While a boiled egg is a popular component on the breakfast plates of many across the country, an intriguing new study suggests an alternative method for cooking the staple morning dish, but it would take a bit longer than expected.
The innovative technique is claimed to offer numerous advantages, including a creamier yolk and a firmer white, as well as a potential nutritional boost.
According to the method, one would need a saucepan of boiling water at 100C and another bowl at 30C, transferring the egg between the two every two minutes over a period of 32 minutes.
Emilia Di Lorenzo, co-author of the study from the University of Naples Federico II, highlighted the differences in yolk texture when using this method compared to traditional soft-boiling: “The real difference here is found in the yolk: an egg yolk in a conventional soft-boiled egg is cooked for a total of six minutes at a temperature that slowly increases from 20C up to 72-80C. This will result in a final texture that is quite runny, almost liquid in the centre, and more compact and consistent in the border,” she explained to the Times.
Di Lorenzo further detailed how her method stands out, saying: “On the other hand, the egg yolk in a periodic egg is cooked for a total of 32 minutes at a constant temperature of 65-67C. This will render a yolk that has the same consistency in all its parts, both centre and border, and is not runny nor liquid.”
The expert highlighted the potential benefits of a beloved breakfast staple but conceded her preparation method might not suit everyone’s busy lifestyle: “Our lives nowadays are always very busy, and I do see how difficult it would be for the average person to introduce periodic cooking to cook dinner after work,” reports the Express.
In-depth chemical analysis revealed that, in addition to being tastier, the yolks of periodically cooked eggs contained polyphenols — a type of micronutrient drawing keen interest from health enthusiasts for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Polyphenols are prevalent in various plants but also occur in some eggs.