Sunbeam Automatic Egg Cooker -- Revisited

[rp2813]

I picked up the subject cooker (shown below) for a few bucks a while back at Savers.  When I ran some initial eggless tests, it seemed to shut off too soon -- before all water had boiled off.  Fred (Robert's husband) suggested turning the small adjusting screw on the bottom.  I gave it 1/4 turn clockwise and ran another test without eggs, using the measurement specified inside the cooker for hard cooked.  Time elapsed from switching the cooker on to automatic shut-off (steaming stopped and all water boiled off) was between 12 and 13 minutes, which seemed about right, allowing for a couple of minutes of warm-up.

 

That was until I read some instructions I found on line for a later Sunbeam cooker that looked almost identical, but generates an audible signal upon shutoff.  In those instructions, cycle times given for hard cooked are as long as 19 minutes, depending on number and size of eggs and whether they are at room temperature or have been refrigerated.  The original instruction leaflet that would have been included with my cooker when new doesn't provide cooking times and instead touts perfectly cooked eggs through the magic of automation.

 

Can any owners of this (older) type of egg cooker advise on average/approximate cooking times for hard cooked and the various stages of soft cooked?  Do you find yourself using slightly more water than the measurements call for?  Does operating the cooker without eggs skew the elapsed time results that much?  It seems to me that the water would boil off in the same amount of time either way since the eggs aren't in contact with the water, or is the cooker smart enough to know the difference?

 

Is trial & error using eggs in the cooker the only real way to run tests?

 

 

 

[tomturbomatic]

Congrats on your acquisition

Eggs do increase the cooking time because in transferring heat to the eggs, steam condenses to be reboiled. Why don't you get really brave and try it with a batch of eggs? These always performed very well.

 

[philr]

I never timed it but lets time it!

I'll be back in a few minutes with the results!

 

[philr]

I will cook two eggs using the poacher with slightly less water than "poach"

 

[philr]

About 5 minutes later...

 

[philr]

Now lets try two hard boiled eggs. Water filled to "hard boiled" line and start time.

 

[philr]

Cooking...

 

[philr]

Done!

 

[philr]

I still have a few eggs left in the fridge but I don't feel like eating 6 more to see how much time it takes to hard boil 6 at a time! Still I hope this helps!

 

[rp2813]

Wow Phil!

You really went to some trouble!  Thank you so much!

 

I'll test out my cooker later today with eggs and see if I get similar results.

 

Did you wait and let the cooker cool down between poaching and hard cooking?

 

[philr]

Well!

I did rinse it twice and fill it with cold water from the tap and ate the two first eggs before I cooked the other ones but I didn't touch at the base to see if it had completely cooled (I think it should still have remained a bit warm but aluminum cools fast so I guess not enough to change much the results...).

 

You can figure the exact time I waited between the two uses by looking at the shots of the clock!

 

[ovrphil]

Good to prevent explosions

Ralph/Phil - I don't have one of these, but they're fun. At least with these, you don't get exploding eggs - as it happened to me when I was a younger guy, left the kitchen to visit a buddy next door, we got talking til the time melted away. I came back to an apt full of smoke and eggs blown to smithereens! Stink? Phew. I could only see 12" of the apt. when I got down on my hands and knees - the rest was smoke. No fire, just burning up the remaining egg in a waterless pot.

Yesterday, forgot I was boiling eggs and came to aw.org and got lost in articles and posting. Forty minutes later, the water was still there, but the eggs were very hard-boiled. No explosions.

Now you know why I read this thread and wonder, "do I need to buy one of these, afterall?" lol.

 

[rp2813]

O'phil, after reading your hard luck story I think maybe you do need one of these!  Keep an eye out at thrift stores.  They're ridiculously priced on ebay.  Then again, there may be modern versions that perform similarly and can be found at various retailers.

 

Phil, I just now did two soft boiled eggs.  I used enough water to barely cover the "Soft" mark in the lid.  The eggs came straight out of the fridge and they weren't quite as done as I like -- the whites weren't cooked enough and ran all over the place but I can see how once you get the amount of water right, you'll get eggs the way you like 'em every time, automatically.  I think I'll try again (tomorrow -- two eggs is enough for me in one day) and that they should turn out fine if I fill the lid to the "Medium" mark.

 

I'll be on the hunt for a poaching insert.  I would love to be able to use this cooker for poached eggs.  I have an aluminum stove-top poacher and could possibly use its individual inserts in the meantime.

 

[philr]

Ralph, I think those like yours with a black cover use a glass poacher. Mine has a Teflon-coated aluminum poacher. Most of those I see have a black cover, I guess mine is either newer or it's because it's the Canadian version?

 

[rp2813]

I've seen both types of poacher inserts in pictures and have a feeling they might be interchangeable.  At least I'll know one when/if I see one at a thrift store, and think it would be a cheap item if separated from its cooker. 

 

[wiskybill]

Ralph..

