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One of the most fundamental tasks that can be performed in a kitchen.
It appears you may have been cooking your eggs using an incorrect method.
Scientists have determined the optimal method for boiling eggs, resulting in a perfectly cooked yolk that is rich and creamy, while the egg white remains firm and not overly watery.
The only drawback, for those accustomed to a soft-boiled egg in just six minutes, is that this new method requires over half an hour.
Explored 300 eggs to determine the optimal method for cooking one in its shell, considering texture, taste, and nutritional value.
They were comparing a hard-boiled egg, a soft-boiled egg, the “sous vide” version popular in upscale restaurants, and a completely new method.
This technique, which alternates an egg eight times between a pot of boiling water and a bowl of cold water, is considered by the experts to be the ultimate solution.
It addresses the challenge of achieving a perfectly cooked yolk and an undercooked egg white, which can occur when an egg is boiled in its shell.
Scientists successfully heated the egg white to an optimal temperature of 85 degrees Celsius, and the yolk to nearly the ideal temperature of 65 degrees Celsius.
The trick lies in repeatedly removing the egg from the boiling water and transferring it to cold water, to prevent the yolk from becoming overcooked and firm, while allowing the egg white to be heated sufficiently to achieve the desired texture.
Professor Ernesto Di Maio, a senior researcher from the University of Naples Federico II, who typically focuses on plastics, devised the ‘periodic cooking’ method and personally cooked all 300 eggs in his home kitchen.
He stated: ‘I thought the methods we employ in materials science could produce the ideal egg, and the outcome is truly exquisite.
I have converted 50 of my family and friends to preferring eggs cooked in this manner, and they were served with lemon and pepper at our laboratory Christmas gathering.
‘Making this type of egg can be a bit time-consuming, requiring 32 minutes. I know many people won’t have that amount of time, but I truly believe it’s worth the investment for those you care about, rather than cooking eggs in a way that might not do them justice.’
The study aimed to enhance the technique of ‘sous vide’ eggs, which are cooked for at least an hour in a low and consistent temperature range, usually between 60°C and 70°C, to achieve a creamy yolk texture.
The problem with this, according to Professor Di Maio, is that the egg white is cooked too little and appears transparent, with a consistency that is too liquid.
His team, headed by a researcher who surprisingly has no fondness for eggs, employed complex mathematical modeling to determine the optimal method for cooking them.
They then tested these out using three techniques, firing light beams at eggs to determine their level of doneness and nutrient content.
Eight specialist taste testers were asked to evaluate the hard-boiled, soft-boiled, sous vide, and periodically cooked eggs, based on characteristics such as color, meltability, and softness.
Among the findings, published in the journal Communications Engineering, it was discovered that an egg cooked using the periodic technique had a sweeter and saltier yolk than a soft-boiled egg.
The yolk was similar to a sous vide egg, but the egg white was less soft, wet, and transparent.
Its texture was midway between that of a sous vide egg and a soft-boiled one.
Professor Di Maio stated, “This egg is simpler to spread on toast, unlike a sous vide egg which would become absorbed into the bread.”
It is still not suitable for serving in an egg cup and enjoying with toast soldiers, which would necessitate a soft-boiled egg.
The new method was discovered to provide a more nutritious egg compared to the other three cooking techniques, although the researchers state that further study is required to determine the cause of this outcome.
Temperatures in the periodically cooked egg white varied between 35°C and 100°C during cooking, while the yolk reached 67°C and remained at that temperature.
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