More than you have ever wanted to know about hard boiled eggs and then some.
FOREWORD
I will go out on a limb and say 99% of people that will start reading this post will not finish it.
Ok, on to eggs.
The following has be extracted from Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking, the Science and Lore of the Kitchen."
"There are two peculiarities associated with hard-boiled eggs. One is the occasional difficulty encountered when peeling the egg. It turns out that peelability is affected by the pH of the egg white, and so by the eggs freshness. If the pH is below 8.9 - in a fresh egg it is closer to 8.0 - then the inner membrane tends to adhere to the albumen, were as at the figure typical after three days of refrigeration, around 9.2, the problem no longer exists."
"In any case, peelin trouble can alway be balanced by the pleasant knowledge that the eggs must be very fresh. Carefully piercing the air cell with a pin may allow some of hte cooking water to leak between the memberanes and so ease their seperation from the egg, but this also tends to make the egg crack. Modern science generally agrees with the empirically derived advice given by the 14th-century
Menagier de Paris: 'Item, whether they be soft or hard, as soon as they are cooked put them in cold water: they will be easier to peel.'
About what
GilesGuthrie mentioned.
"The other oddity about hard-boiled eggs is the occasional apperance of a greenish-gray discoloration on the surface of the yolk. The color is caused by a harmless compound of iron and sulfer called ferrous sulfide, which is formed only when the egg is heated, especially in the case of an extra-alkaline less-than-fresh egg."
"The way to minimize the discoloration is to minimize the amount of hydrogen sulfide that reches the yolk. First, cook the eggs only as long as is necessary to set the yolk. (Tender whites can be obtained by cooking eggs at no more than a simmer-about 185 deg. F. (85 deg. C)- for 25 to 35 minutes. This relatively gentle heat keeps the whites from hardening excessively while the energy slowly makes it's way to the yolk.)
Then plunge the cooked eggs immediately into cold water. THis lower the pressure of the gas in the outer regions of the white, since cool gases exert less pressure than hot, and cool protien loses less sulfur than hot. Consequently the hydrogen sulfide diffuses away fromthe yolk, toward the region of lower pressure at the surface. Finally, peel the eggs promptly: this also helps pull the gas away from the yolk."
Whew, I'm sure the above is riddled with typos as I was reading the book and typing it at the same time.
milefile
Check this out:
t-mag.com's FAQ's.
There is TON's of great info regarding diet and training. Definately check it out!
Laters all. Time to go cook some eggs.
