Cooking soft-boiled eggs at 63°C with the SWID immersion circulator and keeping them at 60°C

Who has never experienced (and been disappointed) to get a soft-boiled egg on a buffet and then realize that it was overcooked or hard?!
How to successfully cook a significant quantity of soft-boiled eggs and be able to reproduce the same result each time?
How to ensure that your soft-boiled eggs will keep their texture throughout the service while respecting the rules of hygiene and safety?
The solutions we propose have proven their worth and are illustrated by the experience and photos of Mr. Philippe Gaba (Manager of a large catering chain in France).

Cooking soft-boiled eggs with an immersion circulator

The temperature and cooking time to obtain the "perfect" soft boil egg will always be the subject of debate. We will not discuss the different variations that exist to the nearest tenth of a degree to cook a soft-boiled egg.
Just keep in mind that to get the best possible result (and to be able to reproduce it) it is imperative to use fresh and good quality eggs. Freshness is a crucial factor that will allow you to ensure the consistency of your cooking results, day after day.
A temperature of 63°C for 45 minutes is a good starting for cooking tests and will allow you to pasteurize the eggs. It is possible to achieve this result with all kinds of equipment but the most suitable is unequivocally the immersion circulator which, by its "versatile" side, will allow you to cook soft-boiled eggs in a gastronorm 2/1 container 20 cm deep (about 200 eggs) as good well in a gastronorm 1/1 (100 eggs) or in a pot of a few liters ...

Setting up cooking soft boiled eggs in large quantities with the SWID immersion circulatorSoft boiled eggs cooked at 63 ° C in GN 2/1 container with SWID immersion circulator

Keeping soft boiled eggs warm

It is possible to keep your soft-boiled eggs warm for the duration of the service without them losing (significantly) their texture.
Thus, after cooking at 63°C, you will have to reduce the temperature of your immersion circulator to 60°C. This will keep the eggs at an acceptable pasteurization level.

Keeping soft-boiled warm at 60 ° C with SWID immersion circulator

Presentation of soft-boiled eggs while kept warm at 60°C

If the use of an immersion circulator and a gastronorm container is possible (and even fun) in a catering type environment, it is not suitable in a small and luxurious environment. It is then possible to use an aesthetic "warm keeper machine" placed on a buffet which will be used to house 30 eggs (previously cooked with an immersion circulator at 63°C) while maintaining them at 60°C using a ventilation system and a temperature controller. These devices for keeping soft-boiled eggs warm are available in 2 sizes with bases of different materials and colors (ABS granite style, wicker, stainless steel, pine wood and even silver plated). These "incubators" are for sale on our online-shop.

Pine wood Granite-effect ABS Stainless steel or silver-plated

Suggestions for tasting hard-boiled eggs cooked at 63°C

The possibilities are limitless and your talent will make the difference!
Like Mr. Philippe Gaba, you can leave it to your guests to catch the soft-boiled egg with a sieve and give them the possibility of breaking the egg in a bowl and adding a red wine sauce (egg meurette) or cancoilotte (Jura cheese).
Egg meurette cooked at 63°C with a SWID immersion circulatorEgg meurette presentation cooked at 63°C with a SWID immersion circulator

Or the customer can place his soft-boiled egg in an egg cup in the classic way and dip their mouillette in it!

Presentation of a soft-boiled egg cooked at 63°C for 45 minutes with the SWID immersion circulator

Good tasting!