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Express Tribune
09-02-2025
- Science
- Express Tribune
Boil, cool, and repeat
Hard-boiled, soft-boiled or poached. Scientists have studied how to cook the perfect egg and have come up with a new recipe that they say optimises its taste and nutritional quality, AFP reported. Cooking an egg is a delicate art because the yolk and the white do not cook at the same temperature. The yolk begins to solidify at 65 degrees Celsius (149 degrees Fahrenheit) and the white at 85C. To avoid ending up with a soft-boiled egg, chefs have to choose a "compromise temperature", said the authors of a study published on Thursday in the journal Communications Engineering. In the case of a hard-boiled egg – cooked for 12 minutes at 100C – all parts of the egg have a final temperature of 100C, well above the ideal cooking temperature, particularly for the yolk. In the case of egg sous vide, which is cooked between 60 and 70C, the final egg is at a temperature of 65C. But while this is the ideal temperature for the yolk, it is much too low for the proteins in the egg white to stick together. As for the soft-boiled egg, cooked for six minutes at 100C, the authors say the egg yolk is undercooked. The Italian polymer specialists approached the problem by simulating the process with the help of computational fluid dynamics software, which was used to simulate and analyse the flow of fluids and their interactions with solid surfaces. The solution, they suggest, is to use a saucepan of boiling water at 100C and a saucepan of water at 30C and to transfer the egg from one to the other every two minutes for exactly 32 minutes in total. "It is found that a stationary state at the centre of the yolk is reached at a constant temperature of 67C," namely the mean value between the temperatures of the saucepan of boiling water and the saucepan of lukewarm water, Pellegrino Musto, one of the study's authors, told AFP. "Conversely, the albumen alternatively sees temperatures in the range 10087C and 3055C during the hot and cold cycles respectively," which allows all the layers of the egg white to reach cooking temperature, added Musto, research director at the National Research Council of Italy's Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials.
Observer
08-02-2025
- Science
- Observer
How to cook the perfect egg
Hard-boiled, soft-boiled, or poached. Scientists have studied how to cook the perfect egg and have come up with a new recipe that they say optimizes its taste and nutritional quality. Cooking an egg is a delicate art because the yolk and the white do not cook at the same temperature. The yolk begins to solidify at 65 degrees Celsius (149 degrees Fahrenheit) and the white at 85C. To avoid ending up with a soft-boiled egg, chefs have to choose a "compromise temperature", said the authors of a study published on Thursday in the journal Communications Engineering. In the case of a hard-boiled egg -- cooked for 12 minutes at 100C -- all parts of the egg have a final temperature of 100C, well above the ideal cooking temperature, particularly for the yolk. In the case of egg, sous vide, which is cooked between 60 and 70C, the final egg is at a temperature of 65C. But while this is the ideal temperature for the yolk, it is much too low for the proteins in the egg white to stick together. As for the soft-boiled egg, cooked for six minutes at 100C, the authors say the egg yolk is undercooked. The Italian polymer specialists approached the problem by simulating the process with the help of computational fluid dynamics software, which was used to simulate and analyze the flow of fluids and their interactions with solid surfaces. - Recyclable materials - The solution, they suggest, is to use a saucepan of boiling water at 100C and a saucepan of water at 30C and to transfer the egg from one to the other every two minutes for exactly 32 minutes in total. "It is found that a stationary state at the center of the yolk is reached at a constant temperature of 67C," namely the mean value between the temperatures of the saucepan of boiling water and the saucepan of lukewarm water, Pellegrino Musto, one of the study's authors, told AFP. "Conversely, the albumen alternatively sees temperatures in the range 100–87C and 30–55C during the hot and cold cycles respectively," which allows all the layers of the egg white to reach cooking temperature, added Musto, research director at the National Research Council of Italy's Institute for Polymers, Composites, and Biomaterials. The authors then tested this method of "cooking in cycles" and found that the result was "more similar to the soft boiled when analyzing the texture of its albumen, while it is very similar to the sous videsample when considering its yolk," the study says. Cooking in cycles also has a "better advantage over conventional cooking methods in terms of nutritional content", the authors said. The chemical analysis showed that the yolks of eggs cooked in cycles contained more polyphenols -- healthy micronutrients -- than hard-boiled eggs, soft-boiled eggs or sous vide eggs. Musto said in an email that the result was "(partially) unexpected" and proposed that "temperature degradation of bioactive molecules" at higher temperatures could be a possible cause. The study has also found practical application, with one of the study's authors, Ernesto Di Maio, using the cyclic cooking method "regularly for his family and friends, who appreciate it a lot". However, Musto pointed out that the study would have applications beyond the kitchen, especially concerning recyclability, which he said was the main theme of the research group. "A well-designed thermal profile may allow the development of layered structures within an object made from a single material" that is entirely recyclable, Musto said. "The resulting object will have layered properties as if it were a multi-material object," Musto said, adding that these are "very difficult to recycle" except in rare circumstances.
