The Perfect Breakfast Egg: How To Achieve It, According To Scientists

Soft, medium, or hard? Italian researchers have developed the ultimate technique to achieve the perfect consistency for your breakfast egg – all based on science!

The Secret: Periodic Cooking

A research team from Italy has discovered a method to cook the perfect breakfast egg. The trick: Instead of keeping the egg in boiling water, it is alternately submerged in 100°C (212°F) hot and about 30°C (86°F) warm water – for exactly 2 minutes per phase, totaling 32 minutes. This technique, known as “periodic cooking,” ensures a creamy yolk while keeping the egg white firm.

Physics Meets Cooking: The Science Behind the Perfect Egg

So why is traditional egg boiling problematic? Egg white and yolk coagulate at different temperatures. While the egg white sets at around 85°C (185°F), the yolk remains ideally creamy at 65–67°C (149–153°F). Boiling at 100°C (212°F) often results in an undesirably firm yolk, while Sous-vide cooking at 60–70°C (140–158°F) can leave the egg white too soft. The new method combines the best of both worlds: The alternating temperatures keep the yolk soft while ensuring the egg white sets perfectly.

More Than Just Cooking: Why This Technique is Revolutionary

Not only texture and taste benefit from this new method – the nutrient content does too. Scientific analyses show that periodic cooking preserves more valuable proteins and flavonoids (plant-based antioxidants that protect cells from damage) than traditional cooking methods. This is confirmed by measurements that analyze how the egg’s composition changes using light and weight-based assessments of its nutrients.

And the findings go beyond the kitchen: The principle of controlled temperature changes could also be applied in materials science – for example, in hardening, crystallization, or structuring materials.

Sounds revolutionary – but 32 minutes for a breakfast egg? Whether this method will become a practical everyday technique remains to be seen.