Patent Application
20180014560
The present disclosure relates generally to cooking techniques, and more particularly to methodology for egg cooking that simulates hard boiling in a shelled egg.
Cooking an ideal hard-boiled egg has been the subject of experimentation for literally centuries. Various factors such as altitude, starting water temperature, agitation of eggs in the shell during cooking, and still other factors can affect the finish or other properties of the final cooked egg product. Food science literature is replete with research on cooking eggs in the shell, and cooking techniques for shelled eggs as well. There nevertheless remains room for improvement.
Cooking an egg includes placing a shelled egg within a cup-shaped mold such that the yolk and white partially fill the mold, and positioning the mold in a water bath such that a base of the mold is in contact with a floor of a cooking vessel containing the water bath, and the lip of the mold is above the level of the water. The methodology further includes heating the cooking vessel so as to heat the water to generate steam, for a period of time sufficient to cook the yolk and white. The methodology still further includes covering the cooking vessel during the heating such that the steam is circulated within the cooking vessel so as to form a finish on the cooked yolk and white that approximates that of hard-boiling.
Referring to
As alluded to above, a variety of different factors can affect the success of any cooking technique, but particularly a cooking technique where an egg is to be cooked in a manner that approximates hard-boiling. It has been discovered that certain factors or parameters that can be manipulated by a user of system 10 can be specified in such a manner as to produce a cooked egg product that is not undercooked and not overcooked, but instead cooked to approximate ideal hard-boiling. One such factor is considered to be water bath depth. In one embodiment, a depth 26 of water bath 18 may be about one-half inch or less. In a refinement, depth 26 of water bath 18 may be about one-eighth inch. A depth 28 of cup-shaped mold 20, a width of mold 20, and an aspect ratio of width to depth are also factors discovered to influence the ability to ideally cook eggs as contemplated herein. In one practical implementation strategy, depth 28 may be about two inches or less, a width 30 of mold 20 may be about 3 inches or less, most preferably about 2.5 inches or less, and an aspect ratio of width 30 to depth 28 may be from about 3:1 to about 1:1. A volume of a shelled egg cooked according to the present disclosure may be that of a standard large sized chicken egg, and equal to about four tablespoons. For smaller eggs or larger eggs, cooking time and potential dimensions of mold 20 might be varied somewhat. It is nevertheless contemplated that the present dimensions and dimensional ranges disclosed herein will be applicable to cooking eggs in the manner contemplated herein having a range of sizes. It should also be appreciated that although only one mold with one shelled egg is depicted in
Another factor bearing upon the success of cooking an egg according to the present disclosure is the manner in which a cooking vessel is heated. Heating cooking vessel 12 may include applying heat energy to an outside bottom surface of cooking vessel 12 at a level equivalent to result in a dry heated temperature of the floor of cooking vessel 12 in a period of time of about ten minutes to about fifteen minutes that is from about 325° F. to about 425° F. A wattage of the heating element in such an instance might be about 1500 Watts. Such parameters will of course also depend also on the material and construction of the cooking pan. In other words, while the present disclosure contemplates cooking in a water bath, a suitable heating level would, if applied to a dry cooking vessel, result in temperatures in the range described. In the case of an electric cookstove the heat setting may be medium heat. In the case of a gas stove, the setting may be medium low heat. In either case, heating may commence at around the same time, or possibly slightly after, covering cooking vessel 12 with lid 14. A release agent such as butter, a vegetable oil or a vegetable oil spray may be applied to the inside of mold 20, its bottom and sides, prior to placing the shelled egg therein. In a ten-inch skillet or saucepan, water in a volume of about three-quarters of a cup can be placed therein to provide for a suitable depth water bath. Cooking may occur without agitation, as molds 20 will generally move minimally within cooking vessel 12 during cooking. Cooking time may be about 12 minutes to about 14 minutes, in some embodiments substantially equal to 13 minutes, after which cooking vessel 12 may be removed from the heat, opened, and mold 20 removed via tongs and flipped over onto a plate to enable the cooked egg product to slide out of mold 20. Referring to
Proteins in chicken eggs denature at a range of temperatures, and at a range of time periods of heating. A variety of different cooked or partially cooked yoke consistencies can be produced in hard boiled eggs depending upon the manner in which the eggs are heated, including the rate of heating, the rate of cooling, the duration of heating, and potentially still other factors. Food science knowledge and traditional culinary wisdom provide considerable guidance as to producing various consistencies for eggs that are cooked by boiling in the shell as well as by other techniques such as frying and poaching. Simulating a hard boiled finish, in other words a combination of textures and colors of the yoke and the white, in an egg cooked out of the shell is not believed to have been the subject of research or experimentation at all. Eggs cooked out of the shell are typically prepared on a non-stick surface such as a polytetrafluoroethylene coating, in an oil, margarine, or butter, or in a water bath. Eggs cooked according to such techniques can be observed to have browning of the white, varying shape and structure of the white and also the yoke, and in some instances pitting or bubbling. Among other things, the present disclosure reflects the discoveries that optimum aesthetic and culinary quality of an egg cooked out of the shell can be achieved without the labor and mess associated with hard boiling.
As described herein these aims are achieved by way of combining a number of different variables in the cooking process in an advantageous manner. For mold sizes too small, for instance, the egg can be expected to overflow the mold and/or be overcooked because the water bath evaporates and the egg heats too much or too quickly. For mold sizes too large the egg can spread to the point that it no longer has the character of a hard-boiled egg at all, with the yoke failing to be encased in the white. Where the water bath is too deep, boiling water can splash into the mold. Cooked uncovered, steam does not circulate downward and the egg will not cook completely and may not have the desired texture approximating hard boiling.
In the illustrated embodiment, cooked egg product 100 has a rough star shape. It will be understood that a mold surface with any of a great many different contours might be provided, providing an equal variety of mirror-image contours to cooked yolk and white in a finished and cooked egg product. Suitable molds include silicone molds of substantially uniform thickness, such as where a thickness of the silicone mold varies by a factor of 2 or less throughout. In other words, in at least some instance the mold might have a minimum thickness of about “X” and a maximum thickness of about “2X” although the present disclosure is not thereby limited. Additional shapes contemplated within the scope of the present disclosure include hemispheric shapes, other star shapes, heart shapes, and still other polygonal and non-polygonal shapes.
The present description is for illustrative purposes only, and should not be construed to narrow the breadth of the present disclosure in any way. Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications might be made to the presently disclosed embodiments without departing from the full and fair scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Other aspects, features and advantages will be apparent upon an examination of the attached drawings and appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62185934 | Jun 2015 | US |
