Cook the Perfect Boiled Egg with the Power of Science

Whether you're preparing for some serious Easter-egg cooking or you just love a good hard-boiled egg, scientists at the University of Oslo want to help you boil the perfect egg using the power of science.

Their "Art of cooking an egg" page contains a handy little Flash application that turns variables like egg circumference, desired yolk hardness, the egg's current temperature, and your elevation, then spits out exactly how long you should boil that egg. The site is in Norwegian, but this page provides a translation (minus the Flash app)—and reader Martin offered a quick rundown of what each segment of the Flash app asks for:

1st slider: The circumference of the egg (in cm)
2nd slider: How hard you want the egg yolk to be. (Hard = Hard, Middels = Medium, Bløtt = Soft)
3rd slider: Start temprature of the egg (on the botton, its directly from the fridge. In celcius)
4th slider: How high over the sea level you are in meters. (Because water boils faster the higher you are.) moh = meters over the sea level

Once you've entered all your variables, just boil your water and hit the Play button to start the timer countdown. We're not necessarily saying you need all of these exacting measurements to successfully boil an egg, but if you've never felt like you've ever been able to get it quite right, this little app can hopefully help. While you're perfecting your egg skills, check out how to improve your egg-peeling skills and how to cook perfect scrambled eggs