West Bend Egg Cooker (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

My parents have one of these and I liked it so much that I finally caved and bought one of my own. Is it the most necessary kitchen gadget out there? No. But it works quickly and efficiently to hard boil eggs in the morning, and I never ever have a problem peeling shells.With a regular pot of water it takes 15-20 minutes to get the water even starting to boil, and then another 20 minutes for the eggs to boil and finally another 20-30 minutes for them to cool enough to touch them. Plus you end up wasting energy by turning on the stove every time you want a hard boiled egg, and you end up with a large pot to clean each time as well. Well I simply don't have time for all that before work, so I plug this thing in and let it run while I'm in the shower. Usually by the time I'm out and dressed it's done and the eggs can start to cool while I make breakfast. It takes about 6 seconds to rinse down, and it has a nice small footprint on my counter. I take the eggs with me to work for an afternoon snack. Gives me great results and lets me get on the road in a timely way.I will say that I don't poach eggs in this - I still use a pot of water for that. The trick is to get the water swirling before dropping the eggs in to poach. That will make the whites wrap around themselves to form a perfect shape. I've never liked how my eggs come out when I've used poach-pod type devices in the past. They are typically hard to remove and and the whites will sometimes split, causing yolk to go everywhere. So frankly, I haven't even tried to poach an egg in this because it looks like it should have the same problem as the other poach pods I've used in the past.But for a no-frills hard boiled egg, this thing is excellent.

I never thought I would be a person to use a gadget like this, I mean, how hard is it to boil water?? But truth of the matter is, in a family of 6 with four girls between the ages of 2 and 4, I'm looking for any time savers I can find.Unfortunately the first unit never beeped. First batch of eggs cracked and made a horrid mess (not to mention smell!) My first call the support person suggested I had missed the beep (this is not possible as it does not auto-shut off and it is quite loud, but I didn't know that.) So I cooked another 7 eggs, this time using a timer. No beep. I called support and she suggested not using filtered water. No beep. On my third call they shipped another unit overnight with Saturday delivery -- now that is service!!The egg cooker hard boils eggs perfectly -- very soft and easy to peel with lovely yellow yolks. The poaching is also lovely, slightly solid center with a little run, perfect for us! I found if you use too much nonstick spray it will make the edges rubbery, but using a slight mist of spray is perfect. We have used it almost every day with varying numbers and ways of cooking with no bad eggs.Another reviewer commented that he didn't like the water measurer, and I couldn't agree less. I think it is perfect, the numbers correspond to the number of eggs you are cooking, and the sides are clearly marked hard or soft cooked. The only criticism I have is that the pin to poke the hole in the egg is on the bottom so you can't set the cup down to verify the water level but it is not a big deal to eyeball it. The poaching numbers are a bit confusing because they use the soft cooked markings, but reading the directions clarified that. I feel if you have trouble loosing parts that is your problem, not the design.So my advice would be to definitely set a timer the first time you try it, and read the directions on the markings on the measuring cup. Other than that I wouldn't hesitate to suggest this cooker, especially with the excellent customer service I received from the manufacturer.

It works, eventually, but it takes patience and a lot of hard cooked eggs until you get there.The first one I ordered had to be returned. Like others have said, the buzzer went off almost as soon as I turned it on. Tried again, same thing. Sent it back.Got the replacement--same thing happened the first time I plugged it in. But I was determined, so I kept going. Tried again. This time it worked. Only the recommended amount of water for 2 soft boiled eggs gave me 2 hard boiled eggs.Tried lowering the water level. Same thing happened. Tired of trying to cook two eggs, I tried one and lowered the water level to 4. This worked, and worked consistently, giving me one, perfect, soft boiled egg. I tried two eggs, and the same setting, this time just under 4, worked for two. This is for regular size large eggs. Anything bigger and you'll have to adjust. There is an egg to water ratio that's complicated. You're supposed to use less water for softer eggs, but also less water the more eggs you use. I don't know about you, but I can't do this kind of math in the morning. Your results will be very hit and miss if you regularly change egg sizes.Yes, the poaching pan is too small (I leave some white in the shell), but it works, especially if you butter/spray/oil the entire surface, and it cleans up easily. And yes, you have to pull out your soft boiled eggs and run them under cold water immediately to stop the cooking process. But is it worth the money? For me, yes. I now get soft boiled and poached eggs just the way I want them, without having to watch them or wash any pots and pans.I wish they would get the water measurement under control. Perhaps Jumbo or Extra Large eggs would cook with the recommended water levels. They should give two different measuring cups, one for hard boiled, one for soft, with measurements for the different sized eggs on the side. Are you listening to me, West Bend?