Baked Eggs

Raddichio

Several weeks ago I started thinking about trying to bake eggs instead of frying them. I recently got a new gas cooktop with higher BTU burners and, for some reason, I've had trouble adapting to cooking eggs on it. DH is very picky about his eggs---he likes them over medium, with the egg yolks cooked to a gelatin-like consistency (not runny, but not fully cooked). Frankly, I like them that way, too, but I don't really mind if the yolk is a tiny bit runny. This requires constant watching on the cooktop and, for some reason, it's become more of a challenge with the new cooktop. An added advantage of baking, I thought, would be eliminating the small amount of butter/canola oil I use in the pan to cook the eggs (although the amount was negligible and I'm certainly not eliminating all oils from my daily intake).

Anyway, I decided to investigate baked eggs. I found a few references to cooking them in muffin pans, but it seemed like that would produce little hockey pucks. Some people said they had a terrible time getting them out of the pan.

I ended up using a muffin top pan, which I lightly sprayed with some vegetable oil. For our eggs, I cook them 8 minutes, then I puncture each egg yolk with a toothpick and cook for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes longer. I end up with essentially over-medium eggs, only better. They come out perfectly by running a soft spatula (the type you might use to fold egg whites into a batter) around the edges and lifting them out. Clean up was a breeze. An added plus is that, while they are baking, I can make whatever else we are having with our eggs and don't need to hover over them to make sure they cook properly.

RunFarLiveHappy

Yep I've been doing this for ages! Great way to make breakfast sammiches too! ????????????

Raddichio

I like breakfast sandwiches, too. I made a couple eggs for lunch the other day and had them on an English muffin with a slice of turkey bacon---very satisfying.

garber6th

What temperature do you bake them?

Raddichio

Sorry--I left out the obvious! I bake at 350 degrees. I'm going to try to put in a link to the pan I use below:

http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Metallic-Non-Stick-Original-Muffin/dp/B003YKGRBY/ref=dp_ob_title_kitchen

garber6th

Thanks, I am definitely going to try this. I have read that you can bake whole eggs in the shell too, like hard boiled eggs. Have you tried that?

Raddichio

No, I prefer the method where you put room temperature eggs in a pan, cover with cold water, bring to boil over medium heat, then immediately remove and let stand (covered) for 12 minutes. I haven't tried the oven baked method, but I think it might be useful if you needed to boil a LOT of eggs at one time.

jayrudq

If you want to use that muffin pan, take a slice of ham - I use Costco boiled ham which comes in at a whopping 25calories per slice and slice it to fit into the muffin tin, crack your egg on top, and bake.

Really good.

CeeBee88

Thanks for this! I have always struggled with getting baked eggs right for some reason so its good to have someone spell out the basics.

When I was little, my nan would make me baked eggs with a swirl of cream and parmesan when I was sick or miserable. I have been wanting to figure out how to recreate it for breakfast eggs for a while and always ended with it stuck or over cooked.

Raddichio

Jay, sounds good with the ham. Another perfect breakfast sandwich component

Cee, Glad it helped. Adding Parmesan sounds tasty--not sure how or when I would add the milk, though.