Humans have been eating eggs for millions of years, but it turns out we’ve been cooking them all wrong.
Scientists at the University of Naples now claim to have devised a method for the perfect boiled egg with an ‘exquisite’ smooth orange yolk.
The only problem with their technique is that it takes more than half an hour.
According to the experts, the egg should be placed in boiling water for two minutes before being moved to a bowl of 30C water for another two minutes.
This has to be repeated another seven times, so eight rounds in all – resulting in a total cooking time of 32 minutes.
The method overcomes the common issue of getting an undercooked white with a soft yolk, or a cooked white and an overcooked yolk – typical of conventional methods.
So, is their unusual ‘periodic cooking’ procedure really all it’s cracked up to be?
MailOnline put the eggs-periment to the test – with surprising results.
Experimental set-up: Home chefs need a pan of boiling water, a bowl of 30°C water and some free range eggs
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The science behind the 32 minute method is that by the time the heat of the boiling water starts to penetrate the centre of the egg (the yolk), it’s given a nice cool bath.
That way, the yolk can’t get hot enough to go past the soft, gooey stage, while the white gently cooks to perfection – not undercooked but not tough and rubbery either.
It is quite similar to Heston Blumenthal’s method of getting the perfect steak: on a smoking hot pan, the steak is cooked for just 15-20 seconds before being flipped over and cooked for another 15-20 seconds.
So, just as the heat from the pan is about to penetrate the middle of the steak, it’s flipped over – meaning the centre stays pink and juicy while the exterior is brown and crisp.
To find out if the 32 minute egg method works, I used a British Lion Quality free range chicken’s egg from Marks and Spencer weighing about 58g, which Egg Info tells me is officially ‘medium’.
I get 500ml of water boiling in a small pan and about a litre of 30C (86F) water in a glass bowl – but you basically just need enough to cover the egg once submerged.
Water at 30C (86F) is a little over room temperature and probably about what comes out of your tap, but I use a food thermometer to make sure it’s spot on.
I use my stopwatch app to make sure my timings are perfect – two minutes of boiling, two minutes of bath, two minutes of boiling, two minutes of bath, and so on.
Two minutes in boiling water and two minutes in cool water to get the perfect egg – but is the method worth it?
Water at 30C/86F is a little over room temperature and probably about what comes out of your tap – but it’s worth using a food thermometer to get it spot on
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, I finish the eighth round and start peeling the egg straightaway
I also need a piece of paper and a pen to keep track of where I’m up to, marking off each of the eight four-minute ’rounds’ as I go.
The laborious procedure gets boring quite quickly and I have to keep my mind focused on the task at hand to avoid any slipups.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, I finish the eighth round and start peeling the egg straightaway.
The white feels firm but I notice that the whole egg sags between my fingers slightly, which I guess is due to a more fluid yolk than I’m typically used to.
I cut it lengthways to reveal the most astonishing egg cross-section I’ve ever seen, with a stunning uniformly bright orange yolk.
I have never seen an egg yolk cook so evenly or look so vibrant – like a dollop of apricot jam.
Putting a half into my mouth, it takes mere milliseconds to realise that I’m experiencing sheer Italian perfection in my own kitchen.
The white is softer and creamier than I’m used to, more like a mozzarella ball, while the yolk is like an ultra-smooth pâté – moist and velvety, with no graininess.
The most astonishing egg cross-section I’ve ever seen – with a stunning uniformly bright orange yolk
Putting a half into my mouth, it takes milliseconds to realise that I’m experiencing sheer Italian perfection in my own kitchen
It’s not really a soft-boiled egg in the sense that there’s not much point dipping your bread soldiers in it, but this is no hard-boiled egg either.
So is it worth 32 minutes of your time? 100 per cent yes.
If you had a dinner party, you could easily do several of these eggs in advance during the day to wow your guests – although if you have problems multitasking like me, you might need to enlist the help of a sous chef.
As a boy I used to hate eggs because they were always so overdone, but if I knew they could be as good as this I’d probably have eaten them as my daily treat.
This is sheer eggy perfection, and deserves to sit atop the finest ramen or salade niçoise.
