Knowing how to boil an egg is an essential part of any chef’s repertoire, and even the most inexperienced home cooks have probably attempted it with varying rates of success. Your cooking method could be as simple as tossing some eggs into a pot of boiling water and taking them out when they seem done. If you’re more exacting, you might set a timer (around six minutes for soft-boiled, 8 for medium, and 10 for hard-boiled).
Apparently, there’s a better way, though you’ll need to devote more than half an hour to the process of boiling the “perfect egg.” The trick is managing to cook both the white (albumen) and the yolk perfectly—a significant challenge as the yolk cooks at a lower temperature than the white. If you get the yolk right, you might end up with an undercooked white. On the other hand, if you manage to get the white soft yet solid, the yolk usually becomes dry and overcooked.
To solve this problem, researchers from the University of Naples Federico II used computational fluid dynamics and computer modeling to calculate the optimal way to transfer heat from the water to the egg and achieve the best consistency of both parts of the egg. They came up with a method called “periodic cooking,” which involves one pot of boiling water and another pot of warm water (86°F or 30°C).
The researchers achieved eggy perfection by placing the eggs in a steamer basket and transferring them between the pots every two minutes, for a total of eight times in each pot. After 32 minutes, they ran the eggs under cool water and peeled them. The process of transferring the eggs between the two bowls produced fully set egg whites while achieving an average cooking temperature of 150°F (66°C) for the yolk, making it creamy and spreadable.
The results seem to speak for themselves, so if you have 32 minutes to spare, it’s worth a try. Not only did a panel of taste testers proclaim that the eggs prepared by periodic cooking tested better than normal boiled eggs, but chemical and nutritional analysis revealed that the periodic cooking method preserved the egg’s nutrients (including inflammation-fighting polyphenols) better than traditional boiling.
In praise of the egg:
- To make boiled eggs easier to peel, let them sit in your fridge for about a week before cooking. (Don’t worry about them spoiling—when properly refrigerated, eggs will retain their freshness and quality for up to six weeks.)
- The average American eats around 279 eggs per year.
- Eggs are a complete source of protein and are rich in vitamins and minerals like calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin D. They are also a good source of brain-supporting choline, and lutein, which is essential for eye health.
