Egg slide rule

The one kitchen utensil you did not yet own...

The formula assumes that the water is already boiling before the egg is put into the water, and that the process takes place at an air pressure of 1 atmosphere.

The following constants apply:[3] 

It is not easy to use this formula in the kitchen. A slide rule would be a great help. However, I have never seen an egg boiling slide rule, not even in the patent literature.

Therefore I offer here my own design of an egg slide rule:[4] 

Move the arrow of the Tegg-slide to the weight, choose the Tegg-scale corresponding to your taste, locate the initial temperature of the egg and read the cooking time above this temperature value. For convenience, standard refrigerator temperature * and room temperature [] are highlighted on the Tegg-scale. The EU standard weight classes[5]  are indicated below the weight scale.

Breaking news (2025) ...

In 2025, a new study[6] revealed that the ideal method of boiling an egg is a 32 minute intermittent process. To model this, the authors used the following parameters, among others:

Modelling the new process using a slide rule is quite a challenge!

Notes

• 1. Charles D.H. Williams, "The Science of Boiling an Egg".

  2. H. de Lang, "Molecular gastronomy", Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Natuurkunde [Dutch Journal of Physics], 7412 (2008) page 431–433.

  3. S. L. Polley, P. O. Snyder, P. Kotnour, Food Technol., 3411 (1980) page 76–94.

  4. Download a higher resolution PDF version of this slide rule.

  5. Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 of the Commission of 23 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 regarding marketing standards for eggs.

  6. E. Di Lorenzo, F. Romano, L. Ciriaco, et al. "Periodic cooking of eggs" Commun Eng 4, 5 (2025).