Slow Smoked Scotch Eggs

If you are looking for a great show-piece recipe and want a challenge in the kitchen, mastering a runny-yolk Slow Smoked Scotch Egg might be your next recipe to try! Scotch eggs are sausage-wrapped, soft-boiled eggs. However, for us BBQ fans and for this recipe, the Scotch egg is surrounded with BBQ flavours and slow-smoked to become a perfect delight!

House of Q pal and fan Steve Waldron got hungry and wanted to make a Scotch egg. Like BBQ Brian, he has had them in a restaurant and even made them in the kitchen, but this recipe takes the technique to a new level by smoking the sausage-wrapped, soft-boiled eggs and making them look fantastic!

This recipe post will share the steps to mastering how to cook a Scotch egg, making a sausage coating to wrap around the egg, and the ever-so-important, how to boil an egg that is perfect in the center and is easy to peel.

How to Boil an Egg

If there is an item that an executive chef would ask an intern to cook as a skill test, it might be an egg. Or better yet, a boiled egg.

One of the challenges to cooking a boiled egg is the dreaded shell. The shell holds those beautiful eggs intact and although they have a wonderful purpose, humans don’t eat them. We need to crack an egg open to get the egg inside or cook the egg and remove the shell.

Another challenge to a perfect boiled egg is getting the timing right. That is, how long do you boil an egg to get a soft yolk? Or how long do you boil an egg to get a hard yolk?

By reading the article How to Make Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs posted on seriouseats.com, the article has pictures that show the results of different cooking methods, all supported by a few comments on the science of cooking eggs.

To help with peeling the egg, start with cold water and bring it to a boil WITHOUT the eggs in the water. This prepares the cooking environment and readies the water for the cold, “raw” egg. Once the eggs are placed into the boiling water, they will return to a cooking temperature faster than if the eggs are placed in cold water. So, start with boiling water and gently place the eggs into the hot water.

Once the eggs are in the hot water, start the timer. The water should be returned to a boiling rate, however, not a rolling boil. It should be a hot simmer or light boil temperature.

For a soft egg, with a runny yet warm yolk, the eggs can be removed from the water at 4-5 minutes. A cooked yolk with a “jammy” feel is cooked for 8 minutes. A fully-cooked, hard-yolk egg will be approximately 10 minutes.

The last tip is to take the eggs from the hot water and immediately place them into an ice bath. Or rapidly reduce the temperature of the egg. This step allows the hot, cooked egg to stop cooking and, importantly, “shrink” inside the egg shell so that it helps with peeling the shell. If you skip this cold bath step, the eggs can continue to cook, possibly overcook the desired doneness, and the egg whites might stick to the shell when trying to peel them.

Wanna Make Your Own Sausage?

BBQ Brian has shared how to make a simple sausage on stage, on TV and in front of many cooking classes. Many people appear surprised on the simplicity and how they may have already been making sausage at home without knowing it!

Take your choice of ground meat, such as ground pork. For each pound of ground meat, add one full tablespoon of seasoning such as a BBQ rub. Time and time again, BBQ Brian has made “House Rub Sausage” by taking one pound of ground pork, adding one tablespoon of House Rub, mixing it and then forming it into a patty or a long roll as a sausage. It doesn’t need to be inserted into a casing, even though it could be… but this simple mixture is a basic sausage.

The rule of thumb is one tablespoon per pound of ground meat. That gets you in the right direction. What kind of meat? It really doesn’t matter, but our go-to at House of Q is ground pork. It’s so delicious!

Slow Smoked Scotch Eggs

Print Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine Oven, Smoker

HoQ Product Apple Butter BBQ Sauce, Competition Rib Rub, Five Star Competition BBQ Sauce, House Rub, Sugar & Spice BBQ Sauce

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Author House of Q

Ingredients

• 2 Eggs (maybe a couple more for "spares" if they break when peeling)
• 1/2 cup water
• 6 TB House of Q Sugar and Spice BBQ Sauce – separated
• 1/2 cup Soy sauce
• 1 lb Prepared sausage meat or mix your favourite House of Q rub into ground pork, chicken or beef
• 2-3 TB House of Q House Rub or Competition Rib Rub
• 2-3 TB Apple juice or apple cider vinegar

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, bring 1-2 litres of water to a boil. Gently roll two large eggs still in their shell into the water and set a timer for four minutes. The water should be a hot simmer and not a rolling boil. Once the timer has rang, remove the eggs and place them into an ice water bath for 10-15 minutes. Don't skip this step! It will make a difference when you peel the eggs!
• Once cold, carefully break or crack the shells of the eggs. Place the broken egg back into the water for a couple of minutes. The water will seep under the shell and make the peeling much easier. While in the water, carefully remove the shell, making sure the eggs remain intact. Once clean of the shell, rinse and set aside.
• In a separate bowl, mix the water, 3 tablespoons of Sugar and Spice BBQ Sauce, and soy sauce. Carefully place the eggs into the marinade and ensure they are fully coated. Place in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. It may help to rotate the eggs to make sure they continue to be coated.
  
• Place a piece of plastic wrap on a cutting board and then put about 1/2 pound of ground meat or prepared sausage. If using ground meat, add about 2 tablespoons of your choice of BBQ rub, mix it together really well and then top with another piece of plastic wrap. Using your hands or a rolling pin, flatten the meat mixture until it is about 1/4 inch thick and oval in shape, approximately 3 inches larger than the boiled, peeled egg.
• Carefully remove one of the eggs from the marinade and place it in the center of the formed meat. Using your hands, lift and shape the meat mixture around the egg. Carefully, so the yolk does not burst, form the Scotch egg and seal the meat together. Wetting your hands with water may help with sealing the meat mixture at the creases. Once formed, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a few hours.
  
• When ready to cook the eggs, remove them from the fridge and season the outside of the eggs with more rub such as House Rub or Competition Rib Rub.
• Prepare your smoker for low-temperature smoke cooking – approximately 225°F. When the cooker is ready, place the prepared Scotch eggs inside your smoker. If you are using a thermometer probe, be very careful not to puncture the center of the egg! It’s still soft! Smoke for approximately one hour and check the meat temperature. When it is above 145F it is ready for glazing.
  
• In a separate bowl, mix the remaining 3 tablespoons of Sugar and Spice BBQ sauce and apple juice or apple cider vinegar. Using a silicon brush, coat the eggs with the sauce. It might be easier to use your hands and lift the eggs into the sauce, roll to coat, then place back in the smoker to finish.
• The eggs are finished and ready to be removed from the smoker when the meat temperature reaches above 160F. Serve whole or cut in half to expose the center of the egg to your eaters. If all has fallen into place, it should be runny, sexy and delicious!
  

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