in advance Cuz they think it'll dry it out but
Really what's happening is it looks like It's becoming watery because it breaks Up the egg white a little bit changes The way light reflects it but but Chemically at its core it will make your Eggs more tender you can actually salt Your eggs up to 15 minutes in advance For a creamier scramble I'm using Diamond crystal kosher which is fluffier Salt so it might look like I'm using a Lot but it's actually like a less salty Salt and I go for like an even sprinkle Across each egg whisking your eggs Actually takes a little bit longer than You think you need to take your time Break it up you can see I just scrambled It for a moment now and there's lumps of White floating around that's going to Lead to like kind of a dry scramble in Places okay so it took a minute it's Really nicely whisked up if you want These to be like extra fluffy you can Add a teaspoon of milk per egg but I'm Going to go just butter Today for these eggs we want them to be Fluffy so we're going to cook it at like Medium heat I'm using a non-stick Skillet here it just makes a little bit More fullprof I know my Pan's hot cuz my Butter is nice and foamy and I'm going To add my eggs you don't scooch them Around too much we're just going to do Like a gentle fold the edges set faster Than the middle and you just kind of
Fold them in it happens pretty fast and It will continue cooking from the Residual heat SE you take it off while It's still just a little bit wet finish With a little Pepper now we're going to do a creamy Really Luxe restaurant style scramble We're going to go over low heat whisking Constantly and it's going to give us Like a custardy texture so the fluffy Scramble is like your everyday scramble And this is going to be more like Sunday Breakfast it takes a little bit more Time a little bit more care so we're Going to start the same way seasoning up Our eggs and we're going to whisk it Thoroughly now we're going to use a Sauser this is my favorite pot I brought This from home what's great about it is It has slope sides you don't have to use This pot you can use a regular saucepan But you don't want to use nonstick Because we're going to be whisking in Here constantly and a non-stick can't Handle the Whisk on metal action cuz There's no corners you can really get in There with the Whisk if you have a Regular saucepan no problem just make Sure you like really pay attention and Get into the corners two eggs is not a Lot so you can just lose all of your egg Into the corner and have like nothing Left to eat so we're going to go low Heat here starting the same way with a
Little bit of butter and we're going to Wait until it gets nice and foamy eggs Going in and now we're going to whisk The whole time so this does take a Little bit longer but it's Sunday you Have time the main thing at this point Is you want to keep it moving and you're Going to keep whisking until you see Some teeny curds it's kind of suspended In some like creamy situation and I know Like some people when they see these Eggs they think they're undercooked I Promise you they are fully cooked the Texture is just different because of the Constant Motion so you can see the eggs are Getting thicker a little bit Foamy the Whisking is also like adding a little Bit air to it which adds to that creamy Vibe as you get Closer you have to stir a bit more Vigorously cuz it's going to want to Stick to the sides I'm pulling it off The heat so it doesn't over over cook You add a little butter at the end for Richness and also it just kind of salts The cooking and then you got to get it Out of your pan pretty fast cuz it is Such a teeny amount of eggs so you lose That creamy fast it's one of those Things where it's like it's taking a Really long time and then boom it like Happens really fast I'm going to finish This with a little pepper and that's our
Teeny creamy curds you can like level it Up finish it with a little crmp fresh wo So here we' got our two kinds of Scramble same ingredients different Technique here we've got a forkable Quick scramble the weekday scramble and Then right here this is like a spoonable Scramble right creamy custardy you don't Even have to Chew this is actually my favorite egg The crispy edged oil basted egg I don't Think there's anything better than this For a crispy egg you need to go hot and Fast that's the key to getting the Crispy edges while keeping that like Molten yolk because we need to go so hot I don't like to use a nonstick for this Nonstick really aren't meant to get that Hot my favorite is to use a cast iron Anytime you use a cast iron give it a Minute to heat up on medium heat cast Irons retain heat well but they actually Don't heat very evenly so they take a Little bit of time to get going but once They get there they're like ready to Roll you know it's there when you see Like just like wisps of smoke coming off The edge and then once that happens we Need to move pretty quickly we're going To base this egg so we need a big spoon To help us based this is my favorite Spoon it's my favorite tool it's got a Really big head and a really squat Handle so it's really good for like
