I recently read an interesting NYT essay called In Defense of Never Learning How to Cook. It mentions a Dash egg cooker which the author uses. I love hard boiled eggs but don’t make them very often, and I’m thinking of buying a Dash. I don’t usually like single-use products, but it’s pretty cheap and small.
Has anyone had experience with these? Thanks.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
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I bought a similar product in the UK , based on suggestions here that it might be the answer to my inability to poach an egg. I used it a few times and then threw it away. The problem was the inconsistency of time it took, however careful I was about measuring the water. I could never be sure when the pinger would ping, so struggled to make sure other breakfast items were ready. And was never sure if the egg would be right, under or over cooked. I’m back to scrambling eggs form Sunday breakfast.
As for hard boiled eggs, I am a big fan. Both to nibble on as a snack or to chop for an egg mayo sandwich. I follow Delia Smith’s instructions which never fail. Put eggs in a pan and cover with 1cm water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 6 minutes if you like them still just a bit squidgy (her words) and 7 for fully firm. Cool under running water for 1 minute, then leave in cold water for another couple of minutes (by which time they should be cold enough to handle for peeling.
Thanks. That’s pretty much how I make my hard boiled eggs. I don’t do poached because I’m not a big fan.
Maybe I’m just in the mood to buy a gadget! Sigh…
Guilty of having far too many appliances. I do have the dash, in red to match the mixer and vitamix. I use it exclusively for hard boiled and it’s always worked well for me with little thought.
So I went ahead and bought the egg cooker, in pale blue. I have to say I love it. It’s not that making hard boiled eggs is so difficult, just kind of fiddly. This makes it a simpler process, and, most importantly, makes the eggs way easier to peel. I hate peeling eggs, so this is a big thing. At this point in my life, it’s the small things that seem to count a lot.
Do you have a theory about why they are easier to peei? Every time I start to feel confident that I have found the secret (most recently Kenji’s/ Serious Eats steamed) , I have a failure.
Someone online said they thought there was a thin layer of water/steam between the egg and the shell. You do have to poke a tiny hole in the egg before you cook it (tool provided). I also put the finished eggs in cold water as instructed, but that’s what I do normally. Whatever the reason, it worked for me!
Interesting. I started steaming eggs. I used to have one b***h of a time peeling eggs, but poking a little hole in the big end steaming them, and since have only had one that didn’t peel perfectly after I forgot to pierce the end. I’ve probably cooked 3-4 dozen since then. The only odd thing is that sometimes I get a bit of green ring on some and not others in the same batch.
I have a Dash waffle maker and a rice cooker. They both work very well, except when I try to cook steel cut oats in the rice cooker. Otherwise it does a good job with steel cut oats, too, and cleans up easily. Thank goodness. I’d probably get one if I didn’t have way too many devices already. To me, Dash makes good little cheap devices.
I loved that article in Deb’s newsletter and read all the NYT comments … took a while.
That egg cooker is going to sell out! Most found them to be worth having.
I never took typing in high school because I was never going to be a secretary. Unfortunately, I had to get a job after first two years of college, had to teach myself at home with a book and a manual typewriter. So, was able to get a job and finish college by going to night school.
Re: Having to make dinner every day: I once met a man who said he and his wife worked, dinner: he’d cook 2 nights, she’d cook 2 nights and the other 3 nights would be eating out or take out.
