Boiled egg with a home made brown bread soldier. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Boiled egg cooked in a kettle. Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
Student Breakfast And Student Supper
My husband first discovered how to cook a boiled egg in a kettle when he was a student. He was at Aberdeen University and was staying in digs, just one room, in his landlady's house in Scotland. No hob as he was not allowed to use the landlady's kitchen. He might also have wanted to cook the egg first thing in the morning before getting dressed and washed and ready to go out.
Later, in a hotel for two weeks, during the Covid isolation in Singapore, we were not allowed out of the room. We looked inside the kettle to see what was possible.
Now enforced hotel stays are over. But holidays are possible again.
Hotels and Holidays
When might you need to do the same in hotel room cooking? In a hotel when the kitchen is closed or out of action, such as late at night. If you want a plain boiled egg just before checking out of your room at noon. In a hotel where you do not speak the language. When you do not like the hotel food. If you have run out of money. When your diet means you don't want to use the hotel food. For a baby or toddler who you want to feed in the room rather than in a fancy restaurant. When flooding or fire or other emergency has put the hotel kitchen out of action.
At Home - Unexpected Emergency
This week he had to do the same again. The hob (Americans say stove) was not working. The date was a bank holiday so the workers were off work.
If you have not done it before, or are using a strange kettle, this is what you do.
What To Do
Modern kettles usually don't have a filament which might burn the eggs, but a flat base.
Should you start with hot or cold water? Either is possible. I would start with cold water to be sure of not burning hands or face in steam. He likes to start with hot water, for speed and ease of timing.
I prefer hard boiled eggs anyway, as I hate runny egg white. So I would not be worried about over cooking, so long as I was not wasting electricity or risking burning something.
Lids
What if your kettle is so designed that you cannot lift the lid or cannot get the egg inside? Then you would have to boil the water, pour it into a cup (or mug), and put the egg into the cup and cover the cup to keep in the heat.
Lifting The Hot Egg
After the egg is cooked, the egg is hot and the water is steaming. You could wait.
Or lift the egg with a device. My husband uses a pasta spoon with curved prongs to lower and retrieve the egg. You might also have a ladle. A ladle with holes allows the water to flow out.
Time Taken For Cooking
The amount of time taken depends on the size of the egg, and whether it is at room temperature or from a fridge.
Soft Boiled Eggs and Dipping Bread finger soldiers
You need a soft boiled egg if you want to dip 'soldiers' or fingers of bread in your runny-centred egg.
You should be able to cut neatly shaped bread fingers, especially if you usually buy sliced bread. Our bread is home-baked brown bread which is rather crumbly.
Kettles
Americans at home tend not to have kettles. They boil water in a saucepan. Why? Because the voltage is low and the electric kettle takes longer to boil than the saucepan. The English and Australians are shocked because this looks so old-fashioned, and less safe than an enclosed kettle with a spout.
American homes sometimes have whistling kettles which go on stove tops.
Hotels are not keen on cooking in bedrooms by guests. Mainly because of the mess. Stored food and leftovers attract insects. They want to sell hotel food to guests.
However, as they say, needs must.
Useful websites
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