I know cooking the eggs kills the salmonella and that the risk is small even for raw eggs. However, I stopped boiling the eggs in the same pot I'm boiling something else, like potatoes, when I learnt the salmonella is in the shell.
Obviously, I'm not eating the shell and the eggs are washed. I wonder if I can boil everything in the same pot or not.
I personally reckon it's fine.
Couple of points I like to make here are:
Salmonella can't survive boiling water, it would get killed at that temperature. It should be fine to boil everything in the same pot.
As soon as one of the eggs gets cracked you might get a true mess, so it is safer to boil them separated from the rest of your meal. Otherwise there's no problem with it (taken the eggs are clean).
If you are cooking the eggs hot enough to kill Salmonella (above 160 F), then you are also cooking the egg shell hot enough. Egg white becomes solid and firm at 170 F, so that is a good gauge. Of course, observing your water at a rolling boil is also a good gauge (212 F). Keep in mind the average consumer will encounter one contaminated egg in a lifetime. Unless you are in the habit of cracking your eggs open and letting them sit raw for hours at favorable temperatures, you will probably not encounter this issue.
There may be confusion with instructions for sterilizing drinking water. To prepare outdoor water for drinking, it is recommended a full rolling boil for 10 minutes. This addresses a wide potential range of bacteria, spores, parasites, etc. Although there may be the odd pond water parasite that needs ten minutes of boiling, these are not creatures found in your egg carton.
Yes. We've made potato salad with the eggs and the potatoes boiling together for generations.
I've had no problems boiling eggs in the same pot as my rice or pasta.
I usually place them very gently into the boiling water. Haven't had any crack so far, but I'm guessing that's more good luck than good planning.
The most important thing for me is that it saves on pan usage. I don't have very many, and using an entire pan/burner for an egg is a little overkill, compared to this alternative. The less washing up is nice too.
Yes I would have thought this would be fine. Though I've never done it myself.
The only issues i can see are getting it soft boiled (for which my technique requires the eggs starting in cold water).
I have recipes from cookbooks that combine-cook eggs (with green beans, for example). I'd therefore imagine it'd not be a problem.
(Although my cookbooks can be wrong as well, of course).
There's a story that Einstein often ate lunch comprised of hard-boiled eggs & chicken noodle soup, where he cooked them together in the pot to save time. Doesn't seem like he had any problems with it! Boiling water is hot enough to kill germs, and techniques can be altered since the only requirement is to heat the egg to the appropriate temperature. Too bad you have to guess what that temp is.
Boiling eggs along with noodles, water for tea, and many other things has taken place for years. Its only people's recent phobia of germs that causes one to be apprehensive. There is no harm in it.
