Researchers have called this process of boiling eggs “periodic cooking.”. Scientists have developed a perfect way to prepare eggs. However, it takes half an hour to cook the eggs.
According to a BBC report, there is no way to deny the difficulty of cooking eggs well. Breakfast is often disappointing because of the boiled eggs. Sometimes, it is seen that the eggs are overboiled. The yolk becomes arid and wrinkled when the eggshells are broken, and the toast is dipped. On a different note, the egg whites remain raw if undercooked and have a musty smell.
The main reason for the problem is that the egg’s yolk and albumin (white part) are cooked at different temperatures. Safflower or the yolk requires only 65°C (149°F) to boil, but albumin requires even more heat, about 85°C (185°F).
So, boiling eggs traditionally means reconciling these two opposite truths. If the egg is boiled at 100°C (212°F), the egg white will cook properly quickly but be completely solid. Some people prefer hard yolks, but the issue frustrates those who prefer soft or semi-liquid yolks.
Another method of cooking eggs is sawdust. For one hour, the eggs are kept in water at 60 to 70 degrees Celsius (140-158 degrees Fahrenheit). The eggs are soft and semi-liquid, but the white part can sometimes remain raw and sticky.
But there’s nothing to worry about because researchers have discovered the ideal method for perfectly cooking eggs. They have also shown that eggs cooked this way are delicious and more beneficial for health.
In a new finding, researchers led by Pellegrino Musto, a scientist at the Pozzuoli branch of Italy’s National Research Council (NRC), first simulated the process of boiling eggs using computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
CFD is a methodology that uses computers to predict the flow of liquids and gases. It works based on fundamental physics principles such as the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy.
A new approach from this simulation has been proposed—one that may be utterly unfamiliar to most professional and amateur cooks, but it can lead to better results.
This method is called “periodic cooking.” The eggs are placed in a pot of boiling water at 100°C (212°F) and then transferred to a different bowl of water at 30°C (86°F). For best results, eggs must be transferred between these two temperatures every two minutes, and this process must continue for 32 minutes.
If you are willing to work hard in this process, the results will be as expected. The researchers’ actual boiled eggs had an extraordinary taste.
Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), the researchers analysed the flexibility, flavour, and chemical composition of the eggs cooked in the new process. They found that the flavour and nutrient quality were much better than those of the traditional method.
The results showed that periodically cooked egg yolks were as soft as eggs cooked in the sawed method, which is a positive aspect. However, unlike eggs cooked using the sawed method, they did not contain the white part (albumin) raw or excess liquid; instead, they were closer to boiled eggs.
According to the paper’s authors, the possible reason for this is that the temperature of the egg white fluctuated from 35°C to 100°C during periodic cooking, while the temperature of the yolk remained stable at 67°C for the entire time.
Most interestingly, chemical analysis has shown that periodically cooked egg yolks contain more polyphenols than eggs cooked by other methods. Polyphenols are found mainly in plants and are a type of micronutrient beneficial for health. These compounds have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Plants typically produce polyphenols to defend against adverse environmental conditions (such as ultraviolet radiation, drought, or insect attack). However, recent studies have shown that they also benefit human health. Observational studies have shown that consuming more polyphenols in the diet can reduce the risk of heart disease, certain types of cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Therefore, scientists have found another healthy reason to eat eggs cooked in the periodic method and toast for breakfast.