Saving energy while boiling an egg

TOMP · 27-03-2014 01:44PM #1

Anybody got any thoughts on what is the most energy efficient way to boil an egg?

Electric or gas?
How much water?
What type of saucepan to use?
Any innovative ways?

Rew · 27-03-2014 01:48PM

Id imagine induction i the most energy efficent

Alun · 27-03-2014 01:59PM

One alternative way to boiling an egg the normal way, i.e. boil water first and then add egg, is to bring the water up to a boil with the egg in it, and turn off the heat and leave it.

So I'm wondering if you could do the same thing in an electric kettle? I say this because a lot of heat goes to waste when using a pan on a traditional (i.e. non induction) electric or gas hob, and I assume (maybe incorrectly) that an electric kettle is quicker and more efficient. You'd need to experiment with timings though.

kiffer · 27-03-2014 02:01PM

As little water as possible I imagine is the way to go. As it takes a lot of heat to heat the water, and if you use more than needed you're just heating it for no reason.
You could double up your savings by using the hot water to make your tea.
Take a mug of water, throw it in the kettle, add a little extra to make up for boiling off some... then pop the kettle on to boil water for your tea... sure you were going to make tea anyway and now the egg is boild for free.

Alun · 27-03-2014 02:16PM

I've just Googled "boil eggs in a kettle" and it seems it wasn't such a silly idea after all ... many, many hits

percy212 · 27-03-2014 02:18PM

Emigrate to Saudi. Pay no taxes. Leave egg in sun by private pool.

thegreatiam · 27-03-2014 02:19PM

Alun wrote: »

I've just Googled "boil eggs in a kettle" and it seems it wasn't such a silly idea after all ... many, many hits

ah student days, kettle eggs and hot dogs. not ashamed to admit doing that on more than one occasion.

just remember to remove the bird poo and loose feathers before pouring into your tea mug.

Floody Boreland · 27-03-2014 02:20PM

Alun wrote: »

One alternative way to boiling an egg the normal way, i.e. boil water first and then add egg, is to bring the water up to a boil with the egg in it, and turn off the heat and leave it.

So I'm wondering if you could do the same thing in an electric kettle? I say this because a lot of heat goes to waste when using a pan on a traditional (i.e. non induction) electric or gas hob, and I assume (maybe incorrectly) that an electric kettle is quicker and more efficient. You'd need to experiment with timings though.

This is what I do. Three eggs at a time in half full kettle. One to eat hot and two for sandwiches.
I leave the last two in the water til cold.

This kettle is used only for eggs.

Alun · 27-03-2014 02:25PM

Does that give you hard boiled eggs for the ones you leave in there to get cold? What about the one to eat hot, how long do you leave it in there for?

kiffer · 27-03-2014 02:29PM

Alun wrote: »

Does that give you hard boiled eggs for the ones you leave in there to get cold? What about the one to eat hot, how long do you leave it in there for?

Soft boiled eggs would be messy in a sandwich, wouldn't they?

Kettles are 80% efficient compared to hobs being about 30-40% efficient when it comes to boiling water.

Alun · 27-03-2014 02:32PM

kiffer wrote: »

Soft boiled eggs would be messy in a sandwich, wouldn't they?

Yes, but I meant was what if I was wanting a soft-boiled egg to eat with soldiers, how long would I need to leave it in the kettle for?

Kettles are 80% efficient compared to hobs being about 30-40% efficient when it comes to boiling water.

Thought as much.

BenRowe · 27-03-2014 09:08PM

I knew of a man who would boil the egg in his tea in the tea pot

Floody Boreland · 28-03-2014 06:26PM

Alun wrote: »

Does that give you hard boiled eggs for the ones you leave in there to get cold? What about the one to eat hot, how long do you leave it in there for?

Yeah those two are hard boiled. Take the other one out a minute after kettle switches itself off. A goose egg will take longer of course.

vibe666 · 28-03-2014 06:45PM

Kettles are efficient at billing water, but not at keeping it hot as they aren't normally insulated. You might have more luck putting the eggs and boiling water in a thermos, but I'd imagine they would take longer.

They're great for boiling rice though, just put your rice and boiling water into a thermos and leave for 8-12 hours and it's done. Not the quickest, but handy if you plan ahead.

kiffer · 28-03-2014 06:54PM

vibe666 wrote: »

Kettles are efficient at billing water, but not at keeping it hot as they aren't normally insulated. You might have more luck putting the eggs and boiling water in a thermos, but I'd imagine they would take longer.

They're great for boiling rice though, just put your rice and boiling water into a thermos and leave for 8-12 hours and it's done. Not the quickest, but handy if you plan ahead.

8 to 12 hours...
hours?!

GreeBo · 28-03-2014 06:57PM

Use the smallest deepest pan you have

vibe666 · 28-03-2014 10:30PM

kiffer wrote: »

8 to 12 hours...
hours?!

yep, just put it on in the morning, it's not like you have to do anything with it.

Very handy if you're having a picnic or BBQ out and about as it cooks it and keeps it hot.

evolving_doors · 28-03-2014 10:34PM

Ahhh... Put a lid on it!

parasite · 31-03-2014 01:24AM

I make them how I saw Heston Blumenthal do it, using residual heat, foolproof :

heston wrote:

The secret to the perfect boiled egg is... don't boil it! You'll end up with rubbery whites or undercooked yolks. Instead, put your egg in a pan of cold water [lid on], bring up to the boil, and, the moment it starts boiling, take it off the heat and leave in the pan for six minutes. The residual heat will cook it gently, leaving the yolk nicely cooked, but runny.

unkel · 02-04-2014 01:13AM

kiffer wrote: »

Kettles are 80% efficient compared to hobs being about 30-40% efficient when it comes to boiling water.

But electricity costs 3 or 4 times as much as gas per kWh. Making it cheaper to boil water on a gas hub

lovelypoint · 03-04-2014 05:18PM

I saw a recipe for kippers, where you would simply put them in a jug with which you would pour boiling water into, and leave for about 5 mins, and they would be cooked through. I'm sure you could do something similar with a mug of boiling water which had some vinegar added, where you would simply crack the egg into it, and leave it until it was cooked through. That's poaching and not boiling though, and you would need to experiment to find out how long you needed to leave the egg in it to cook through.

In any event, is life simply not too short to worry about energy savings to be had from the boiling of an egg..

unkel · 03-04-2014 09:32PM

lovelypoint wrote: »

In any event, is life simply not too short to worry about energy savings to be had from the boiling of an egg..

Yes.

When I boil eggs, I do about 10 at a time. I reckon this costs about 1c per egg. It's ridiculous to even start thinking about trying so save money on this

genuine leather · 04-04-2014 10:07AM

I have never(or thought) cooked an egg in an electric kettle before,so for the banter, yesterday i made a little nest of four on the bottom, just covered with water, 15 mins later perfectly cooked eggs for the salad.
I thougth it was cool. But a separate kettle for eggs only would be the trick as Floody does.

unkel · 04-04-2014 10:29AM

genuine leather wrote: »

I have never(or thought) cooked an egg in an electric kettle before,so for the banter, yesterday i made a little nest of four on the bottom, just covered with water, 15 mins later perfectly cooked eggs for the salad.
I thougth it was cool. But a separate kettle for eggs only would be the trick as Floody does.

Sure buy another kettle. If you prefer wasting your money.

vibe666 · 04-04-2014 02:16PM

how about a thermos type coffee mug?

boil two mugs worth of water, use the first one to heat up the mug, then pour it out and put the egg(s) in, then just close the lid and leave it go for an extended period, probably 15-20 minutes would do it?

Saving energy while boiling an egg

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