The science of boiling an egg-WOW!

**Hilary B** · 04-02-2010, 09:33 PM

Originally posted by lettucegrow! View Post

I heard on the radio today that egg boiling times vary depending on how far above sea level you are. I couldn't get my head round this but it's to do with boiling point falling in relation to atmospheric pressure. To find out more and why I googled this fact,as you do,and found this site and do you know there's a whole science about egg boiling

Take a look at this site Boiling an Egg
- amazing

What it doesn't say is that if the mountain is high enough you will never manage to boil the egg without the assistance of a pressure cooker, because the water will boil at below the temperature required to actually get the egg cooked. Of course the answer is to fry or scramble the egg!

**kirsty b** · 04-02-2010, 10:24 PM

I can't boil an egg

I can make bread, choux pastry and croissants from scratch as well as cakes/cookies and put tea on table every flippin night.....but I cannot soft boil an egg!! It either comes out hard boiled or snotty, never dippy.
Now the OH does it for me

**Flummery** · 05-02-2010, 11:04 AM

Here near Hull - 3ft above sea level, we don't have these problems!

**Hilary B** · 05-02-2010, 02:57 PM

Originally posted by kirsty b View Post

I can't boil an egg

I can make bread, choux pastry and croissants from scratch as well as cakes/cookies and put tea on table every flippin night.....but I cannot soft boil an egg!! It either comes out hard boiled or snotty, never dippy.
Now the OH does it for me

I used to have a wonderfully simple gadget called Eggzactly. It was a flat piece of plastic with a hole that was wider ar one end than the other. You place the egg in the hole, and where the widest part of the egg touches, you read off the time. Place the egg, at room temp, in boiling water, and time from when the water returns to the boil, perfect egg every time!
That was before the house fire, an I've never been able to find another one!
There is a thing you put in the water with the eggs that changes colour (red to black) and when the black has gone in far enough, that is how done the egg is, but it isn't as accurate, and you have to watch it!

**OllieMartin** · 05-02-2010, 03:04 PM

Originally posted by Hilary B View Post

I used to have a wonderfully simple gadget called Eggzactly. It was a flat piece of plastic with a hole that was wider ar one end than the other. You place the egg in the hole, and where the widest part of the egg touches, you read off the time. Place the egg, at room temp, in boiling water, and time from when the water returns to the boil, perfect egg every time!

I always wondered about that sort of thing, because doesn't it make a difference how big the pan is, how much water you're boiling it in, and whether you're using gas or electric? All of these would change the time it took to return a pan to the boil.
I've always guesstimated and am about 80% successful.

**Hilary B** · 05-02-2010, 03:25 PM

Originally posted by OllieMartin View Post

I always wondered about that sort of thing, because doesn't it make a difference how big the pan is, how much water you're boiling it in, and whether you're using gas or electric? All of these would change the time it took to return a pan to the boil.
I've always guesstimated and am about 80% successful.

If the water is boiling, and deep enough to cover the egg (and if it isn't then it won't work anyway) then any difference in 'time to return to boiling' will be pretty small.

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The science of boiling an egg-WOW!

The science of boiling an egg-WOW!

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