Basting we're basically going to Tilt The Skillet and then scoop up some of The fat that pulls at the edge and pour It over the egg and that helps the top Cook at the same rate as the bottom Going to crack my eggs into a separate Container cuz cracking directly into the Pan you can get some oil splatter and You're more likely to get shells in There we have our wisps of smoke we know Our pant is hot now we're going to move Quickly I have a towel because your cast Iron's hot a couple tablespoons of oil And then our eggs are going in drop it Close to the surface of the pan so that You don't break your yolks a light Sprinkling of salt increase the heat to Medium High and we're just going to let it Chill for a minute let the whites kind Of settle and then we're going to begin Our base so we're going to Tilt and scoop and Base for the fat you want to use some Something with a higher smoke point so Definitely don't use whole butter here Whole butter is going to burn as soon as It hits the Pan okay so it doesn't take a whole lot Of basting you can see that the white on Top has set and cooked through and we're Getting some nice Browning and frizzling Around the Edges and it's useful to have a slotted
Fish spatula like this cuz you can drain The oil as you scoop it off if you don't Have one like this just give a little Tap on a paper towel before you land on The plate just make sure your eggs like Loosen from the skillet so that you Don't break those yolks so give it a Little tilt to drain off that Fat and we go to our Plate oh crispy crackly a little bit of Pepper and we have the best egg my Favorite egg this is your dinner egg we Got our nice crispy crackly edges really Nice jiggly molten yolk you can see it's Still really nice and molten but there's None of that snotty runny white on top Because we gave a little base it's a Good way to like get used to this higher Heat cooking that's what's great with Eggs you can really get to know your pan And your burner and your equipment and What the smoke point of oil is and what A hot pan looks like and even if you Mess up you're still going to have Breakfast all right we're going to do Sunny Side egg we want no color on our Eggs but we want the whites totally set Yolk nice and running that's the goal Here same deal I'm going to crack into a Separate container just to make sure I Get no shells and my yolks are nice and Not broken you don't have to do it this Way if you feel confident just go into The pan now we're back to the nonstick
Here little bit of butter and we're Going to let this melt until it gets Like nice and foamy we're going to go For like a medium low cuz we want this To be nice and gentle and once again We're going to drop pretty close to the Pan so we don't break our yolks and Lightly season and you can totally just Like let your eggs gently cook as it is But I'd like to cover it just to get it Going a little bit faster it's probably Just going to take 1 to 2 minutes keep An eye on it it really depends on how Cold your eggs were to begin with and How fresh they were so a fresher egg With like a plumper white takes a little Bit longer to cook through so you can See it's already happening wow just Going to keep it going we're going until That white is totally opaque and set but The yolk is still sunny Huh we're getting closer you can see the Trans formation every time you lift up The lid so if you take a look this one Egg is pretty much there but there's Still a little bit of white here that's Not cooked so I'm putting that directly Over the heat just to give it a little Bit more this is a really good method For when you're cooking a lot of eggs Cuz there's no flipping required we just Put a lid on it scooch it around okay we Did it we have our Sunny Side Egg so you can see our yolk is still
Really nice and sunny but the whites are Totally set it's really gentle you don't Want to break your yolk so I prefer just Sliding it out a little bit of pepper Because we had a higher ratio of that Thin white that got a little overcooked You can tell because it's a little Bubbly but the thicker white is like Perfect we're going to eat it All so now we're going to do the over Easy egg so the only difference between Sunny set up and over easy is OV easy You have like a white film over the yolk And you get that by just cooking it for A little bit longer cover Or in a restaurant typically you give it A quick flip I'm going to show you how To do with the lid because you're in no Rush so this method takes a little bit Longer but you are less likely to break Your eggs and it's much easier when You're doing a big Skillet with like Eight eggs so I got my butter going let That get nice and foamy so similarly I'm Melting it on like medium high heat and Then I'm going to drop it down to medium Low when I pop in my eggs now you can Just cover this and let it roll or I'm Going to add just like a splash of water This helps it cook a little bit faster And I'm not adding much maybe like a Teaspoon there's already a good bit of Steam that's produced from the egg wet Itself this just a little extra over