Observer
07-02-2025
- Science
- Observer
How to boil an egg? Scientists claim to have cracked the Recipe
A colleague approached Ernesto Di Maio, a materials scientist in Naples, Italy, and an expert in plastic foams, with a blunt suggestion: 'You should do something cooler.' The colleague had a project in mind, Dr Di Maio recalled. He wanted a perfectly boiled egg. The task was harder than it might seem, as many home cooks know. The yolk and the egg white, or albumen, have different chemical compositions, which call for different heating temperatures. Dr. Di Maio and his colleagues also welcomed the chance to one-up the Michelin-star chef Carlo Cracco, an egg evangelist who charges $52 for an egg yolk dish at his restaurant in Milan. The scientists devised a way of cooking an egg that requires no special culinary skill or fancy gadgets. It took about 300 eggs, though the researchers 'didn't eat all of them,' said Pellegrino Musto, a polymer expert at the National Research Council of Italy. The researchers said their method, published on Thursday, preserves the distinct textures of the egg as well as its nutritional value. The two parts of the egg require different cooking temperatures because they have different chemical components. 'The albumen is mainly composed of water and proteins,' said Emilia Di Lorenzo, a graduate student in Dr Di Maio's lab at the University of Naples Federico II who recently published a paper on foaming pizza. 'Yolk, on the other hand, is much richer in nutrients.' Hard-boiling an egg is a popular approach that calls for at least 10 minutes of immersion in boiling water. That is long enough for the yolk to be thoroughly cooked. But it's also plenty of time for the albumen's proteins to unfold and clump, expelling water molecules as they become heated. The approach can also create a green ring around the yolk, which indicates the presence of smelly ferrous sulfide. 'Many times people say that they don't like the rubberiness of the egg white, or the graininess of the yolk in a hard-boiled egg,' said Nelson Serrano-Bahri, a chef and the director of innovation at the American Egg Board, the egg industry's main trade association, which has lately been dealing with soaring prices and worries about the bird flu. How to boil an egg? Scientists claim to have cracked the Recipe A soft boil, on the other hand, needs a much shorter cooking period. That keeps the albumen from turning hard — but may also keep the yolk too soft. Ms. Di Lorenzo explained that the yolk is rich in lipids which, when heated, become more fluid. Though some people prefer a runny yolk, others find it revolting. The scientists' new method calls for alternating between boiling and lukewarm water: The egg gets two minutes in 212-degree water, followed by two minutes at 86 degrees, with the cycle repeated eight times. A third method, known as sous vide, cooks an egg for an hour in a water bath of 150 degrees Fahrenheit. That's the ideal temperature for the yolk, but the prolonged exposure is less optimal for the albumen because the water is not hot enough to denature its proteins. Di Lorenzo was blunt about the sous vide approach: 'It's runny. I am not a big fan.' The scientists' new method, derived with the help of fluid dynamics software, calls for alternating between boiling and lukewarm water: The egg gets two minutes in 212-degree water, followed by two minutes at 86 degrees, with the cycle repeated eight times. Dr. Di Maio explained that the average temperature of the two immersions, 150 degrees, is ideal for the yolk, while the hotter bath is sufficient to cook the albumen. 'The very key of our method is to have a well-cooked albumen without wasting the yolk,' Dr. Di Maio said. Relative to the other methods, the periodic baths did a better job of preserving the egg's nutrients, the study found. The authors noted a higher concentration of polyphenols, compounds that protect against DNA damage. 'It's probably brilliant — but who is the method for?' asked Deb Perelman, who runs the popular Smitten Kitchen blog. 'For home cooking, there's always a necessary balance of perfect versus a reasonable effort.' Her preferred foolproof method involves a long ice bath after the egg is cooked. In a recipe for The New York Times, J. Kenji López-Alt proposed steaming the egg in a single inch of water. 'It's a matter of taste,' Ms. Di Lorenzo said. If science is universal, food is deeply personal. Some people even eat raw eggs. There is one big drawback to the new Italian technique. 'It's more difficult to peel the periodic egg because everything is softer,' Dr. Di Maio said. But Serrano-Bahri said that the Egg Board was on the case. 'We are running a study to figure out that,' he said. 'I could have an answer for you in the coming months.' — NYT
New York Times
06-02-2025
- Science
- New York Times
How to Boil an Egg? Scientists Claim to Have Cracked the Recipe.
A colleague approached Ernesto Di Maio, a materials scientist in Naples, Italy, and an expert in plastic foams, with a blunt suggestion: 'You should do something cooler.' The colleague had a project in mind, Dr. Di Maio recalled. He wanted a perfectly boiled egg. The task was harder than it might seem, as many home cooks know. The yolk and the egg white, or albumen, have different chemical compositions, which call for different heating temperatures. Dr. Di Maio and his colleagues also welcomed the chance to one-up the Michelin-star chef Carlo Cracco, an egg evangelist who charges $52 for an egg yolk dish at his restaurant in Milan. The scientists devised a way of cooking an egg that requires no special culinary skill or fancy gadgets. It took about 300 hundred eggs, though the researchers 'didn't eat all of them,' said Pellegrino Musto, a polymer expert at the National Research Council of Italy. The researchers said their method, published on Thursday, preserves the distinct textures of the egg as well as its nutritional value. The two parts of the egg require different cooking temperatures because they have different chemical components. 'The albumen is mainly composed of water and proteins,' said Emilia Di Lorenzo, a graduate student in Dr. Di Maio's lab at the University of Naples Federico II who recently published a paper on foaming pizza. 'Yolk, on the other hand, is much richer in nutrients.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
