Extra cooking of a hard-boiled egg

Max_Chalmers_102523

Hi Chefsteps Community,

I am a Physics graduate currently working on a food science project.

I have a hot wrap that consists of a hard-boiled egg. It is heated in an oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 17 minutes. It will then be kept at a holding temperature of 65 degrees Celsius for between 2 and 4 hours.

Will the egg white go rubbery or the yolk go crumbly under these conditions? Would iron sulphide form around the egg yolk leaving a greyish greenish colour and are there any health risks associated with this?

Has anyone done research themselves or know of any food science research papers I could look at?

I am aware that César Vega has done research on the '6X degree egg’ so is this a good place to look?

Max

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Vega's article is a good start. A surprising finding in that paper is that the texture of both white and yolk continue to change if you cook them sous vide for longer than an hour. There's lots of data around on sous vide eggs in the 58-70C range. The question that there's no good (or easy to find) data for concerns how quickly the egg will cook when placed in an oven.

My main concern is with your holding temperature. If you're concerned about overcooking the egg, I'd drop the holding temperature down to 57C/135F which is just below the temperature at which the proteins in egg really start cooking. At 65C, the proteins will continue to cook as you hold it; at 57, you don't have to worry about it. And it should still be good from a food safety standpoint.