Following up yesterday’s post on boiling eggs, I tried the 75°C idea today. What do you know — it worked! It did take the best part of half an hour (3 minutes to heat the egg and water from cold and a further twenty to cool by ten degrees) but it came out perfectly cooked but soft, which is what I was aiming for.

Juliet’s reiteration of the classic method in yesterday’s comments is certainly quicker although it yields a different kind of result. I think my approach avoids any danger of overcooking although, stepping back from the science, I could always use the timer rather than the temperature monitor on my cooking probe and should then still be able to avoid overcooking. I think my method potentially wins out out on fuel economy although I do need to look into why it took so long to reach the target temperature; the probe probably doesn’t respond instantly (after turning off the heat, it rose to about 83°C before beginning to fall) and I don’t quite understand how the portable induction hob I was using heats up (it doesn’t seem to apply consistent energy).