Eggs.
- Are amazing little things. How does a hen peck at grains, and convert that into something as delicious as an egg?
- Are two ingredients, not one. The yolk and the white have distinctly different properties.
- Are very sensitive to temperature
I think this picture shows the last two points best. The yolk is set, but the white is still runny :
Egg at 70 degrees C
This is what happens sometimes if you hold an egg at a tiny window around 70 degrees C. At this temperature, the egg white just turns opaque, but does not set. The yolk became a soft solid.
And look what happens just 7 degrees cooler, at 63 degrees C.
63 degrees egg, on sauteed mushrooms
This experiment started with me buying a canton of beautiful Kampong Eggs from Uncle William during the Singapore Farm Festival.
Uncle William
The next day, I toyed a bit with my rice cooker, keeping it in the “Keep Warm” mode and using a thermocouple to monitor the temperature. By messing around with the cover, I managed to keep the temperature at specific points for some time. That is to say, I rigged a waterbath that was good enough for the task of poaching eggs.
Thermocouples are useful, and not just for science experimentsThe eggs were poached in their shells, for a good 20 minutes.
The eggs were poached in their shells, for over 20 minutes.
Its important to understand the science that is happening here. Normal people, who don’t suffer my obsessions, Â would “half boil” eggs with boiling water, and use time as the key parameter. It’s of course, possible to produce beautiful eggs this way. But what does happen is that the egg is not at the same temperature inside. The white next to the shell gets quite hot, the yolk, right in the center, stays relatively cool. If you cook eggs in boiling water for a few minutes, you will get a layer of set white next to the shell, a little raw white close to the yolk, and a relatively cool yolk.
With the water bath, we are using temperature as the key parameter, and trying to cook the egg long enough to get the temperature to be even throughout, yolk and white. There is a narrow band of temperature, around 70 degrees, where the yolk is set, and white runny. This is almost never observed if you use water warmer than 70 degrees. You just have to set a 70 degree water bath and wait a long time so you do not overcook the white.
Kampong and Quail Eggs, in a nice warm bath
But, I do agree, 63 is still the best. At this temperature. the texture of the yolk and white reach a seamless and beautiful harmony, and you get an orb of pure heaven.
Eggs. Aren’t they pretty?
