Vinoteca

How do you like your eggs? Perhaps one of the most-frequently asked questions when it comes to food, whether you're out to brunch or cooking at home, especially if it's the morning after. Scrambled? Sunny-side up? Over easy? How about slow poached to precisely 63 degrees? That's how Chef Lonnie Zoeller prepares his eggs at Vinoteca in Washington D.C., topping his plate of housemade linguine with shaved bottarga, squid ink, toasted hazelnuts, and a 63-degree egg.

But why 63, exactly? "It's the precise temperature where the egg yolk and the white are the exact same consistency," says Zoeller, who uses an immersion circulator to ensure the temperature remains 63 degrees Celcius throughout the entire hour the egg is cooking. "It's not necessarily the perfect egg, but it's really perfect for this dish. Similar to adding an egg at the last minute to pasta carbonara, the 63-degree egg, with the even texture of the white and the yolk, adds that same richness."

Turns out, chefs nationwide have become increasingly specific when it comes to the perfect egg. "There's not one way to cook an egg, it's a function of time and temperature," insists Wylie Dufresne, chef and owner of Manhattan's WD-50. Dufresne got attention for the 64-degree egg he put on his menu back in 2005. He says the white and yolk don't cook at the same temperature, so they begin to set in different ways, which allows chefs to get creative. Whether it's Top Chef favorite Bryan Voltaggio's 61-degree egg with salsify and caviar at VOLT in Frederick, Maryland, Chef Walter el Nagar's 65-degree egg at West L.A.'s Il Grano, or any of these chefs, each has their own idea of the perfect egg:

Vinoteca

Allium's bison tartare with a 62-degree egg

Chef Kevin Hickey of the new Allium at the Four Seasons Chicago, has a signature 62-degree egg, which he serves atop bison tartare with waffle chips and beer mustard. "Traditionally, tartare is made with a raw egg, but I wanted to be a bit more contemporary, so I cook the eggs in baskets in an immersion bath." Hickey rotates the baskets every hour; the 62-degree egg is ready to be served after 20-25 minutes in the bath, but it will stay the desired consistency for another 45 minutes. "At this point, the proteins of the white have set, but the yolk is still runny." After an hour, the eggs become just set, or soft-boiled, and are used in a cobb salad. Chef Bruno Chemel of Baumé in Palo Alto also uses a 62-degree egg on his menu in his deconstructed version of an egg cooked in brick dough. "At that temperature, the white is cooked and the yolk is creamy," says Chemel, who also cooks the eggs for an hour in an immersion bath.

Vinoteca

Brasserie 19's 63-degree egg

Chef Amanda McGraw of Houston's Brasserie 19 is in Zoeller's camp, and offers a 63-degree egg on her menu. "When I am conceptualizing new dishes, I like to think of one focus ingredient and the different ways it can be prepared," explains McGraw. "The dish is a parmesan custard with caviar and a 63-degree egg; in other words, it's eggs three ways: fish eggs, baked eggs, and a slow-poached egg [to] mimic the texture of the custard." To achieve the silky white and custard-like yolk, McGraw sets a water bath to 63 degrees, which she cooks the eggs in for an hour and then chills in an ice bath.

Vinoteca

Rogue 24's 63-degree egg

Chef RJ Cooper at Rogue 24 in Washington D.C., has a different result when he cooks his egg to 63 degrees, which he serves with fried-dehydrated corn silk and cured gizzards. "At 57 degrees, the egg will look just cracked. Same with a 59-degree egg. But at 60-62 degrees, the white starts to coagulate, and at 63 degrees, the white is set, but the yolk is still runny," says Cooper, who cooks his eggs for 45 minutes, depending on the size, in an immersion bath. "We use a quail egg, which is so small, and 63 degrees was as far as we could push it before losing that runniness. The egg, at 63 degrees, makes its own sauce." Cooper also recently added a 67-degree egg to his menu, which comes in a nest of chicken skin, toasted garlic threads, and horseradish leaves. "At 67 degrees, the yolk becomes like a custard, not runny, but not hard boiled." After 45 minutes at 67 degrees, Cooper takes the eggs out of the water bath and peels the white off, revealing a medium-soft boiled egg yolk. "We wanted the firmness because we needed the egg to stand up; plus it's got a great silky mouthfeel, like crème brulee," says Cooper.

Vinoteca

Rogue 24's 67-degree egg, which the restaurant has just introduced

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