The 165-175 Degree Egg
Aug 31, 2008I don’t actually like eggs that much. When I do eat them, they are likely scrambled, and covered with hot sauce, and I’m probably hungover. Last weekend, I tried Eggs Florentine for the first time and barely ate half of it.
But something intrigued me this morning after reading about the 65-degree egg on kottke.org. So I whipped out my thermometer, a big pot, and started experimenting:
Runny eggs especially freak me out, so I opted to try a 165 and 175 degree egg, as opposed to the 149-degree egg. I pulled the first one out, and broke the shell too hard, but the inside was unlike any other egg I’d had. It had the consistency of custard, and the yellow was putty-like. I particularly hate the chalky yellows of regular boiled eggs (henceforth known as the 212-degree egg), so this was incredible. The only problem was that I took it out too early, and the texture wasn’t consistent throughout the egg.
I plowed on with the second egg and raised the temperature, hoping for a more consistent, and firmer egg. That’s exactly what I got:
This too was better than any boiled egg I’d ever had before, but it was too close to what I’m used to having. It tasted and felt great, but wasn’t as creamy as the 165-degree egg. I think I under-cooked the 165-degree egg, and perhaps over-cooked the 175-degree egg.
In short: I’m never boiling eggs the same way, and I’m becoming more comfortable eating eggs.
