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
How much taxpayers money was funneled to Italy via USAID for this study? And how much was laundered back to Rat politicians? Two weeks ago everyone would be laughing at the thought, today not so much.
The biggest issue I’ve had with boiling eggs, and I’ve boiled a LOT of them, is getting them to peel well. I’ve found that using eggs near or even past their “use by” date tend to peel better. Seems that the shell comes off without breaking apart the white.
Sicily?................
I’ll have to wait and see if they are easier to peel, that will be the true test.
Correct. Older eggs let go of the membrane easier for some chemical breaks down.
For fresh eggs tray 1/4 cup of vinegar, either kind, added to the water before boiling. The acid in the vinegar will dissolve some of the calcium in the shells and help to separate the membrane.................
Ahhhhh.....
Heisenberg made some fine coffee...
After you periodically cook yer eggs, you can serve them on yer periodic table.
LOL
Aurick Goldfinger did that until the day he died.
Do I have to say that he was 79 years old?
Put eggs in cold water.
Bring to a boil.
Turn off heat.
Put lid on pot.
Leave for 15 minutes.
Can’t guarantee that they will be easy to peel, but I have not spent much time with them, and I still have hard-boiled eggs.
That was my thought.
Put the basket over a pot of boiling water.
Cover and cook for thirteen minutes.
Remove eggs.
Peel under running water.
Done.
I don’t have 32 minutes to boil an egg.
cooking them is easy ... getting the shells to peel off cleanly can sometimes be a challenge ...
New eggs, poaching.
Couple of days old, frying.
Four to seven days old, scrambled.
Over a week old boiled.
insta pot is the easy way indeed ...
Add 1/4 cup of vinegar to the water then boil.............
thanks ... I’ll give it a try ...
“My standard practice is to drop 3 room-temp eggs into boiling water and remove them at 4 minutes.”
Room-temp eggs are important for obvious reasons. Or..... put a few eggs into a quarter inch of boiling water. Put lid on. Shut off flame. Wait 10 minutes, Then start the real cooking.
Yeah, no kidding.
I’m in the store last night and there’s 5dz boxed medium eggs for $35.
I bought the identical item not even 6mos ago for $18.
Eggs? An F-150s sticker price is over $80K
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