This Friday, wuff subjected his office workers to Vrghr’s “Egg Bites Experiments.”

Wuffy has been seeing a lot of chat about this interesting menu item on the ‘net. The videos and recipes looked very tasty! And there were so many different options for variations and ingredients, not to mention cooking methods.

So wuff decided to give them a try.

Vrghr used both the Pressure Cooker (steamed) and Sous Vide cooking methods, to see what difference those made. And the wuff tried all sorts of different flavor variations, to see if there were any clear winners or losers.

Pictured above are the following:
Pressure Cooker (Steamed) Variations:
- Ham & Cheese
- Bacon
- Sausage Mushroom
- “Green Eggs & Ham”

Sous Vide Variations:
- Fiesta!
- Greek

The results:
ALL were delicious! Not one of those would be considered a “loser.” Shop folks all chose their favorites, but all of them got selected as someone’s “Fav.”

The conventional Ham, Bacon Sausage versions were pretty much as expected. Really good prominent flavors. All substantially different in taste due to use of different cheeses and proteins. And the flavors really carried through well into the eggs.

The “Green Eggs & Ham” version was surprisingly well received! Wuff kicked that one up with a bit of fresh Tarragon blended into the eggs. The “green” came from spinach, broccoli, chives, and the tarragon, all blended thoroughly into the eggs. Ham and Mushrooms added a savory note. The Tarragon aroma and flavor was quite pronounced at the front end, with the spinach, cheese, and savory notes coming in to support it. The green color was whimsically appreciated.

Both of the Sous Vide flavors were powerful! Even more than the steamed. Vrghr isn’t entirely sure this was due to technique, as these both featured very robustly-flavored ingredients. Even more so than the steamed versions: Kalamata olives, marinated garlic, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, fire-roasted peppers, etc., all made appearances in those two. These were really delicious mixtures!

Technique differences:
Steamed (Pressure cooker)
- Cooks MUCH more quickly. 10 minutes in pressure followed by 10 minutes to reduce pressure (called natural release). Total of about 25-30 minutes start to finish in the cooking stage
- Results are tender, fluffy and puffy. Like a cheese soufflé. A bit more sturdy than Sous Vide type
- Flavors permeate the eggs. More homogeneous, instead of “omelet-like” where you can taste the individual ingredients with different bites
- Very easy to release from the Silicon cooking mold, even without cooking spray
- Can be popped out of the molds and placed into zip bags to keep in the fridge (or frozen) for future meals. Microwave briefly to warm. If frozen, let thaw in fridge first.

Sous Vide
- Longer cook time. 50-60 minutes starting from immersion. No cool-down time needed
- Results are creamy, silky, luscious. More like Crème Brule or Custard than soufflé
- Just barely sturdy enough to invert on a plate
- Flavors are strong, permeate the eggs and homogeneous, like the Steamed version
- Tend to cling more to the glass jars. Cooking spray is recommended, but not critical
- Jars can be placed directly into the fridge for storage, but wuff doesn’t recommend freezing. Remove lids and microwave briefly to warm

Bottom line:
No one would refuse either sous vide or steamed offering if served again, nor any variation. But everyone universally declared that the creamy Sous Vide version was the absolute best. And they’ve all insisted Vrghr create these again!

One of wuff’s co-workers purchased the Starbucks commercial egg bites as a reference, so we would have something to compare Vrghr’s experiments to. All who tried them said they were disappointed in the purchased version. It was doughy, more like a soft bread than soufflé. With very VERY mild flavor. Some said that, had the buyer not declared the variety purchased, they wouldn’t have known what the flavor was supposed to be.

These home-made versions beat the purchased one in every regard (price included!!)! And some of the folks declared that Vrghr’s “Fiesta” version was what the commercial one “wished it could be!”

Recipes for each version will be posted in Vrghr’s gallery ASAP!

BON APPETITE