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Agence France-Presse

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.
Cooking an egg is a delicate art because the white and the yolk start to solidify at different temperatures.
Chefs have to choose a “compromise temperature”, said the authors of a study published on February 6 in the journal Communications Engineering.
With a hard-boiled egg – eg cooked for 12 minutes at 100 degrees Celsius – all parts of the egg have a final temperature of 100 degrees, well above the ideal end temperature, particularly for the yolk.
In the case of egg sous-vide, which is cooked between 60 degrees and 70 degrees, the final egg temperature is 65 degrees. But while this is the ideal end temperature for the yolk, it is too low for the proteins in the egg white.

As for the soft-boiled egg, cooked for six minutes at 100 degrees, the study 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 100 degrees and another saucepan of water at 30 degrees 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 67 degrees,” namely the mean value between the temperatures of the saucepan of boiling water and the saucepan of lukewarm water, said Pellegrino Musto, research director at the National Research Council of Italy’s Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials and one of the study’s authors.

The authors then tested this method of “cooking in cycles” and found that the result was “more similar to the soft boiled when analysing the texture of its albumen, while it is very similar to the sous vide sample when considering its yolk”, the study says.
Cooking in cycles also has an “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 with regard to 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.


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Food and Drinks

Italian scientists claim to have cracked how to cook the ‘perfect egg’ in 32 minutes

Italian polymer scientists’ method of cooking the perfect egg involves two pans with water at different temperatures, and 32 minutes cooking time.  Photo: AP

This image provided by authors of the Italian study shows the results of different methods of boiling eggs. Photo: Shutterstock

Cooking eggs sous-vide results in a good yolk and undercooked egg white, according to the study. Photo: Shutterstock 

Hard-boiled eggs have yolks that are overcooked, and contain fewer healthy polyphenols than the 32-minute egg, Italian scientists say. Photo: Shutterstock

What are the best, healthiest vegetables? The ones that you’ll actually eat, experts say

What is the healthiest way to prepare vegetables? Experts explain. Photo: Shutterstock

An image of steak with grilled vegetables. The best vegetables are the ones you actually want to eat, says Carlene Thomas. Photo: Shutterstock

Blanching is the process of tossing vegetables into boiling water for a minute or two before quickly cooling them to stop them from further cooking. Shutterstock

Amber Pankonin is a dietitian in Nebraska. Photo: Instagram/chefamber

A plate of sautéed green beans. Photo: Amber Pankonin via AP

Wine or coffee with your cheese? Why espresso is the ideal match for dairy produce

Coffee goes just as well as wine with cheese, say experts, who offer pairing tips. Photo: Shutterstock

Coffees of a single origin are preferable for pairings with cheese. Photo: Shutterstock

Cheese is best stored in a cheese bell jar in the fridge. If you do not have a cheese bell jar, store it in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. Photo: Shutterstock 

The origin of spring rolls, and why Chinese people eat them to celebrate Lunar New Year

Fried spring rolls are considered by Chinese people to be an auspicious food to eat at Lunar New Year. Photo: Shutterstock

Wrapping spring rolls for a wedding. Photo: Getty Images

Fried spring rolls with red and white sauces. The snack evolved to the form we know today only in China’s Qing dynasty, some 1,000 years after it was first documented. Photo: Getty Images

The cover of Lin’s book. 

Grace Lin, the author of Chinese Menu: The History, Myths and Legends Behind Your Favourite Foods. Photo: Grace Lin

A painting of Cai Fuyi, a government minister in Ming dynasty China whose wife some credit with inventing what is known today as the spring roll. 

Vietnamese prawn spring rolls wrapped with fresh rice paper. Shutterstock

Indonesian lumpia, spring rolls in the form of a rolled omelette filled with bamboo shoots, meat and other ingredients. Shutterstock

Lumpiang Shanghai are Filipino spring rolls with a filling of minced pork, their name a nod to the snack’s Chinese origin. Photo: Shutterstock

‘Mysterious’ fish that’s famous in Fukuoka, and why it is sumo wrestlers’ food of choice

Fukuoka chef Kazutaka Hagiwara prepares longtooth grouper. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Ingredients for “chanko nabe” or sumo wrestler’s stew, including longtooth grouper, a fish Japanese call kue which is a speciality of the southern city of Fukuoka. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Kazutaka Hagiwara, chef de cuisine of sushi restaurant Tomozuna on the top floor of the Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk, gets to work on a longtooth grouper in its kitchen. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Hitoshi Hirokawa, executive director of Fukuoka’s Nagahama Fish Market, calls longtooth grouper “the most famous fish in Fukuoka”. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

The sharp teeth of the longtooth grouper make it difficult for sushi chefs to handle. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Dishes prepared using the flesh of the longtooth grouper fish, including sashimi (front). Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

A longtooth grouper at the seafood market in Fukuoka. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Longtooth grouper stew. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Scientists claim to have come up with a 32-minute two-pan solution, and say it offers the best taste and nutrition


Scientists claim to have come up with a 32-minute two-pan solution, and say it offers the best taste and nutrition.


Science

Offbeat

Italy