Easy is great because you get all of the Textures of a Sunnyside egg like the Really tender white the runny yolk but There you are guaranteed to not have any Undercooked white oh look at that and We're over easy so this is our ere easy Egg same thing we're going to just Gently slide it out so you can see There's a little bit of bubble that Happens from the water but it did cook Quite quickly and you just want to make Sure you don't end up with that water on Your plate there we go and a little Pep so you can see the white is totally Cooked we have the really nice set film On top but if you give it a poke it's Like Wiggly it's jiggly it's like Pudding in there that's exactly what you Want so here's our easy over easy Egg over hard so this is probably the Easiest egg because we're just trying to Cook everything same deal starting the Same way the goal here is a fully cooked Yolk and fully set whites this is the Best egg I think for a breakfast Sandwich I mean I love a runny yolk but It gets messy in a sandwich I'm going For a medium high heat just for melting The butter we are trying to cook through The White and the yolk but this isn't an Egg where you get much Browning so we Have our bubbly butter turn the heat Down add our eggs little bit of salt if You want this to happen like really fast
You can pop the Y and like kind of Marble it in there kind of like a McDonald's breakfast sandwich or you can Just wait until the whites are like Mostly set and then we're going to give It a little flip we are like slightly Less cooked than for a sunny now's a Good time to flip cuz our whites are all In one and we flip and it doesn't matter If your eggs break because they're going To be cooked all the way since we're Going for over hard we're going to cook This until the yolks feel totally set so They're not going to be pudding Vibes It's going to be more Firm a little bit of pepper and we've Got our over hard eggs whether it's over Easy or over medium or over hard is just Like just poke the yolk and feel how Squishy it is when it's over easy it Should be like liquid when it's over Medium it's more like pastry cream and Now that it's over hard it's firm and It's set now we're going to boil some Eggs pretty easy there's just a few Things to keep in mind to make sure that You have a consistent cook on your eggs And that they peel evenly we're going to Start start with eggs straight out of The fridge all of these cook times work Best with cold eggs and eggs that are Large size so if you have an extra large Egg or medium egg or room temperature Egg you may need to adjust the cook
Times to make it work for your egg the Key to getting the shell to peel off Cleanly is like these drastic changes in Temperature so we're going to have cold Eggs going into boiling water and then Going into an ice bath you really want To think about how many eggs you're Boiling to determine the size of the pot Of water you need to make sure you have Have enough water that when you add the Cold eggs to the pot that the Temperature doesn't drop too much and Then the second thing is you need to Have a big enough ice bath for the Number of eggs you're going to be Cooking with an ice bath it's really Important to make sure you have enough Ice so that when you add the hot eggs to It it doesn't immediately melt and Become tepid anytime you're making an Ice bath this is a good rule fill up Your bowl with ice and then add your Water like I see some people it's like They're making a beverage it's like Mostly water in a few cubes that's not Going to do anything you need a lot of Ice go to the bodega get a bag of ice It'll be worth it it's helpful to have Something like this to help drop all Your eggs in at once be really careful When you drop in your eggs so they don't Just break at the bottom of the pan and I want to show you the eggs at a few Different temps so we're going to pull
Them out every couple of minutes so you Can see the difference between like a Really soft 3 minute egg and we're going To go all the way up to like 15 this is Like a really simple technique but you Want to keep an eye on it because you Don't want it to be boiling so Vigorously that the eggs start smacking Around and you end up losing a bunch of Egg white but but you also don't want it To be still so we're just going to keep An eye on it and I have my slotted spoon Ready for evacuating so this is going to Be our 3 minute egg going to plunge this Into the water to Halt the cooking you Want to let it stay in here for about a Minute next egg is going to be our 5 Minute egg one of my Faves let that cool now we're going to Grab our 7 Minute egg so this one I am Going to peel so as soon as I get it Under that cold water I'm going to crack It gently with the the back of my spoon To help drive that water between the Shell and the Egg that's all it needs to Get going 9 minutes is like the best egg Salad sandwich egg cuz it's a little bit Jammy at the core but you get that like Fudgy fully set outer layer Whack so I just give it a quick dunk Just so it was cool enough to handle and Then I whack and pop it back in now We're going to grab our 11 minute egg This I think is the perfect deviled egg
