NO, because Nihon uses a special temperature curve to achieve the perfect egg. The very special creamy texture of our onsen egg can only be obtained when you use different temperatures over a specified time. This is necessary due to different denaturation temperatures of egg white and egg yolk. With a sous vide stick can only maintain one solid temperature. And therefore it’s impossible to heat up to certain temperature levels and cool down the water bath during the cooking process with a simple sous vide stick.

For more detailed information you can also check out our blog:
https://www.theperfectegg.net/the-onsen-egg-temperature-curve/

Sous vide just means “under vacuum”. With this cooking method you basically place food inside a plastic bag, generate a vacuum and keep your meat, vegetable, etc. inside a low temperature water bath for long time. An egg doesn’t need a plastic bag and vacuum 😉

The official required temperatures to kill bacteria over the time recommended by the UK Food and Standards Agency can be found here:
https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/cooking-your-food

When developing the Nihon temperature curve, we made sure to even exceed them. Nihon
maintains the temperatures over 65°C for ~ 20 minutes and at least 70°C for additional 2
minutes. After that, Nihon cools down the water bath to prevent further denaturation of the
proteins. This way we keep the risk of bacteria and salmonella very low.

The texture is very different. A classic poached egg has a runny yolk, and a solidified egg white. Onsen eggs yolk remain mainly creamy, with a firm egg white. Reason to that are several temperatures used over the time when using Nihon. Easily said, the proteins in the egg coagulates not completely and this creates the very special texture of the famous onsen egg. For more detailed information you can also check out our blog:
https://www.theperfectegg.net/the-onsen-egg-temperature-curve/

You can find several recipes for doing an onsen egg at home with basic equipment on the
internet. But Nihon gives you the advantage to control a repeatable result by a temperature
controlled environment. With Nihon, you prepare your onsen egg with a single touch, no worries about timing or if the eggs are coming out of the fridge or if they have room temperature, etc.

And … a timing function up to 11 hours in advance plus 2 hours keep warm function will also beat your pot of water 😉

Yes, Nihon gives you the flexibility to prepare up to 4 onsen eggs at one time.

With Nihon you need approx. 600ml of water – no matter if 1 or 4 eggs.

It takes approx. 35min in total. But, if you program your Nihon in advance (up to 11 hrs) your
perfect onsen egg will be ready whenever you are.