In the bulletin entitled “Eggs and Their Uses as Food,” by C. F. Langworthy, Ph.D., published as Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 128, by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the statement is made that “egg white begins to coagulate at 134 degrees Fahrenheit. White fibres appear which become more numerous until at about 160 degrees Fahrenheit the whole mass is coagulated, the white almost opaque, yet it is tender and jelly-like. If the temperature is raised to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, and continued, the coagulated albumen becomes much harder and eventually more or less tough and horn-like; it also undergoes shrinkage. It has been found by experiment that the yolk of egg coagulates firmly at a lower temperature than the white.”
It also says that these changes in the albumen suggest the idea that it is not advisable to cook eggs in boiling water in order to secure the most desirable result.
_Experiment A:_ To show the changes that take place in egg white at various temperatures.
Test-tube and holder Beaker or saucepan of water Thermometer Egg white
Put the white of egg into the test-tube. Insert the thermometer. Hold the test-tube in the pan of cold water to the depth of the egg white. Gradually heat the water and observe the temperature at which the first change in the egg albumen takes place. Notice also the temperature of the water at this point. Continue the experiment until the water in the outer vessel has boiled ten or twenty minutes, noting the temperatures at which the various changes occur.
_Experiment B:_ To show the temperatures obtained in the proper cooking of eggs.
Cook eggs as directed for soft-cooked eggs on page 190, observing the temperature of the water after the eggs are added to it, and when they are removed from the cooker; also the condition, flavour, etc., of the eggs.
Professor Harcourt, in his bulletin, “Breakfast Foods,” published by the Ontario Department of Agriculture, pp. 20 and 29, says that long cooking of cereals renders the protein more digestible. The cooking which he describes was carried on in a double boiler, and, therefore, below boiling temperature, and in this respect is similar to fireless cookery. He says that while short cooking, which was done at boiling temperature, seemed to make cereal proteids less digestible, the long cooking at below boiling temperature, which followed, somewhat changed them and made them more digestible.