Egg the yolk is going to be fully cooked So it's like ready to mash up with mayo And Stuff whoops it was a little hot and Then the last one we're just going to Let it go we're going to let it go for Too long and we're going to show you What happens when you overcook an egg to Peel our eggs we're going to start at The blunt end and this is our 15-minute Egg and because it cooked for too long This one smells really eggy when you Cook egg whites for too long they really Develop this like farty smell it just Smells like butt now you can see that Membrane the shell is clinging to it but The um actual egg is not so you can Really easily peel it right off Okay so We've got our boiled eggs and we're Going to crack into them so we can see How the different cooking times affects The inside so the 3 and 5 minute these Are going to be really soft these are Eat out of the shell eggs 3 minute egg We have a molten yolk and like barely Set white almost like undercooked white This is just ready for like dipping the 5-minute egg we have a a bit more set White still have a tottally molten yolk But the White's a little bit more cooked It's less runny and then 7 minute I Think this is one of the best eggs there Is nice and Jammy totally set white but We still have a nice molten yolk for the
9 minute it's like nice and fudgy the Yolk hasn't gotten into that chalky Place but everything is totally cooked 11 minutes we have a little bit of Chalkiness around the edges nice fudgy Core and then 15 minute for me this is An overcooked egg but it still isn't so Bad that the white has become green this Is also a really good egg for deved egg If you prefer a more cooked yolk and We're not getting to that very Overcooked stage it's a perfectly Acceptable egg but it is starting to get A little Eggy so we're going to poach some eggs Now it's not as hard as I think a lot of People think it's just about temperature Management so I don't use vinegar or Anything in my water there are some People who say that it helps the Exterior coagulate faster I haven't Found there to be a significant Difference with when I use vinegar and When I don't but more importantly when I Use vinegar I can taste it and I don't Like the taste of it so I prefer to go Just water we want to see gentle bubbl If it's too vigorous it's going to like Jostle everything around and all of the Egg Whit's going to fall off of the yolk With poaching it's actually very Important to strain off the thin white If you don't strain off the thin white Sometimes you can end up with a pocket
Of water inside of your poach EG which Is really kind of gross and see all of That that would have just made like a Wispy mess in the water I'm going to Just like roll this out of here and it's Going to kind of wrap the white around The yolk and we're going to give a quick Spin and that centers the Yolk you don't want it to sit on the Bottom cuz then it's going to cook Unevenly so you just keep it spinning And it takes about 3 minutes yes oh Welcome so the surface okay so let's Give her a little poke that feels Wiggly But right here where the the white is Feels a little bit too runny we want to Make sure our whites are set so this Needs Like 15 more seconds it's really close Bronny whites are always gross there's Like never a time where I'm like oh I'm Really craving a bronny white now let's Give her another poke so I think the First one's good poke here really nice Soft molten center around here feels Nice and set and firm I'm just going to Plop this right here to drain off Slightly this one feels done too so here We've got our poached eggs no special Tricks just water temperature management And Eggs if you're poaching for a lot of People you can plop these right into ice Water and then when you are about to
