When I was a kid, the thing that I looked forward to the most on the weekends was my mom's soft-boiled eggs on toast. It consisted of a seemingly perfect soft boiled egg (a runny yolk, yet firm white), slightly salted on top of a buttered slice of toast.

Now I'm a "grown up", I still crave this on the weekends, and every time I take my first bite, it's like I'm instantly transported back into my mom's kitchen.

However, what I've learned being an adult is that I have way less skill in the kitchen than my mom, especially in the mornings. After repeated attempts at boiling eggs and trying to time it just right, I was sick of overdone eggs.

I came across the Food Lab's post on Slow-Cooked Eggs and decided to try it this weekend. The typical problem I've had with sous vide eggs is that to get the perfect custardy yolk, you end up with an egg white that is still raw (and completely unappetizing). Many people I know just discard the white, but what fun is there in that?

The genius part of the Food Lab's approach is that the quick poach after the initial sous vide cooking ensures you have a cooked egg white to match the perfect yolk.

After trying various experiments with 6 eggs, I use 62.5C for 45 minutes and the result are eggs that are even better than mom's (shhh, don't tell). I even tried the suggested initial dunk in boiling water, then ice bath after cooking to see if it made the shell easier to crack and peel away and found it didn't make a different for me. So I now skip that part which saves me time and makes the recipe simpler.

Upon reading the recipe, it'll still seem like a lot of work, and the first attempt will probably make you scream bloody murder, but I promise it'll become second nature and the results are worth it.

These runny eggs can be the basis of so many other recipes, such as a topper for a salad, or just enjoying the eggs themselves. We'll be posting a recipe later that uses these eggs and a slight alteration for an Asian morning breakfast flare.

Cook time 45 minutes

Print Recipe

Perfect Sous Vide Runny (Slow Cooked) Eggs

When I was a kid, the thing that I looked forward to the most on the weekends was my mom's soft-boiled eggs on toast. It consisted of a seemingly perfect soft boiled egg (a runny yolk, yet firm white), slightly salted on top of a buttered slice of toast. Now I'm a "grown up", I still crave this on

Ingredients

  • Eggs (Inspect them to make sure there are no cracks)

Ingredients

  • Eggs (Inspect them to make sure there are no cracks)

Instructions

  1. Start your sous vide bath at 144.5F/62.5C.

  2. Gently lower your eggs into the sous vide bath. I put a ladle and put them in one at a time.

  3. After 35 mins, put a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil.

  4. At the same time,start your toast. After it's done, butter it and set it aside.

  5. After a total of 45 mins cooking time pull the eggs out and set them in a bowl.

  6. One at time, crack the eggs on top and make a small rectangular "window" and pour the egg out through it into a small bowl. Make sure the "window" doesn't have any sharp edges otherwise you'll risk puncturing the yolk.

  7. Using a slotted spoon, carefully scoop the yolk and surround white and gently lower into the boiling water. Make sure you leave the egg on the slotted spoon.

  8. After a mere 15 second, remove it and get rid of excess water. Transfer to your buttered toast.

  9. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and enjoy!