We all know eggs are healthy. Super foods some call them.
Yeah, they also contain a lot of fat and cholesterol too and we go back and forth on whether this is good for us or bad for us overall but while the debate rages let us consider the most nutritious ways to cook eggs so that we are at least doing the best we can.
The Absolute Healthiest Way to Cook Eggs
Before we dive into this topic lets first watch this video on the helath benefits of eggs to understand th basis for this post.
As you can see eggs are beneficial no matter how you cook them but there are ways to improve their benefits while downplaying their negatives.
For instance when you cook an egg by any method you impart heat on the molecules of the egg. This helps to unwind proteins which can increase the nutrients bioavailability in our body. The tricky part is that the egg yolk and egg white are different in how they react to heat.
Egg whites actually are better for you when they are cooked while yolks are better for you when they are undercooked.
For an egg white to cook it needs to reach the range of 144 to 149 °F. The yolk however needs to reach the 150s to cook. This implies that the optimal temperature to cook an egg is approximately 150 °F – just enough to cook the white but leave the yolk slightly undercooked.
I find the best way to cook an egg to an internal temperature of 150 °F is to steam an egg in the shell. The steam can easily increase the exterior part of the egg – the egg whites – to 150 °F while leaving the internal yolk runny. So long as you don’t steam the egg for too long the yolk will remain runny and undercooked while the white will firm up.
What is the Best Way to Steam an Egg?
I find that pressure cooking my eggs is the best way for me to steam them quickly and efficiently. I can easily control everything in my electric pressure cooker because of the timers and microprocessor controls. In short, once I get the timing and temperature figured out I can duplicate the cooking process for eggs over and over again and be very confident that I’ll get a runny yolk with a cooked white.
Here’s another video on how to steam an egg in an Instant Pot to get a runny yolk every time.
Of course you don’t have to use an Instant Pot to get this job done – all you are looking for is a soft boiled egg but if you decide to try it on the stove in a pot of water your results take longer and you will have to be more precise with timing and burner temperature.
Next you just need to cook your veggies on the side as healthy as possible and your coffee too!
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