Boiled Eggs
Have ready a saucepan containing boiling water. Carefully put in with a spoon the number of eggs desired, covering them with water. Remove saucepan to back of range, where water will not boil. Cook from six to eight minutes if liked "soft-boiled," forty to forty-five if liked "hardboiled." Eggs may be cooked by placing in cold water and allowing water to heat gradually until the boiling-point is reached, when they will be "soft boiled." In using hardboiled eggs for making other dishes, when taken from the hot water they should be plunged into cold water to prevent, if possible, discoloration of yolks.
Eggs perfectly cooked should be placed and kept in water at a uniform temperature of 175° F.
Dropped Eggs (Poached) Have ready a frying-pan two-thirds full of boiling salted water, allowing one-half tablespoon salt to one quart of water. Put two or three buttered muffin rings in the water. Break each egg separately into a saucer, and carefully slip into a muffin ring. The water should cover the eggs. When there is a film over the top, and the white is firm, carefully remove with a buttered skimmer to circular pieces of buttered toast, and let each person season his own egg with butter, salt, and pepper. If cooked for an invalid, garnish with four toast-points and a bit of parsley. An egg-poacher may be used instead of muffin rings.