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Boiled eggs. Keeping a special pan.

(127 Posts)
Grammaretto Tue 04-Feb-20 12:36:26

Just curious. My DM always insisted on having a dedicated pan for boiling eggs and would never use it for anything else. The water used for boiling would be thrown away. She would never boil vegetables in it for example. She was born in 1915. Was this typical? Was it because of the sulphur from the eggs discolouring the pan? Or was it to do with the toxic metal in saucepans in those days, leeching out into the water?

I haven't heard this advice since but although I wouldn't cook anything with boiling eggs in the same water, I would use the pan for other things. My pots and pans are stainless steel.

kittylester Tue 04-Feb-20 18:36:45

I just read that as 'I think mother is still in my attic!'grin

A lovely bit of light relief!!

Auntieflo Tue 04-Feb-20 18:37:30

Grammaretto, I really should stop speed reading.
I read your post as ". Mother's still in the attic"

I have an egg boiler. First one inherited from mum, then bought a 'new' one in 2001.

Eggs just right every time.

Auntieflo Tue 04-Feb-20 18:38:11

Oh Kitty, I just did exactly that ?

kittylester Tue 04-Feb-20 18:39:09

Or slight hysteria is setting in!!

Desdemona Tue 04-Feb-20 18:52:16

My mum always had a separate pan for eggs but never said why. When I boil eggs (in a pan I use for everything else!) I can feel her disapproval!

Grammaretto Tue 04-Feb-20 18:58:17

kitty, it wasn't very clear was it. grin
I don't think DM is in the attic. But a lot of her things are.

Grandmama Tue 04-Feb-20 19:02:25

I have a small pan for boiled eggs. Its sides are thick with limescale in the hard water we have here. I never wash it out, just rinse it under the tap as it's never used for anything else.

Greenfinch Tue 04-Feb-20 19:49:54

What Grandmama says.

cornergran Tue 04-Feb-20 19:56:27

No special egg pan here. Had never heard of it hmm. My Mum used whichever pan seemed the right size for the number of eggs, I do the same.

Callistemon Tue 04-Feb-20 19:57:50

I have a special pan, it's an old milk pan.
It has "Boiled Eggs" written on the side in indelible pen.

gulligranny Tue 04-Feb-20 20:00:57

I've got a grotty little red saucepan that I use only for boiling eggs, it's got a dent in one side where I dropped it. I usually tip the boiled egg water into the washing up bowl.

Happygirl79 Tue 04-Feb-20 20:41:45

Add a vibrator to the pan for scrambled eggs! Lol

Sparkling Tue 04-Feb-20 20:47:20

I don't a saucepan for just boiling eggs.

Ealdemodor Tue 04-Feb-20 20:52:22

Well, who knew!
All this about special egg pans is a complete revelation to me.
My husband and I have been married almost 40 years, neither of us like boiled eggs, so no decision to make. I am that woman who cannot boil an egg!
Cannot remember what my Mum did.

Moocow Tue 04-Feb-20 21:30:04

So glad I'm nit alone! I was just thinking I watch too many detective dramas and then saw how many others had sudden concern for mother in the attic grin

gulligranny Tue 04-Feb-20 22:18:22

One of the reasons I have a separate pan is that I live in a hard water area, I'd be spending all my time trying to get the deposits off a decent saucepan. My grotty pan with its sort of non-stick surface doesn't matter, just goes into the dishwasher every now and again.

Urmstongran Tue 04-Feb-20 22:44:23

Namsnanny ?

MissAdventure Tue 04-Feb-20 23:41:28

I use my egg water (from any old saucepan) to give my plants a drink.

JackyB Wed 05-Feb-20 08:26:38

My mother didn't like boiled eggs (I only discovered this when she was over 90) and we were very rarely given them as children. When she did boil them, she used the milk saucepan which was the smallest pan she had.

I love boiled eggs but also use the milk saucepan as I don't have space in my cupboards for lot of single use pans. I have even also boiled cabbage in the milk saucepan. It is stainless steel and goes in the dishwasher after use.

Gaunt47 Wed 05-Feb-20 08:44:54

The 'make do and mend' generation would use a saucepan for making a cheese sauce say, it looses its interior surface a bit (never mind I'll make stews in it), then it's downgraded to boiling vegetables perhaps, then boiling eggs (when it had a long and happy life), then thrown out into the garden to have all sorts of fun with the children.
Not a single use pan by any means smile

Bathsheba Wed 05-Feb-20 09:31:18

I can't for the life of me see the need for a dedicated egg pan. I asked Mr Google what he thought, and he came up with this (inter alia).

henetha Wed 05-Feb-20 09:36:14

I've just eaten a boiled egg..... big worry now!!! I use any old pan which comes to hand.. confused

Theoddbird Wed 05-Feb-20 10:38:49

I got a bit confused after the mention of vibrators as I thought grammaretto was thanking Lucy winter for telling her about them and then realized she was thanking her for telling her about a particular type of saucepan. Did grammaretto ever Google?

Lilylaundry Wed 05-Feb-20 11:05:39

Minmoon - your husband bought you an 'electric egg boiler'. Are you two are still married?

My friend's husband bought her a very expensive clothes iron for Christmas. She didn't speak to him for weeks! Their marriage was touch and go for a while.

Now, about this vibrator thread, must go and find it.

Southcoastienana54 Wed 05-Feb-20 11:09:45

Surprised how many had mothers saying they would get warts from boiled egg water - mine did this, I never knew whether to believe her, but the thought of it made me throw the water away and keep a separate pan.