I have two extra poaching trays for my cooker. Found them at Goodwill in
the glasswares. They thought they were candy dishes, 50cents each.

If you don't find one and still want it, I'll send you one of mine.

When I use it in my cooker, I set it on top of the egg tray, rather than
on the bottom of the cooker. That way it's not in direct contact with the
heat source.

The cooking times that Phil got with his are pretty consistent with mine.

Bill

 

[cuffs054]

Whiskey, I'd be glad to buy one of your glass poachers if no one else wants it. I broke mine years ago and never found another. I use my egg cooker all the time.
cuffs

 

[rp2813]

Hey Bill, I'd happily take one of those spare poachers off your hands!  I'll PM you with my mailing info.

 

I have pictures of two different sets of instructions for these units.  I think the black & yellow one came from a member here, and the black & pink one I found on line last night.  Both instruct to place the poacher on top of the egg rack. 

 

Oddly, the pink & black instructions emphasize that the 8th egg in the center position must be horizontal.  The yellow & black makes no mention one way or the other.

 

[wiskybill]

Guys..

Ralph and cuffs, just send me the info. I am more than happy to send the trays.
Not looking for anything in return, just want them to go to good homes.

Bill

 

[rp2813]

Thanks Bill.  I sent you a PM.

 

[philr]

After seeing Bill's post and the instruction manual from Ralph...

 

 I realize that I never thought about stacking the poacher above the egg rack.  It makes a lot of sense! Maybe that's why I have to use less water to poach eggs. I'll do it in the future!

 

 

 

[polkanut]

The instruction booklet that came with my Oster egg cooker says that you're supposed to put the poacher on the rack.  I love using mine for making deviled eggs.  No worries about the shells cracking.  I can cook 8 at a time by leaving the 8th one on the pin in the center of the rack.  Doing them this way gives me time to cool down and peel the first ones while the next batch is cooking.  This way I'm not staring at a kettle of eggs waiting to be peeled all at once.

 

P.S. Make sure you pierce your eggs before hard boiling them.  The first time I didn't, and BOY what a mess!  Stupid me.

 

[philr]

What happens whe you don't pierce the eggs?!
I'm a bit curious and I was tempted to try that a few times but I didn't!

 

[sudsmaster]

I have one of those boil-away egg cookers but wasn't particularly happy with the results. The exact amount of water needed varies not only with the result desired (soft, medium, hard) but also the number of eggs. Paradoxiclly, more eggs require LESS water in this type of device. I got tired of the fiddly water amounts and variable results. Also, by having let the thing boil dry, you wind up with hard water mineral deposits, as well as the scorched eggy bits that inevitably seem to get into the cooking water.

Then I got a Chef's Choice egg cooker from Sears. This one has a selectable timer plus a chime when the eggs are done. It takes the same amount of water for each run, regardless of level of done or number of eggs, poached or in shell. It's very reliable and reproducible, and easy to clean. It will take up to seven eggs in shells, or three poached with separate insert.

 

[polkanut]

Phil,

The heat causes pressure to build up inside making it explode!

 

 

[warmsecondrinse]

And people want to know how I can spend hours on aw.org.....

An egg cooker is on my list of things to buy once I'm settled. Thanks for the comparative info!

Piercing eggs? I'd never heard of doing that for cooking, only for blowing them out. Grandma and 2 great-grandmothers all had chickens so there was A LOT of egg cooking. My mom doesn't pierce eggs before boiling them and I never have. Every once in a while an egg would crack or there'd be a small plume of white jetted into the water, but that's it. Nope, no explosions... not even any stories thereof

I did some googling but found nothing. I did however learn about....

"Araucana, Ameraucana or Easter Egger (Olive Egger,Rainbow Layer): What's the difference?" from the Chicken Chick. There are chickens that lay blue and green eggs

Back to piercing...

Not meaning to kvetch, but what's the difference in cooking procedures? Or am I missing something obvious as I frequently do?

Thanks,

Jim

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/09/ameraucana-easter-egger-or-araucana.html

 

[rp2813]

I stopped piercing eggs recently because doing so would result in whites escaping into the boiling water, or the shells would crack anyway.

 

In my experiments thus far with soft and hard cooked eggs in the Sunbeam, I haven't pierced any of them and have had no trouble.

 

I think the real key to avoid cracking is to let the eggs come to room temperature before cooking.

 

[countryguy]

I have a Cuisinart egg cooker. It came with a measuring container for the water based on the number of eggs and whether soft, medium or hard boiled. It also has a pin for piercing the eggs. I use eggs right out of the fridge, pierce them on one end and then put them in the cooker. Never had a problem with cracking, etc. and the eggs come out perfect every time.

Gary

http://www.cuisinart.ca/cuisinart_product.php?item_id=135&product_id=117&cat_id=37

 

[nashmaytagbear]

I like the one I bought at the thrift store. It's adjustable.

 

[petek]

Here's my old Hankscraft.. works like a charm , Does hardboiled as well with the other rack not shown