As has been previously stated, the substance in eggs that requires
special care in the cooking process is the protein, which occurs in this
food in the form of albumen. Because of this, certain points concerning
the treatment that the albumen requires should be kept in mind. In a raw
egg, the albumen occurs in a semiliquid form, but it coagulates at a
lower temperature than does the yolk, which contains a high percentage
of fat. After coagulation, the consistency of the two parts is very
different. The white is elastic and more or less tough, while the yolk,
upon being thoroughly cooked, becomes powdery, or mealy, and breaks up
into minute particles. The egg white begins to coagulate at 134 degrees
Fahrenheit, and it becomes white and jellylike at 160 degrees. Bringing
an egg to such a temperature produces a more desirable result than
cooking it at a high temperature--boiling point, for instance--because
the albumen, instead of becoming tough, as it does at a high
temperature, acquires a soft, tender consistency that exists throughout
the entire egg. An egg cooked in this way is more digestible and
appetizing than one that is boiled until it becomes hard and tough.
42. The low temperature at which eggs will cook in the shell applies
also to eggs when they are combined with other foods. Sometimes,
however, a mixture in which eggs are one of the ingredients must be
cooked at a high temperature because the materials mixed with them
require it. This difficulty can be overcome when eggs are combined with
starchy foods, such as corn starch, rice, and tapioca, that require long
cooking.
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