Viral: The Right Way to Make a Hard-Boiled Egg (And It's Nothing You Know)
An Italian researcher discovered a new and correct way to boil a hard-boiled egg, in a manner that doesn't break down all the antioxidants during cooking.
Making a hard-boiled egg is considered one of the simplest tasks in the kitchen, but research proves that achieving the perfect result requires precision and patience. In fact, a hard-boiled egg requires two separate cooking times and two different temperatures to reach an ideal result, as the white and yolk cook at different rates.
An intriguing study conducted by the scientist Pellegrino Musto, from the National Research Council of Italy, found that it's easy to miss the correct cooking point, often leading to an over-dry yolk or unstable white. "One of the common problems in boiling a hard-boiled egg is the appearance of a greenish tint around the yolk, caused by the oxidation of iron and sulfur in the egg. To avoid this, precise cooking techniques are needed, which is exactly what I did with my research team," explains Musto in an interview.
According to him, the ideal technique for cooking eggs involves two phases, at two different temperatures - in accordance with physical laws of mass, motion, and energy conservation. Musto named the method he invented: "Cyclic Cooking."
In the first phase, cook the eggs at a temperature of 167 degrees Fahrenheit (75 degrees Celsius) for 12 minutes.
In the second phase, cook the eggs at a temperature of 185 degrees Fahrenheit (85 degrees Celsius) for an additional 20 minutes, which allows for the stabilization of the yolk without drying it out.
"This process ensures a soft yet stable egg white and a creamy, moist yolk, without the unwanted greenish tint," explains Musto, adding that this method also preserves more antioxidants in the egg after cooking. "When you cook the eggs gradually in two phases, you prevent the breakdown of important nutritional components, making the hard-boiled eggs much healthier."
