I am about to describe …. A solution to an age old problem … an old age problem…. An old egg problem    ….  A problem with time and resource management.

Lots of times when I boil eggs I am in a hurry  … I have a “hurry up and boil some eggs” recipe … I have used the hurry recipe for years  … since I was a child … it involves a lot of stress  …. trying to run around and do other things  …  the stress of attempting to prevent boilovers, burnt pans, raw eggs, and other minor catastrophes.  …. It just isn’t conducive to a peaceful existence.

 

I decided I need a laid back egg recipe …. So I can just turn the stove on low heat and walk away … then come back when I am ready … no mess from boiling over … no burnt offerings  … no destroyed pans ….

I tried this in the microwave and several tragedies occurred  …. the microwave egg boiling tests are an ongoing project …. It is awaiting time allocation from the iksperimentalist time allocation bureaucracy …. I shall finish writing about that project ….  After   I have the solution.

I formulated a test plan

Slow cook some eggs and take one out every now and then and examine the process progress.

I put dozen eggs in a thick aluminum pan on medium heat  … that’s number three on my stove  … the idea is to keep the water hot but below the boiling point ….. boiling has rapid environmental consequences  … for the local environment that is  ….  I looked for a carbon footprint and did not find one ….. I believe the carbon has to separate from the hydrogen in the hydrocarbons before it can walk away and leave carbon footprints.

Grease is a hydrocarbon and I have seen lots if grease footprints … so we must distinguish between carbon footprints and hydrocarbon footprints …. I have also seen footprints made from a person walking through powdered carbon … those were man-made carbon footprints … today we are only concerned about egg-made carbon footprints.

I was timing the eggs as they cooked

After 35 minutes I extracted an egg and did a few tests    … it was hard to peel    … it was soft boiled …. The albumin was easily fractured … cross-linking polymerization was incomplete  …. the yolk was still a little gooey in the center.

If you try this at home be aware that past results are not a guarantee of future performances … besides your stove and pans are different than mine …. And for sure your water is not as good as my pure rocky mountain spring water.

 

47 minutes into the process   … I extracted another egg and put it in a glass of cold water for 3 minutes … I didn’t burn my fingers like I did on the last egg  … this egg was easier to peel … peeling eggs is another iksperiment I have started and may be the subject of another post.

The albumin was well formed and rigid …  the yolk sufficiently done for my tastes.

I suppose I can turn the stove off now … the water level got a little low  …. I should fill the pan fuller to start … almost to the top since there is no risk of boiling over as long as I don’t try to hurry things by using the High setting.   …. Adding water would more heat up time  and slow the whole process …. Hmmm

wow think what a lid would do … it would upset the whole dynamic … it might cook faster  … I might need to turn the stove down to keep it from boiling over …. Everything would change …. Sounds dangerous …. It’s a good thing I don’t have a glass lid that fits the egg boiling pan

….  Hey, in the future I could even use a timer …. Just set it for 50 minutes.

If I had a stove that was made in this century it would have a timer that turned the stove off for me.

…..

Later

Ok, so I tried 50 minutes with more water … it worked fine …. The critical feature of this plan is that you must turn the stove off when the timer erupts    ….. so carry the timer with you  ….

Once you turn the stove off everything is guaranteed to be fine … the eggs can sit there for hours …  or … you can hurry and cool the eggs in cold water  ….  then eat them soon …. I should mention that there is none of this “eat them right now” philosophy allowed … it burns your tongue …  that is outside of the limits of the “fine” guarantee ….

Now you can have a perfectly relaxing time almost boiling eggs.

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Fact Checker

The fact checker has determined that all of the facts are factual and that all of the opinions expressed herein are fine opinions.  ….  at this point I present some

additional information

When you vulcanize rubber …  time is critical …  to a point ….. if you don’t cook it enough it is weak, soft and not completely cured ….

Once the cure is complete  …the rubber has fully cross-linked …  the rubber doesn’t change much if you continue to cook it for a while   … the change is real slow ….. if you cooked it for months it would degrade    … the gaskets in the vulcanizer get cooked over and over every day for months …. The gaskets eventually get brittle and leak … they must be replaced.

The same is true with boiled eggs …. Once polymerization is complete the eggs are fully cross-linked …. If you cook them an extra few minutes or a half hour it isn’t going to change much  … I don’t recommend cooking them for months  …and, don’t use eggs for a gasket on your microwave.  This theory can be demonstrated  by inspecting the over-cooked material on the walls of microwaves in the men’s dormitory of your local university.

(Polymerization and cross linking has been explained in another post. )