Posted on 02/06/2025 4:27:29 PM PST by Red Badger
Scientists have developed an innovative cooking technique that perfects the balance between a firm egg white and a soft, rich yolk.
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Boiling eggs just got a scientific upgrade. By alternating an egg between boiling and cool water, researchers have found a way to cook both the yolk and white optimally — leading to better texture and higher nutritional content than traditional methods.
A newly developed cooking method called periodic cooking offers a way to perfectly cook both the yolk and white of a boiled egg, according to a study published today (February 6) in Communications Engineering. This technique produces an evenly cooked egg with a better nutritional profile than traditional boiling or sous vide methods.
Cooking an egg evenly is a challenge because the yolk and white solidify at different temperatures — the white (albumen) at 85°C (185°F) and the yolk at 65°C (149°F). Traditional boiling at 100°C (212°F) fully sets the yolk but can overcook the white, while sous vide cooking at 60-70°C (140-158°F) for an hour leaves the white undercooked.
Periodic Cooking: A Game-Changing Technique
To solve this, Pellegrino Musto and his team used computational fluid dynamics simulations to design an improved cooking process. Their method involves repeatedly moving an egg between boiling water (100°C / 212°F) and cooler water (30°C /86°F) every two minutes for a total of 32 minutes.
This process, dubbed periodic cooking, was tested in real-life experiments alongside traditional hard-boiled, soft-boiled, and sous vide eggs. The results were analyzed for texture, taste, and chemical composition using advanced techniques such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry.
Texture, Taste, and Nutritional Perks
Periodically-cooked eggs had a soft yolk similar to that of a sous vide egg, while the consistency of the white was somewhere between that of sous vide and soft-boiled. Temperatures in the periodically-cooked egg white ranged between 35 and 100 degrees Celsius during cooking, while the yolk remained at a consistent temperature of 67 degrees Celsius. Chemical analysis suggested that the periodically-cooked egg yolks also contained more polyphenols — micronutrients which have been explored for their health benefits.
The authors believe their approach could also have applications in the curing and crystallization of other materials.
Reference:
“Periodic cooking of eggs”
February 2025, Communications Engineering.
DOI: 10.1038/s44172-024-00334-w
4 minutes???
not nearly enough. Maybe 14
I did 2 eggs today for about 10 minutes, and they were only soft boiled. (yolks still liquid)
Try the Department of Agriculture...................
I have no idea what that sentence says. I just boil them, peel them and eat them.......
Just steam them. Drop into ice water.
They are well hardened and the damned shell comes off easy.
We have chickens that lay brown eggs and they have very thick shells.
Boiling them, even for 45 minutes with salt and cream of tartar in the water, doesn’t make them peel easy.............
-PJ
Or you could just boil them for 12 minutes and they’ll be good enough.
I have always left eggs in cold water after they are done cooking. I crack each egg in a few places against the side of the pan then leave them to soak in cold water at least 10 minutes. The water will seep in under the shell and they peal easily. If you hit a dry patch just dunk it.
Yeah. I’m not doing that.
Science denier!.................
Maybe they should study a better way to explain it. Repeated paragraphs are lazy writing.
My Dad could make the best soft boiled eggs. One egg and one slice of toast, he’d serve up the egg in a shot glass.
“I put eggs in cold water and boil for 15 minutes.”
Similar for me.
Eggs in cold water.
Bring to boil.
Turn heat to low.
Wait 15 minutes.
Drain water.
Ice bath.
People spent time and money on something anyone who has ever boiled an egg already knows? Sheesh.
This will be good for commercial operations.They sell hardboiled eggs by half dozen in a local store.
-fill pot with water
-add eggs
-add more water if necessary to cover eggs by at least 1/2" or so (too much water is only that which would spill over when boiling)
-put the lid on the pot
-add high heat
-bring to a boil
-after it reaches boiling, lower heat to 1/2 for 10 minutes
-drain pot and run eggs under cold water
You can eat them then or put them in the refrigerator with the shells on.
Over the next few days, you can take some out of the refrigerator, drop them in hot water (hot tap water is fine) with the shells on, or peel them right from the refrigerator and eat them cold.
Who’s got 32 minutes to spend, hovering over an egg? I just scramble them anyway, lots faster.
They sell those here in convenience stores, but I’ve never been brave enough to try them........Kinda like gas station sushi..............
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