Serve your food just warm it through in A gentle bath you can hold it in the ice Water for like 2 hours so it's if you're Going to do a big brunch with like eggs Benedict always cook your eggs in Advance just make your life easier all Right so I showed you a bunch of things That eggs can do on their own amazing But we have more eggs are so good with So many different ingredients I'm going To show you how to make a frittata with Whatever you've got fridge clean out Frittata it's a great way to take your Leftovers and like give it a new life This is also a good way to oh look I Have some shell it's a teaching moment The best way to take it out is by using The Shell the shell really wants to Stick to the Shell so use the shell to Scoop out the shell a lot of fata Recipes give you a measured amount of Salt because you don't want to UND Season your eggs you've cooked a lot of Eggs now right cuz you made all of the So you know what amount of salt you want On an egg so just like translate that to E one egg this is actually how I do it So if I'm making like something with Like 30 eggs I actually sit there and I'm like counting how many eggs is that So I'm going to whip these up and we're Going to let it sit while we get the Rest of our ingredients ready and that's Going to give the salt time to do its
Thing and make sure these eggs are Really nice and custardy at this point You could add a little bit of cream you Can like level it up I'm giving you like The basics but but you take it as far as Your fridge will let you go so you want To add a little cream in here go for it A little bit of sour cream so for the Fat you can use oil or butter because We're cooking at like a lower moderate Temperature you don't have to worry About the butter burning but I decided To get a little crazy and I'm going to Use Bacon Fat start the building a Flavor early on for your mixins you can Get really creative use frozen Vegetables use cooked stuff but the main Thing to think about is how long does Something need to cook and that's going To determine what order you added to the Pan I've got like pretty much all quick Cooking stuff and then we're going to Warm through a little bit of cooked Faro Um some crumbled bacon and some chives Now I'm going to add my Tomatoes now with every ingredient You're adding you want to think about we Or not it needs some salt you want to Layer on that seasoning so cherry Tomatoes a little bit of salt not going To go crazy though because the Bacon Fat Already has some salt now I'm going to Add some cooked Faro grains are like Really fun in a fata they add a really
Nice chewy texture we've got some cooked Bacon and I'm going to add pepper at This Point if you're worried that you're Going to end up with a bland frittata Once everything's warmed through just Give it a taste if this tastes good You're going in a good direction so Everything's really hot and sizzly you Can hear the the sound in the pan has Changed from like kind of a wet sound to More of like a sharp sizzling and that's How you know the moisture's cooked out Everything's warmed through and now it's A good time to Add our eggs so we're going to drop this Temp down to like medium low and I'm Going to add my chives and my eggs so We're going to start by stirring it to Make sure everything's like evenly Distributed and then we're going to kind Of do this folding motion because the Edges are going to cook faster than the Center so here we're doing the majority Of the cooking on the stove top and I'm Just going to finish it in the broiler To set the top and set the cheese this Method is just like a little bit faster Than if you were to pop it all in the Oven but you could also just pop it in The oven Okay so we got this like loose Scramble here so I'm going to just stop Moving it around just to speed this up a Touch I'm going to cover it I can never
Find my Lids so most of the time I use a Sheet tray okay so uncover and you can See it's still a little bit wet on top But edges and bottom are really nice and Set so now we're going to top it with Cheese and throw it in the broiler the Cheese is key and you can use as much or As little cheese as you want this is 4 Oz now we're going to pop this in the Broiler keep a really close eye on it It's going to go fast like 1 to 2 Minutes we want to see some bubbly Cheese and then we're good to Go wow the cheese on the edges got Really nice and crispy kind of like a Detroit style Pizza so thanks for learning about eggs With me I hope you go forth and crack Some eggs with your new egg knowledge I Think you all did excellent today we had A cracking good time and you're going to Egg sell with Eggs uh there's more of these coming so Stay tuned and if you want any of these Recipes you can find them on nyt Cooking.com or in the description Below
Have you ever wondered why most of the Vinaigrettes in the grocery store are made with 10, 20, sometimes even almost 30 ingredients? I remember growing up in Provence watching my mother whipping vinaigrettes before every single dinner. She would mix in a giant bowl, delicious extra virgin olive oil, a robust aged vinegar (the flavor would depend on the main dish), sea salt and pepper and voila! I decided to do the same thing for my family and friends more than 20 years ago here in this beautiful country. And Provence Kitchen® was born. Stay tune for more articles and wonderful family recipes..
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