EGG GELS Egg gels are the basis for many classic dishes.
characteristic solidification temperatures of egg
Indeed, eggs are often added to food mixtures
whites and egg yolks, you will be able to deftly
precisely because egg proteins act to hold ingredi-
tailor egg cooking to suit specific outcomes. The basic challenge in cooking a whole egg is
ents together. Eggs bind together the constituents
For more on sausages and how they bind, see Restructuring Meat, page 3-220.
of a muffin batter, the flour granules in a pasta
to strike a balance between the doneness of the
dough, and the elements of a sweet dessert cus-
white and that of the yolk. Cooking an egg to
tard, a quiche, or a chawanmushi (a savory Japa-
thermal equilibrium (when the temperature is
nese egg custard). They also bind forcemeats in
the same throughout) in a water bath, a combi
some sausages or meatloaf.
oven, or a water-vapor oven takes about 35 min-
Eggs' versatility as gelling agents is unmatched by other ingredients in conventional cooking.
When egg yo lks are frozen and then thawed, they for m a raw but quite sliceable ge l.
utes. The cooking time for small quail eggs is shorter (15 min) and longer for large goose eggs
Cook them gently while stirring constantly to
(40 min). Because you are cooking until the egg
make a pourable creme anglaise, or blend and
reaches the same temperature as its surround-
cook without stirring to make a firm egg custard.
ings, the timing need not be precise. Exacting cooks can make perfect soft-boiled
Standard texts on cooking often fail to discuss in detail why eggs react with other foods in the ways
eggs by using a two-step process. First, cook the
that they do. With an understanding of these
egg for 35 min at 60 •c
processes, you can use eggs to your best
or at 64 •c I 147 •p for one that is more set. To ensure food safety, you can pasteurize the eggs by
advantage. At temperatures below about 55 ·c
I 130 •p,
holding them there for an additional12 min. If
egg proteins will not join into a gel-forming
necessary for convenience, the eggs can wait at
network-even if they are held under those
these temperatures for an extended period. When you're ready to serve the eggs, plunge
conditions for hours. You can exploit this phenomYo u can turn an egg ge l into a fluid ge l by shearing it with a hand blender, electric blender, or rotor-stator homogenizer. This trick is rather surprising at fi rst sight: what looks like a co mpletely solid, coo ked egg ge l instantly turns liquid . This won't work for a fully cooked or hard-boiled egg, of course. It app lies only to egg ge ls that have not been heated enough to set fully.
enon to pasteurize eggs in the shell because
them into boiling water for 1-2 min if you want to
salmonella and other egg-borne pathogens die at
serve them in the shell; boil for 3 min if you want
those temperatures (see page 1-192). Pasteurized
to shell them. This technique creates a thermal
eggs look just like raw eggs, with all the physical
gradient in the egg, so the outer layers (the white)
properties that you' d expect. They can be whipped
are hotter than the interior (the yolk). The brief
into a meringue, act as an emulsifier in mayon-
dip in boiling water should heat the white to
naise, and perform other "raw" egg roles, but
nearly an ideal temperature. We find that this
without the risk of causing illness. Millions of
two-stage approach is more reliable than the
people eat raw eggs safely, but occasionally some
standard "three-minute egg" routine. It's difficult to achieve a perfect sunny-side up
fall ill. Since it is so easy to do, it is good practice to pasteurize all eggs that would otherwise be eaten raw.
egg in a frying pan because the white and the yolk cook at different temperatures. No approach
At temperatures above 55 ·c
I 130 •p, egg
proteins start to form thermo-irreversible gels.
achieves the right conditions for each of them unless you cook the white and yolk separately. So that's what we do. We cook the white first
It's important to keep in mind that egg whites gel at lower temperatures than egg yolks do. So at
inside egg rings on a nonstick pan placed in a
any given cooking temperature, the white always
steam oven set to 80 •c
sets harder (and seem more fully cooked) than
the pan and carefully place a raw egg yolk at the
I 175 •F. We then remove
the yolk does, although each has a different
center of each flat round of white. The pan goes
texture.
back in the steam oven at 60 ·c I 140 •p until the
The photos on pages 76 and 77 show the
yolk is done. This approach yields the ultimate
detailed progression of an egg from its raw,
"fried" egg because the yolk and white are cooked
pasteurized state to a very firm, brittle, hard-
at their individual ideal temperatures.
cooked state. As you become familiar with the
74
I 140 •p for a liquid yolk,
VO LUM E 4 · I NGR EDIE NT S AND PRE PARATIONS
Whole eggs cooked at low temperatures,