An Italian study published this week says researchers have found the way to cook a perfect egg — you'll just need 32 minutes to make it happen.
Three things to know:
- The research, published in Communications Engineering, found that the central challenge in cooking the perfect egg lies in its two part-structure. The albumen (or white) and the yolk require two different cooking temperatures.
- Researchers developed a new method dubbed "periodic cooking," which involves transferring the egg back and forth between 212 degree Fahrenheit water and 86 degree water every two minutes for a total of 32 minutes. This way, both parts of the egg are cooked at their optimal temperatures without needing to crack the shell open.
- Their periodically cooked eggs were also found to have a higher nutritional content. Compared to other methods, the cooking technique better preserved the levels of polyphenols, a naturally occurring compound inside the yolk that is proven to help fight inflammation.
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But what even is a perfect egg?
According to these scientists, it's an egg that has the right texture and nutritional content, "with respect to traditional shell-on egg cooking techniques."
But of course, they also recognize that the perfect egg is a matter of personal taste, and insist that this method can be tailored to better meet individual preferences.
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