Why some high end restaurants refuse to serve boiled eggs

[kenny]

Why?
In a word ... time.
To prepare them ... perfectly ... it takes 32 minutes.

It takes 32 minutes to boil a perfect egg, according to science. We agree.

Italian scientists claim to have found the scientifically best way to make a hard-boiled egg. After trying it for ourselves, we can confirm that the egg was delicious.

www.nationalgeographic.com

If you don't care to give Nat. Geo. your email address to read the article, here's a Snip-O-Rama:

This has me intrigued.
I may try it ... that is, now that I have an induction cooktop that can hold water at exactly 86°F, within one degree.
Well actually any temp between 77° and 482° F ... No joke.

Maybe I'll start another thread about it.

 

[Lookinagain]

I heard that on the radio today. I've always thought steaming eggs was the best way to do hard cooked eggs. I'm not going to do the 32 minute thing though. I just don't care enough.

 

[lulu_ma]

Airfry them-so easy!

 

[Lookinagain]

Airfry them-so easy!

Really? I've never heard of that. I'll check it out.

 

[dk168]

Fried, sunny side up, salt and pepper, or a drizzle of dark soya sauce and oriental chilli oil with shrimp.

32min to boil an egg? I read that in the newspaper yesterday and though someone has too much time in his/her hand to spare!

DK

 

[kenny]

M sister recently told me that even as a child I always tried to figure out the ultimate way to do things, with no regard to how much time and trouble it was.
I'd say it's one of my hobbies.

When it's something that interests me, I relish a challenge.

If I ran a busy restaurant in a 5 star hotel would I permit my staff to spend 32 minutes on a boiled egg?
Of course not!

But I'm not running a restaurant.
I'm semi-retired, and free to pursue my curiosities.
Some of my FCD pics took all day and destroyed my house as I moved things and lighting around.
All that matters is the result.

It seems entirely reasonable that egg yolk and white, having very different properties, would call for very different cooking temps to optimize flavor, nutrition and texture of each.

The alternating two-minute steps make perfect sense.
The firsts 2 min of heat heats only the white a bit.
Then the next 2 min of cold prevents the warming white from getting too hot but lets some of its heat into the yolk.
Each step continues this controlled process to gradually get each to their ideal temps.

On the other hand, microwaving food heats by applying RF energy at the resonant frequency of water.
This vibrates the H2O molecules, which generates the heat.
Heat does not travel from outside to inside; the entire item gets the same energy.

But cooking, by applying heat, heats up the outside of the food first, then only gradually does the heat reach the center (where the yolk is).
Look at a medium-rare steak.
The outside is more cooked than the center because it took time for the heat to reach the center, and by then the outside cooked much longer at that temp.
The same steak microwaved will not have a nicely seared outside and inside that gradually varied from cooked to more rare at the center.

I don't think the researchers expect anyone to actually do this.
I'm certainly not suggesting it.

Just some fun.

 

[pearlsngems]

'My first reaction was "32 minutes? No way!" But actually boiling a dozen eggs (what I do) does take some time-- I just don't stand at the stove watching them, you know? There are such things as timers.

Here is my method:
First of all, I buy eggs that have thicker shells that don't tend to crack while being boiled. For me that is large brown eggs from Walmart.
They can't be very fresh eggs-- those don't peel easily.

Place the eggs in a pan, cover them with water and place a lid on pan. Turn burner to medium high.
When water is boiling, set timer for 7 minutes. Reduce heat a little but keep it boiling.
After 7 minutes, take pan off heat but keep lid on. Set timer for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, run cold water over eggs in pan, then set the pan on counter for eggs to cool in the cold water. Replace the water as needed. When eggs are cool, place in fridge.

All in all this takes at least 20 minutes from start to finish. So yeah, it's a slow process.

 

[SparklieBug]

I read this a few days ago, and decided that I could only do this when I'm not hungry. LOL! @kenny, have you tried this yet?

On a tangent: Our neighbour's 11-year-old (at the time) son delivered some perfectly cooked "jammy" eggs, complete with instructions how to make them. Adorable! And the eggs were delicious!

 

[lulu_ma]

Really? I've never heard of that. I'll check it out.

So easy. 300F for 12 mins for a full cooked yolk. Ice bath, then peel.

 

[Matata]

Plop egg in water, bring water to boil, turn off stove, cover the pot, 6-7 minutes for creamy but not runny or dry yolk; run eggs under cold water to stop the cooking and they always peel easily.

 

[Rebel Rebel]

The Cuisinart egg cooker is fantastic, can't praise it enough. I have the older 7-egg model, and have gifted many over the years. I love it so much that I've kept a new one stashed in a pantry because I was worried it would fail. Nope!

