The perfect boiled egg is a matter of taste. For most people, it’s probably some variation of soft-boiled: not very runny, but not hard either. So how do you make your eggs? Do you just eyeball a 5-6 minute boil?

Italian scientists claim to have found the scientifically best way to make a hard-boiled egg. After trying it for ourselves, we can confirm that the egg was delicious.

The perfect boiled egg has a velvety yolk paired with a soft, solid white. Achieving this balance can be a challenge because the yolk cooks at a lower temperature than the white. Hard boiling an egg can yield a chalky yolk, while cooking low and slow can produce jelly-like, undercooked whites.