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Kenji, if you're still reading the comments on this...

"This is very similar to the gunk that seeps out of the surface of overcooked salmon."

When you did the poached/steamed salmon on ATK, you had white gunk, but made a point to say that it didn't mean the salmon was overcooked. Why the discrepancy? Was that a special case because of the cooking method?

Also, thanks for this and all of your articles on here. They've been great.

Great post! Soon dooboo is the perfect bubbling bowl of spicy umami goodness! I want to buy a Korean clay pot, but do I need to season it like a wok or cast iron skillet? and is there any proper way to clean it? oh and one more thing, what's your favorite stock to use for soon dooboo because i made it one time with anchovy broth and it was too bland.

@b0tn0t - I agree, the tubes are much better. I always use the Korean soondooboo tubes.

NWcajun, you're extremely welcome. I am jealous of your being in Oregon. Forget ribeye! You could put geoduck and dungeness into your soondubu! I have always wanted to catch dungeness and dig for my own geoduck.

The Boyfriend went up to take a pic with the panda, but I wouldn't touch anything with a cheesy mascot and unabashedly try to be the next KFC. I'm glad you are brave enough to try so I don't have to. For that I thank you.

I adore soft boiled eggs!! I could eat 10 at a time for sure!

I may have missed it, but I didn't see any comments about baking "hard boiled" eggs. I didn't think it would work when I saw the article, but just set the raw eggs on middle rack of a cold oven, (they recommend a little foil on the bottom of the oven in case one is cracked and breaks - never had it happen) set oven temp to 325, set timer to 30 min., when timer goes off, drop in very cold water. I've done it several times, worked perfect everytime. Tried pulling some out at 25 min., yolks were not completely set good enough for devilled eggs, but perfect for eating with a little salt and pepper. One complaint about this method is wasting electricity just for a few eggs. I had my potatoes wrapped in foil, some bread rolls rising, and some jalepeno poppers that I bake as an appetizer ready to go in at appropriate times once full temp was reached. Egg salad sandwiches, potato salad, some appetizers, and probably hashbrowns for breakfast in my future. What energy waste?

@pookay - yes, you're right. I jumped the gun in my response there. I stand corrected.

But at the risk of putting my foot in my mouth again, I'm going to ask you another question: my immediate reaction is that your statement that the rate of heating is inversely proportional to the distance is not quite accurate, because it does not take into account the heat transfer coefficient of the egg. In a vacuum, yes, the rate of heating is proportional to only the distance, but an egg has mass, and so there is a coefficient involved, and that coefficient is proportional to thickness of the egg that the heat has to pass through, so does that not turn the equation into an exponential one instead of a linear one?

And one more question: are we losing the other SEers here? :)

@Pookay
Thanks for the correction, although I think the original statement is technically not inaccurate - the temperature I did say proportional, which is not to say that there are not constants involved (such as the temperature of the heat source) in the equation that takes care of the zero/infinity case.

Newton's law of cooling only states that the rate of heat transfer is proportional to the temperature difference between the body and its surroundings - it doesn't have anything to do the temperature gradient formed within a solid mass. To solve that, I think it helps to think of the egg as something like a russian doll - a series of solids. From there you can see that because of Newton's law of cooling, the outer layers heat up at a much faster rate than the inner layers and that the differences in the rate at which the various layers are heating up is proportional to the distance, which means that the differences in the actual temperatures of the various layers are proportional to the inverse square of the distance.

@Attack monkey
I was doing it lid off - but like I said in the post, you can't control for all the variables that might affect cooking time - your house might be a few degrees cooler than mine, or your stove might have a few more btu's than mine. This article is meant more as a guide so that you know what aspects to consider when boiling an egg, and so that you understand the science behind it, and will thus be able to optimize cooking in your own particular environment. If that means putting on a lid to reduce the rate of heat loss, so be it!

- Kenji

As a scientist, I'm glad that someone is starting a series focusing on this aspect of cooking. However, I would like to point out an inconsistency:

"when a mass is exposed to heat for a given period of time, a temperature gradient will form within that mass, with the area closest to the heat source being hottest, and the area furthest from the heat source being coolest. With very few exceptions, the temperature of a given spot in the food is proportional to the inverse square of its distance from the surface exposed to the heat source."

If this were true, since the distance from the heat source at the surface of the egg is zero, this would imply that the surface of the egg has infinite temperature. I think you mean to say that the RATE of heat conduction depends on the distance from the heat source (as well as the temperature difference). Also, the rate of heat conduction is proportional to the inverse of the distance from the source, NOT the inverse squared (Newton's law of cooling).

What up Jordan!

I will beg to differ on the instructions given here.

You *can* have more control and reduce the variables involved in cooking your eggs. First of all, starting with cold eggs right out of the fridge is a mistake. You are maximizing the temperature difference between the egg's starting temperature and its final temperature. You will have much more control if you warm the eggs first. I place them in a bath of hot tap water for 10 minutes while I heat my water.

Secondly, I place the eggs directly into boiling water. The reason I put the eggs directly into boiling water is that waiting for a boil is a "soft target". What you consider a boil or a simmer could be as much as a minute different from someone else.

Lastly, I stop the cooking after a prescribed period of time by pouring off most of the hot water and replacing it with water and ice.

In summary: 1) I reduce the temperature change that will be required from the starting point of the egg to the end point of the process by warming the eggs up. 2) I avoid soft milestones by placing the eggs directly into boiling water at the beginning of the cooking process. 3) I stop the cooking (and improve the peel of the egg) by using an ice wash at the end.

BTW, if you want hot eggs, pull them out after only 10 or 15 seconds. The ice water will have already improved the peel by cooling the membrane and surface of the egg without cooling the inside of the egg. You can even peel the egg most of the time before the heat rebounds and makes the egg too hot to hold. A neat trick!