# How geeky is YOUR hardboiled egg? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-geeky-is-your-hardboiled-egg/352835 "2006-04-16T01:19:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-geeky-is-your-hardboiled-egg/352835/1 "2006-04-16T01:19:32Z")
Today I made myself a [65-degree egg](http://www.discover.com/issues/feb-06/features/cooking-for-eggheads/). Actually, to keep the water at 65°C, I had to put my gas burner on its absolute lowest setting and monkey with it constantly, so it was more of a wildly - fluctuating - between - 60 - and - 70 - degree egg. I’d still call it an successful experiment. > [@](#): > > Recall that when an egg cooks, its proteins first unwind and then link to form a rigidifying mesh. But not all its proteins solidify at the same temperature. Ovotransferrin, the first of the egg-white proteins to uncoil, begins to set at around 61 degrees Celsius, or 142°F. Ovalbumin, the most abundant egg-white protein, coagulates at 184°F. Yolk proteins generally fall in between, with most starting to solidify when they approach 158°F. Thus, cooking an egg at 158°F or so should achieve both a firmed-up yolk and still-tender whites, since at that low temperature only some of the egg-white proteins will have coagulated. The texture of the whites was really nice, like custard, and the yolk was firm, moist, and vividly yellow-orange. If you have an egg, an hour, a pot of water, and a good kitchen thermometer, give it a try! I’m going to try one at 70 degrees next—I hope my stove will be less squirrely at a slightly higher setting. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-geeky-is-your-hardboiled-egg/352835/2 "2006-04-16T02:14:33Z")
Very curious. I never cease to be amazed at the odd bits of information I am exposed to by my fellow Dopers. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-geeky-is-your-hardboiled-egg/352835/3 "2006-04-16T03:48:13Z")
Congratulations, you’ve achieved jury rigged sous vide. Next time, try the oven instead. You can get a much more even heat. Judicious applications of cold and boiling water can also nudge it back into line if it starts wandering off. Try low temperature poaching of some other things. Chicken breasts come out moist and tender. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-geeky-is-your-hardboiled-egg/352835/4 "2006-04-16T07:20:47Z")
Here I was thinking this thread was going to be about someone writing a calculus equation or drawing computer components on their Easter eggs…