soft boiled eggs

rrraven

rrraven

Dagobah Resident
FOTCM Member
I used to have a fool prove method for the perfect soft boiled egg
but of late my eggs turn out too hard
same method , same cook top , same eggs , same timer
a friend mentioned having observed the same thing
has there been a change in ''time'' as what was 4 min on a clock is now 5 min in ''real time'' ?
has anybody else noticed something like this?
 
rrraven said:
I used to have a fool prove method for the perfect soft boiled egg
but of late my eggs turn out too hard
same method , same cook top , same eggs , same timer
a friend mentioned having observed the same thing
has there been a change in ''time'' as what was 4 min on a clock is now 5 min in ''real time'' ?
has anybody else noticed something like this?
Click to expand...
Tell me your exact method, and I will try to replicate the experiment
what variables? atmospheric pressure. air temperature. altitude. time of day. full moon. well the list could be endless I suppose, maybe I'll just stick to your recipe.
 
my method is
1 fill saucepan with hot tap water
2 put eggs in and put on stove
3 set timer to 8 min
4 take eggs out on time and rinse in cold water
this used to give the perfect soft boiled egg in the past but not anymore...everything is the same ,stove, altitude, water temp at start except now its 2020:rolleyes:
and a friend mentioned ,without prompting,also eggs not cooking the same as before
to test this you need to boil something you know exactly how long it took in the past to see if it now cooks quicker
 
rrraven said:
I used to have a fool prove method for the perfect soft boiled egg
but of late my eggs turn out too hard
same method , same cook top , same eggs , same timer
a friend mentioned having observed the same thing
has there been a change in ''time'' as what was 4 min on a clock is now 5 min in ''real time'' ?
has anybody else noticed something like this?
Click to expand...

rrraven said:
my method is
1 fill saucepan with hot tap water
2 put eggs in and put on stove
3 set timer to 8 min
4 take eggs out on time and rinse in cold water
this used to give the perfect soft boiled egg in the past but not anymore...everything is the same ,stove, altitude, water temp at start except now its 2020:rolleyes:
and a friend mentioned ,without prompting,also eggs not cooking the same as before
to test this you need to boil something you know exactly how long it took in the past to see if it now cooks quicker
Click to expand...
Do you already try to set your timer to 7 mn to see if you still have the perfect soft boiled eggs?
 
Funnily enough, I was having a similar conversation today: I eat two eggs every day - have done for many years - and since the lockdowns started, I have noticed that not only have they been cooking differently, they are also more "eggy" with a much stronger sulfurous smell.

My guess is that, in the USA at least, something has changed in the processing/handling of fresh eggs, using COVID as an excuse...
 
woneill1701 said:
Funnily enough, I was having a similar conversation today: I eat two eggs every day - have done for many years - and since the lockdowns started, I have noticed that not only have they been cooking differently, they are also more "eggy" with a much stronger sulfurous smell.

My guess is that, in the USA at least, something has changed in the processing/handling of fresh eggs, using COVID as an excuse...
Click to expand...

We know that Earth's rotation is slowing and and so is 'time'... ;-)
 
rrraven said:
my method is
1 fill saucepan with hot tap water
2 put eggs in and put on stove
3 set timer to 8 min
4 take eggs out on time and rinse in cold water
this used to give the perfect soft boiled egg in the past but not anymore...everything is the same ,stove, altitude, water temp at start except now its 2020:rolleyes:
and a friend mentioned ,without prompting,also eggs not cooking the same as before
to test this you need to boil something you know exactly how long it took in the past to see if it now cooks quicker
Click to expand...
That is pretty basic, I've always boiled eggs in a pot, so they were covered with water. Are your eggs covered by the water?
Is the water set to boil for 8 minutes? Is the saucepan covered, or open to the air? I used to cover my pot, let the water boil with the eggs for a few minutes, then remove the pot (still covered) and set aside for about 5 minutes.
If I am going to repeat your experience I need more detail!
-eggs covered by water?
-covered saucepan?
-boiled for how many minutes?
It sounds like you just put the saucepan on the stove with the eggs in hot water and did not time how long they boiled for. Would that be correct?
 
rrraven said:
eggs covered in hot tap water
pot not covered
timer set to 8 min as I turn on the gas

I just tried 7 min and they were perfect ...like the 8 min used to be
Click to expand...
One simple thing that could easily explain such a change is if the local mains voltage level has changed recently. While the AC frequency of electrical power is very tightly regulated, the voltage levels are typically not, and are often variable within a few percent of nominal.
 
Maybe you can find someone in the area who knows about egg farming practices. Perhaps there are extra sanitization steps due to covid that could reduce cooking time.

An electrician may be able to tell you if the mains voltage is lower than normal. 8 minutes to 7 minutes is a 12.5% difference, that would be a serious concern to the utility grid as they try to keep the variation smaller. You might call your electric company and see if they will check it out.

If you know someone who has an interest in electronics, it should be very simple for them to use a multimeter to test your mains voltage.

If it were something as bizarre as time itself changing, then a lot of sensitive electronic equipment would be affected or even outright fail. It seems very unlikely. And it probably wouldn't affect only eggs. There would probably be a lot of food items on the shelf suffering from being overcooked, and a lot of people complaining about it.

If there has been electrical work in the area, they may have tweaked the mains voltage to bring it back up to spec. This happens as communities expand and the electrical load changes. If so then you might also notice other things being affected like the brightness of incandescent lights.
 
thank you all for your concern but it is not a ''problem'' just a weird observation like a mandela effect
I am cooking with gas
no electricity involved
eggs not refrigerated ( this is Australia ,we don't do that here)
the friend who noticed it too also cooks with gas
 
Gosh my experience has always been from the time the water starts to boil, then cook for 3 minutes. Anything beyond that and the yolk starts to set. A 7 or 8 minute cooking would definitely be a hard boiled egg for me.
 
magimay said:
Gosh my experience has always been from the time the water starts to boil, then cook for 3 minutes. Anything beyond that and the yolk starts to set. A 7 or 8 minute cooking would definitely be a hard boiled egg for me.
Click to expand...

Hello @magimay, welcome to the forum :-) Since this is your first post, it's customary here to make an introductory post in the Newbies forum to tell us a little about yourself and how you found your way here.
 
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