Scientists Just Discovered the Secret to Making a Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg—Here’s How

Hard-boiled eggs can be one of the simplest and also one of the trickiest things to make. (There’s a reason you see so many hard-boiling egg hacks out there!) Getting your eggs to just the right consistency and making them easy to peel can require a lot of trial and error, and seemingly, a lot of luck.

But scientists believe they may have cracked the case on how to perfectly cook hard-boiled eggs with a delightfully jammy yolk and a firm (but not too firm!) white. So we had to test their research out and see if we could achieve hard-boiled perfection.

How to Cook Hard-Boiled Eggs, According to Science

The method that worked best is called periodic cooking, according to a new study published in Communications Engineering. And basically, what it means is moving the eggs between boiling water and lukewarm water several times in the course of cooking. For their perfect hard-boiled eggs, you put the eggs in boiling water for two minutes, then in 86-degree Fahrenheit water for two minutes, over and over again, for exactly 32 minutes.

Armed with a stopwatch and an instant-read thermometer, I went to work. I started the fresh-from-the-fridge eggs in the lukewarm water while I got a pot of water boiling, to help avoid thermal shock that could lead to a broken shell. And when the water started boiling, I started up my timer and slipped them into the boiling water for two minutes to start the cooking process.

Moving the eggs back and forth was simple, though you couldn’t do much else in between those two-minute intervals—especially later in the process. By the 10-minute mark, it became more challenging to keep the room-temperature water at 86 degrees, as placing the now piping hot eggs into the cool water quickly moved the water bath into 88-degree territory. And because I (foolishly) didn’t fill the boiling pot enough, by the 20-minute mark I had to add more water to keep the eggs fully submerged in the boiling water. Note to self: Bigger pot next time!

What the “Perfect” Hard-Boiled Egg Was Like

So was the whole swapping and temperature monitoring thing worth it? At 32 minutes, it was time to (finally!) find out. The eggs were in the room-temperature water for the last two minutes of cooking, so they were cool and ready to peel as soon as time was up. And it was probably one of the easiest peels I’ve ever had, as half of the eggshell slipped off in one piece. (Generally, my hard-boiled eggs lose a lot of whites as I attempt to peel them, no matter which tricks I try.)

As for the taste and texture? The boiled egg felt a little softer than your traditional hard-boiled egg when out of the shell, but once I cut into it, it was clear that it was perfectly cooked. A soft, yet firm white (no rubbery texture!) and a jammy and delicious yolk. The verdict: it was probably one of the most delicious hard-boiled eggs I’ve ever enjoyed.

Should You Try the Periodic Egg Boiling Method?

As a full-on science nerd, I totally appreciated the lab-like precision of the scientists’ perfect hard-boiled egg recipe—and its amazing results. But the periodic cooking technique can be pretty time consuming, so I doubt I’d do it every time I’m making hard-boiled eggs.

Still, when I’m looking to spruce up some wow-worthy ramen or deviled eggs, it’ll be hard to say no to this method—especially when it might save some time (and some lost egg whites) on the peeling side of the project. All in all? I’d definitely add the periodic cooking method to my egg-cooking repertoire.