Source: HowToCook (a programmer's guide)
This is a temperature-cycling method, not a conventional boil. You're oscillating the egg between 100°C and 30°C to arrest the cooking process repeatedly, which produces an exceptionally creamy, barely-set white and a runny yolk without the grey-green ring that forms when egg proteins over-denature. The science is straightforward: each cycle allows carryover heat to penetrate the white whilst the cool water stops the yolk dead. Sixteen cycles across 32 minutes gives you granular control that a static bath cannot.
Fill two pots: one with 1500 ml boiling water at a rolling boil (100°C minimum), the other with 1500 ml warm water at 30°C. The volumes matter — you need thermal mass to resist temperature drift when the cold egg enters. Using a slotted spoon, lower the egg directly into the boiling pot and start your timer immediately. Every two minutes on the dot, transfer the egg to the warm pot using the spoon. Do not let it sit in the spoon; submerge it fully. Two minutes later, transfer back to the boil. The egg surface will feel warm to touch between cycles, but never hot. Continue this exchange for exactly 16 transfers (32 minutes total).
After the sixteenth transfer, the egg will land in the warm pot one final time. Rest it there for 30 seconds — this is a transition pause, not a cook phase. Then move it straight into ice water at 0°C for exactly 30 seconds. This shock halts all residual cooking. The white will have just set; the yolk will yield to pressure but hold its shape.
Peel from the blunt end where the air cell sits — this is your entry point. Roll the egg gently under your palm to crack the shell all over, then work the membrane away from the white using your thumb. The membrane lifts cleanly if you've nailed the temperature-control; if it tears or sticks, your warm-water temperature drifted and the white over-set. Serve immediately whilst the centre is still warm.
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