Electric Egg Cookers Are Worth Buying — Here's Why

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There are some gimmicky kitchen tools that aren't worth buying, but plenty of others are worth their weight in gold. When The Takeout spoke with the executive chef at Merchants Hospitality, Antelmo Ambrosio, he insisted that electric egg cookers fall into the latter category. Attempting to cook a simple hard-boiled egg over the stove has humbled many a home cook over the years, but he said spending a little dough to get some technological assistance for the task is money well spent.

"The convenience factor is strong, and it often yields more consistent cooking because the appliance uses a built-in timer/thermal sensor rather than having to guess boil times and heat levels," Ambrosio said. All the guesswork is eliminated, and making a perfect hard-boiled egg becomes an easy set-it-and-forget-it affair. Additionally, purchasing one won't even set you back that much coin (as long as you don't buy an overpriced one at the grocery store). This DASH Rapid Egg Cooker from Amazon only costs about $20, and other models are similarly priced.

Electric egg cookers are especially advantageous when you need an abundance of hard-boiled eggs. "For those who boil eggs in bulk (for meal prep, hosting, etc), it can free up stove space and reduce attention needed," Ambrosio said. However, despite being an appliance worth buying to save yourself some frustration if you haven't mastered cooking a hard-boiled egg, they aren't exactly necessary if you know what you're doing.

While Antelmo Ambrosio is an advocate of home cooks using electric egg cookers, he did point out one drawback for those with space problems in their kitchen. "It's an extra appliance taking up space and doesn't necessarily offer better results for home chefs who already have a method down," he said. Fortunately for people lacking extra space in their galley or those who just aren't interested in purchasing another kitchen gadget, he shared a simple method for boiling eggs that makes the task easy.

"One especially popular method: Bring water to a boil (or start covered in boiling water), then remove from heat and let eggs sit in the hot water covered," Ambrosio said. "After that, immediately transfer to an ice bath." Dunking them in an ice bath is a particularly helpful tip that makes peeling hard-boiled eggs easier. Alternatively, folks can cook hard-boiled eggs in an Instant Pot using the 5-5-5 method. An electric egg cooker is certainly worth buying for folks who struggle with hard-boiled eggs, but for those who don't or have another device that does an equally good job, it isn't a must-have appliance.