From Seán Kelly, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, UK
I have been reading with amusement the discussion on how to cook the perfect boiled egg. New Scientist put the matter to bed for me when the Last Word (13 June 1998) published a formula from reader Charles Williams for this. It went as follows: Cooking time = (m(2/3)) × [ln(2 × (t – 100)/(45 – 100)]/c, where t = initial egg temperature in celsius; m = mass of egg in grams and c is a constant. (Letters, 22 March)
Having just started keeping hens, which don’t produce uniformly weighted eggs, I experimented to determine the value of c (3.758) that resulted in eggs boiled to the doneness appreciated by my wife and me. The resulting chart is displayed on our fridge door for ready reference.
