Forget grandma’s method: scientists reveal the ultimate egg cooking formula for a perfect result
If you are looking to prepare the “perfect” egg, a pair of scientists have “cracked” the secret. However, you better have some time on your hands.
If you know anyone that loves to cook they will tell you that cooking is a science so who better than scientists to come up with how to prepare the “perfect” boiled egg. Emilia Di Lorenzo, a materials science PhD student, and professor Ernesto Di Maio at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy along with their colleagues came up with a novel method of preparing an egg that optimally cooks both the egg white and yolk without having to separate them.
The difficulty in doing this comes from the fact that both the white, or the albumen, and yolk require different ideal temperatures to cook the proteins to get the perfect texture while preserving their nutritional values. Yolk proteins cook at 149º Fahrenheit (65° C), while those in the albumen, or white, cook at 185º F(85° C).
Inspired by an Italian chef who sells a single egg for 80 euros they came up a new way to periodically cook eggs. After running mathematical and computational models of the heat transfer inside the egg white and yolk they then simulated how it would work using different temperatures and times.
That was followed up by testing their theory with real eggs, lots and lots of real eggs. Here is what they found to be the optimal temperature and periodic method to cook the perfect egg.
The ultimate egg cooking formula for a perfect result
The scientists periodic method requires two recipients with the water in one heated to 212º F (100º C) and the other a tepid 86º F (30º C). They alternated the egg between first the 212º F water, boiling it for two minutes before placing in the tepid water for another two minutes at which time it was put back in the boiling water.
They repeated the back-and-forth eight times for a total of 32 minutes and voilà, the perfect egg. The end result from this periodic method is a white similar to a soft-boiled egg and the yolk like one cooked with a sous vide. Additionally, Di Lorenzo pointed out to Scientific American, “the most outstanding result was the preservation of polyphenols, but a lot of amino acids are preserved as well.”
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