It's probably my all-time favorite kitchen gadget ever.

 

[RMOO]

We use the Martha Stewart method: Place eggs in pot, cover with water. Bring pot to rolling boil, then remove from heat, cover and let stand for 18 minutes. Dunk in cold water to cool. I'll have to time it next time to see if the whole process compares to this method.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Fried, sunny side up, salt and pepper, or a drizzle of dark soya sauce and oriental chilli oil with shrimp.

32min to boil an egg? I read that in the newspaper yesterday and though someone has too much time in his/her hand to spare!

DK

i saw the headline in the paper too
i thought 32 minutes ? i dont even have 32 seconds to open the story
im a poached egg fan myself, runny yoke
now that the whole country has gone free range the eggs just from the shop look and taste amazing
but sometimes i get a hankering for a runny boiled egg with heavily buttered soldiers - i have egg cups in the cupboard

 

[kenny]

... @kenny, have you tried this yet?
...

Not yet.
When I do I'll also boil some "control" eggs my usual way.
Then I can compare them side by side and post the results.

I'll be selling tickets to read that riveting post.
Tickets will cost 32 minutes each.

I'll do anything here for some attention.

 

[seaurchin]

If I go to a five-star restaurant and I want a boiled egg, they better bring me a motherf*cking boiled egg!

 

[kenny]

If I go to a five-star restaurant and I want a boiled egg, they better bring me a motherf*cking boiled egg!

So that would be a fertilized egg?

 

[canuk-gal]

If I go to a five-star restaurant and I want a boiled egg, they better bring me a motherf*cking boiled egg!

ne'r true words spoken! Except you might not order HBE. You'd get the $30 omelette or benedict. But for us Canadians it would be $40.

 

[kenny]

ne'r true words spoken! Except you might not order HBE. You'd get the $30 omelette or benedict. But for us Canadians it would be $40.

Oh, look on the bright side.
When you're our 51st state it'll only be $25.

Just think, canucks will be great too.

 

[dk168]

If I go to a five-star restaurant and I want a boiled egg, they better bring me a motherf*cking boiled egg!

I went to a starred restaurant run/owned by a French "celebrity" chef, for a posh meal, and one of the courses was a duck egg at the bottom of a cup with some bacon crumbs and some fancy herbs and micro greens.

I was not impressed, not for that price, as I could have done that at home with ease, which I did shortly after returning home.

When I go out to eat at fancy places, I like to be entertained with dishes that I cannot make at home!

DK

 

[canuk-gal]

Oh, look on the bright side.
When you are our 51st state it'll only be $25.
Just think, you'll be great too.

Hoping 20$. Whose & do I kiss?

 

[SparklieBug]

So that would be a fertilized egg?

My sister gave me some eggs from their free-range, all natural (not certified organic but are fed nothing processed), compost-fed and grain=fed chickens. They also had a rooster at the time...which resulted in one fertilized egg in my carton that they had missed when they checked/candled them. Oooooh, not a fan.

 

[Lookinagain]

When I go out to eat at fancy places, I like to be entertained with dishes that I cannot make at home!

I feel exactly the same. I like to cook so if I'm out to dinner I want something that either I can't cook well, or don't have the patience to cook. I'm not going out to get a piece of baked salmon or a filet mignon.

 

[dk168]

I feel exactly the same. I like to cook so if I'm out to dinner I want something that either I can't cook well, or don't have the patience to cook. I'm not going out to get a piece of baked salmon or a filet mignon.

Indeed, I don't go out to eat a burger meal (except fast food, and I make my own burgers) or a steak dinner (I have a farm shop near me that sells beef from its own grass-fed free range herd and they are lovely).

DK

 

[Lookinagain]

Indeed, I don't go out to eat a burger meal (except fast food, and I make my own burgers) or a steak dinner (I have a farm shop near me that sells beef from its own grass-fed free range herd and they are lovely).

DK

I order meat from a group that sells local, grass fed meat. Helps the local farmers and the meat is very good.

 

[Brigid]

When I saw this thread it reminded me of one of my favourite songs (and artist) with an appropriate clip to add to the egg discussion.

Bjork - Venus as a Boy

 

[737liz]

I see your 32 minutes and I raise you a bajillion hours. The craze around swiss/french fancy schmancy places is àn œuf parfait/ perfect egg which is slow cooked for an hour or more. I went to one place that cooked it for 4 hours. It tasted exactly like a 1 hour egg... But I think they just plop it in some tepid water and walk away- the egg doesn't get a full hydrotherapy hot/cold spa treatment.