How many minutes does it take to boil an egg in shell?

Boiling eggs seems simple, but there are still many things to pay attention to. Of course, you must first ensure that the eggs are cooked. While ensuring that they are cooked, it should take at least three minutes according to people's taste preferences. At this time, the nutritional effect is still good and it is easier to digest. Do not boil the eggs for more than ten minutes, which will cause the loss of nutrients. Let’s take a look at this aspect.

How many minutes does it take to boil an egg in shell?

1. 3-minute eggs

The egg white is cooked and soft, while the egg yolk is just cooked and slightly runny. "3-minute eggs" are slightly cooked eggs, which are the easiest to digest and take about 1 hour and 30 minutes to digest.

2. 5-minute eggs

The egg white is cooked and tender, and the egg yolk is cooked but not hard. The best state to eat eggs is when the egg white has solidified and the yolk is in a semi-solid or flowing state. "5-minute eggs" are half-cooked eggs that take about 2 hours to digest in the human body; eggs that are boiled for too long take 3 hours and 15 minutes to digest in the human body.

3. Eggs within 10 minutes

In terms of nutrition, eggs boiled for less than 10 minutes have the highest digestibility and basically no loss of nutrients.

4. Eggs cooked for more than 10 minutes

If eggs are boiled in boiling water for more than 10 minutes, a series of chemical changes will occur inside the egg, making it difficult to digest. Sulfide may also be decomposed due to prolonged heating, which is harmful to the body.

The correct way to boil eggs

Put the pot into cold water, heat it up slowly, and simmer for 2 minutes after boiling. Soak for another 5 minutes after turning off the heat. This way the eggs will have tender egg whites and a solidified but not overcooked yolk. If you eat boiled eggs, it is best to cook them tender, that is, boil them for another five or six minutes after the water boils. At this time, the yolk of the egg has just solidified. When eating eggs in this state, the human body's absorption rate of protein is the highest.

Boiling eggs for too long is harmful

When eggs are boiled in boiling water for more than 10 minutes, a series of chemical changes will occur inside the egg. The protein structure becomes compact and difficult to come into contact with the protein-digesting enzymes in gastric juice, making it difficult to digest. Protein contains methionine. After long-term heating, it decomposes into sulfide, which reacts with the iron in the egg yolk to form iron sulfide and ferrous sulfide. This is also the reason why the outer layer of the egg yolk has a dark green color. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not boil eggs for more than 10 minutes.

Half-cooked eggs can easily cause diarrhea

During the production process of eggs, not only is there the problem of Salmonella contamination, but two harmful substances, anti-enzyme protein and anti-biotin protein, are also produced. The former will affect the digestion and absorption of protein; the latter can combine with biotin in food, leading to biotin deficiency in the human body and causing symptoms such as mental fatigue and muscle aches. The above two substances will be destroyed once the eggs are cooked. Therefore, eggs should be cooked at high temperature before eating.