MacKenzie Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Tony, I'm interested in hearing your results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Trust me, if/when I get this dialed in, you'll be the first to know, MacKenzie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 I love the independent science project aspect of sous vide. It's part of the scientific tradition that anything true is reproducible. One should be able to reproduce the literature, while pretending that there is no literature. Is there a literature? While I find Serious Eats at times amusing, I really dislike their Cooks Illustrated intellectual ancestry, "We swooped in for a day trying everything once, to debunk a century of tradition!" Yeah, right. They miss so much with their "we won't publish anything till we find the cute twist we can add!" hubris. On the other hand, Modernist Cuisine is a well funded billionaire's hobby, representing years of work that wasn't for the money, rather than a day's work to keep web traffic coming. Do I presume that their fearless leader has a natural gift for cooking? Yes, though perhaps not world class. Nevertheless, this question is science, one shouldn't need a natural gift to reproduce the answer. Yes, sous vide eggs are a question of both time and temperature, because the whites and yolks have different needs. This is discussed in the Modernist Cuisine books to far greater length than we ever will. This web page is a rough summary: The Secret to the Perfect Soft-Boiled Egg It sounds like you're homing in on the same answer. There is likely a unique approach, once one parametrizes for doneness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Thanks, Syzygies. Some great reading, info and ideas in the links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Just about there. Today's trial was 167F for 13 minutes and into the cold water bath. Yolk was perfect, but the whites were a tad runny. I think MacKenzie's quick dunk in boiling water might be the trick, even though it adds another step to the process; albeit not a complex one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Tony, what I did for the hot water bath was heat a pitcher of water in the microwave and it was ready for the egg when it came out of the SV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 I was hoping to keep it as simple as possible, but to get the right results, sometimes you have to bend a little. Next trials will be: this same cook with the hot water bath (30 secs) and into the cold water bath; the other will be to tweak this one to be 167F for 13 minutes, 30 seconds, cold water bath only. Good thing I like eggs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Liking eggs sure does help the situation. I usually have one for breakfast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted February 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 Looking at the logistics, it's possible to do both trials at once. While one egg is still in the SV bath, the other one can be in the boiling water bath - 30 secs each, then both go into the cold bath at the same time - elegant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted February 10, 2016 Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 Now you're thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted February 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 Well, I tried the double experiment this morning and got some really interesting results. Egg #1 was the straight SV bath @ 167F for 13 minutes and 30 seconds, then into the cold water bath. Yolk was a bit too tight and the white was a tad firmer than the previous trial @ 13 minutes. Egg #2 was SV bath @ 167F for 13 minutes, then into a boiling water bath for 30 seconds, then into the cold water bath. White completely separated from the yolk and stuck to the shell. When I scooped it out, it was very runny. But, the yolk was perfect. Sorry, MacKenzie, this technique isn't the answer I was hoping for. Egg on the left is #1, the right one is #2 and you can see how the yolk has separated from the white. Not sure where to go next? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted February 11, 2016 Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 That is really odd, Tony, when I did mine for 13 mins. and then 1 min. in boiling water from the microwave the yolk was some what runny but most of it was creamy and the white while it separated from the yolk was fork firm. I'm taking one out of the fridge tonight and doing it again. Normally I cheat and take the egg out of the fridge in the morning and put it in a little bowl of hot tap water to bring the temp. up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted February 11, 2016 Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 My breakfast egg, the yolk was a little runny, not enough for you I expect, and the rest of the yolk was creamy. The white was fork ready. This is the way I like my egg. SV 13 mins., boiling water 1 mins. and 20 sec or so rinse under cold water from the tap. I do have to use a spoon to get it all out of the shell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosco Posted February 11, 2016 Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 Oh yeahhhhhhh!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted February 11, 2016 Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 Looks good but I'm with Tony, I could use my yolk a little more runny. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted February 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 Another attempt this morning. 166F for 13 mins, 30 secs, cold water bath only. Perfect yolks, but the whites were a disaster - super watery/runny. Good thing they went on top of a bowl of grits, otherwise they'd have run all over the plate. I was too disappointed in the results to post a picture. But, the grits were outstanding! Next trial, same time/temp, but I'll add the boiling water bath again for 30 seconds. MacKenzie, do you notice a lot of difference between letting the eggs come up to room temperature versus straight out of the fridge? I've only done straight out of the fridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted February 11, 2016 Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 Tony, I've never done straight out of the fridge, either I take them out the night before of if I take them out in the morning I set them in a bowl of hot water while the bath is coming up to temp. If you are doing 2 eggs tomorrow why not do one for the 30 sec and the other for 1 mins. in the boiling water. Mine needed 167F for 13 mins and then 1 mins in the boiling water to get white fork firm and you are doing it for 13 mins. @ 166F so I figure you need to do at least 1 min. to get that white fork firm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted February 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 Great idea. Easily done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted February 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 Well, here's the results of the latest trial. 166F bath for 13 minutes, 30 seconds. Egg #1 went into a boiling water bath for 30 secs, Egg #2 in the boiling bath for 1 min. Then both went into the cold water bath for about a minute. Egg #1 has a seriously runny white (had to use a spoon to eat it), but almost perfect yolk - a tad firm, but still pretty runny. Egg #2 has such a firm white that I had to scoop it out of the shell. But the interesting part was that I also had to scoop out the yolk. Never had to do that before. And, as expected, the yolk was much firmer, with just a tad of runnyness left, mostly creamy. Egg #2 on the left, Egg #1 on the right. Next trial - both eggs @ 166F for 13 minutes, 30 seconds, into the boiling water bath for 45 secs, then the cold water bath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 You might be in luck with that 45 sec in boiling water. To my liking egg#1 looks perfect. I just had a thought what about one like you said and 1 that goes for 13mins @166F and I min. in boiling water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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