A recent Discover magazine had an article about French food scientist Herve This (prounced "theese"). Apparently, boiling an egg makes it tough and rubbery because the boiling point of water (212 degreesF) is hot enough to coagulate too many proteins. Cooking at lower temperatures gels enough proteins to set the egg without overcooking.

A "hard boiled" egg cooked at about 160 to 175 degrees F (65 to 67 degrees C) has a white that is firm and tender with a fully cooked yolk. The tender white holds it's shape, but it has a silky, almost creamy texture.

Because it's difficult to hold hot water at the right temperature, the article suggests baking in a low oven for an hour or so (timing is casual). One time I baked eggs at 175 degrees F for an hour. The next time, I forgot they were cooking and probably cooked them for 2 1/2 hours. No difference! The center of the egg just has to come up to temperature, but cooking longer doesn't seem to make them tougher. The lowest I can set my oven is 175, a bit above the optimum temperature, but it still yielded a tender egg.

Frankly, the first time I made eggs this way, they seemed pretty weird as I'm so accustomed to the rubbery texture of regular hardboiled eggs. But now that I'm used to them, they are lovely.

Herve This works with chef Paul Gagnaire ,and their experiments are described on his website. Here is the link describing experiments with eggs: The 65-degree C Egg (tender eggs)

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~~~Teelbee
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That's pretty interesting. My hard boiled egg whites usually turn out well but then again, the boiling point here in Denver is around 202 degrees because of the altitude.

I've found that it makes a real difference to immediately pull the pan off the flame as soon as it reaches a full boil, cover it and then let it sit. I put the pot over the area on my stove where the pilot light is because it's pretty warm there.

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Esther

Teel, interesting article and thanks for sharing. I never would have thought about making boiled eggs in the oven.

Esther, I make boiled eggs the same way by pulling them off the heat once they reach full boil. Also keeps the yolk from turning that nasty green color, which results from overcooking.

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Ozzie's Place

Exactly! I can handle a rubbery white but the nasty green yolk just tastes bad.

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Esther

Very cool! I'll definately have to try this.

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so do you put them in the oven in a pot of water, or just by themselves...

do you have to prick the shell....

c

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carolyn in texas
started 8/11/03 327/268/177
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I just put the eggs in a dry pan. I don't prick the shell, and they did not crack.

However, I notice most of the yolks are all pulled to one side of the egg instead of being more centered. It occurs to me that letting the eggs float in hot water in the oven might give you a better centered yolk. Dunno, tho - haven't tried it.

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~~~Teelbee
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start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

This is fascinating! I can't wait to give it a try!

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I will have to wait till I eat the hard boiled eggs I have in the fridge... When I cook hard boiled eggs, I really don't cook them, I let them slowly come up to the boil then cut off the heat and let them cook in the hot water for about 30-45 minutes.... This makes for softer whites and sometimes the yokes don't cook all the way, which is fine with me.... Tender, and tastier...

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carolyn in texas
started 8/11/03 327/268/177
5/20/08/ - 348
onward thru the fog

I read this somewhere and tried it....and it works! Boil for 10-12 minutes, then pull off heat and rinse in cold water (I just drain, then put ice & water in the pot) to stop the cooking process. When they cool, the yolks are always pretty and yellow. I was so glad to learn that after all these years of wondering why the yolks were discolored.

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Well the Discover article suggested that 212 degrees, the boiling point of water, is too hot to make a tender egg white with a yellow center. That thinking is based on the number of proteins that gel at different temperatures. Here's snippet from the article:

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~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

I decided to try this method this morning using the variation Terry mused about trying of baking the eggs in water to get the yolks more centered. I put the eggs in a deep baking pan and covered them with tap water and placed them in a 170 degree oven and left for church. 2 hours and 15 minutes later I removed 1 egg to test how it was cooked. The white had not even begun to set, at least as far as I could tell. As I needed my oven for dinner, I could not wait any longer to see how long it would take so I put the eggs and water in a pot and quickly brought them up to a boil and am proceeding with my usual method of removing the eggs from the heat, covering the pan and letting them sit for 30 minutes. When I try this again, I will heat the water first and see if that will make any difference.

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Henry

I tried baking my eggs, but the whites were not cooked enough for my taste, although the yolks were just right. They were also much better hot. I tried them cold, and really didn't care for them. So, I'll probably go back to my bringing them to a boil and then letting them sit covered for 10 minutes. Works great for me. Thanks for the idea, anyway. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

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Nita