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I grew up eating coddled eggs, yet over the years I have learned that most people have never even heard of them! A coddled egg is basically a soft-cooked egg similar to a poached egg or a soft boiled egg. Coddled eggs are cooked in an egg coddler—a porcelain or glass cup with a lid that either screws or clamps on.
To make a coddled egg, the inside of the coddler is coated with some type of fat (coconut oil, butter, ghee, etc.), one egg is cracked and placed into each coddler, and the lid is secured. The coddlers are placed into a pot with a few inches of water and boiled until the eggs achieve their desired firmness. At that point, the eggs are eaten right out of their individual decorative coddling cup.
You can either make coddled eggs plain—or by adding seasonings into the coddler before cooking. Fresh herbs are my favorite (finely diced, fresh thyme and Himalayan pink salt was what I used in the eggs for my photo—and they were YUM!). You could also add minced garlic, cooked crumbled bacon, or anything else you dream up!
A few more things to note:
As is true with most foods, the quality of the eggs makes all the difference! Many people here in Boulder are able to have their own chickens, but for those of us who do not, these are the best eggs I have tasted by far (the Alfresco eggs in the black box). They are also far more affordable if you buy a carton of 18 (approx. $6.99), rather than 12 (approx. $6.49).
As far as egg coddlers, these decorative porcelain ones with the screw top lids are the ones I grew up with in my home. I have so many memories of eating from them and seeing my aunts, uncles, and grandparents doing the same 🙂
These days, I have these glass coddlers with clamping lids (as shown in my photo). The best part about these coddlers is that you can peer into your cooking pot and see right into the glass coddler. This allows me to achieve the perfect firmness—soft cooked for me, and super-duper soft cooked for our 11-yr old (about 1-2 minutes less cooking than mine).
Do you like to coddle? What’s your favorite way to make eggs?
Curious as to why you would suggest the Black Alfresco Eggs by Vital Farms which are conventionally fed rather than their Pasture-raised USDA Certified Organic eggs – ‘Vital Farms’ ?
I was trying to say that this line of eggs are great–but the Alfresco eggs are a more affordable way to eat pasture raised eggs, especially if you buy them in a carton of 18 (which I have not seen the other varieties sold in at such a large savings above the 12 carton counterpart). They are fed antibiotic free feed, although not certified USDA Organic feed. Quite frankly, spending $8-9 per 12 eggs is not reasonable for most families we work with, so to get 18 really good eggs for $7 is more do-able for many 🙂 (yet probably still too costly for many as well…..) Even without certified organic feed, we can personally see and taste the difference over other “comparable” eggs at stores. Bottom line: buy the highest quality eggs you can afford!
Yes, the egg coddlers have been a family tradition but before I was feeding you coddled eggs, I was using them to warm up the home-made pureed veggies, fruits and your first foods. I would cook the food, puree, freeze in ice cube trays and then just drop one or two cubes (same or two different ) into a coddler to warm it up for you. The best baby food warmers ever!! So happy that you’re carrying on the tradition and passing it on to others 😊
XOXO Mamma