A new study reveals a technique called "periodic cooking" that balances yolk and white to perfection. The only catch? It’s a bit of a time commitment.

Researchers lay bare their secret on cooking the perfect hard boiled egg after using over 100 eggs to test it out, and it's not like any recipe you've read before

The team used computer models of computational fluid dynamics, then tested out the painstaking—yet reportedly delicious—recipe for themselves

Hard-boiled, soft-boiled or poached. Scientists have studied how to cook the perfect egg and have come up with a new recipe that they say optimises its taste and nutritional quality. Cooking an egg is a delicate art because the yolk and the white do not cook at the same temperature.

After cooking the egg thusly, the researchers first studied it using spectrometry and an MR-like scanner. They confirmed that both phases (yolk and white) were cooked perfectly. They also found that the eggs had more healthy antioxidants (polyphenols) than boiled eggs, though it’s not clear why.

Italian scientists claim to have found the scientifically best way to make a hard-boiled egg. After trying it for ourselves, we can confirm that the egg was delicious.

There’s no single method to boil an egg, but a team at the Italian National Research Council’s Institute for Polymers, Composites, and Biomaterials now believe there is a “perfect” way to cook them. In order to make it, however, you’ll need some patience and a watchful eye.

The perfect boiled egg has a velvety yolk paired with a soft, solid white. Achieving this balance can be a challenge because the yolk cooks at a lower temperature than the white. Hard boiling an egg can yield a chalky yolk, while cooking low and slow can produce jelly-like, undercooked whites.

This Instant Pot Egg Loaf Recipe is one of my favorite Instant Pot hacks. It is perfect for not only saving me time in t