When the discussion turned to boiling the perfect egg the other night, all my friends had an opinion. It proved a fascinating conversation because everyone had a different theory. It was rather like discussing which goes into the cup first, the hot tea or the milk.

The problem with a boiled egg is that until you cut through the top so that you can dip your soldiers in, there is no really positive way of telling you have got it right. Discussion ebbed and flowed. The only thing we all agreed on was that you have to begin with a freshly-laid egg, provided by a happy hen which has been allowed to range free, such as the ones at Callow Farm.

Everyone agreed that it had to be at room temperature when it went into the water too – but that is where agreement stopped.

One friend argued for following Delia Smith’s advice by placing the egg in cold water, then bringing the water to the boil and cooking for four minutes.

Another suggested dropping it gently into boiling water and allowing it to cook for four-and-a-half minutes.

It was my friend Corin Willett, the owner of The Emporium, in Eynsham, who stopped the conversation by suggesting that the size of the egg had to be taken into account. A large egg will need to be boiled for a further minute to obtain a yolk that is still runny enough to stick to the soldiers but not so runny as to be inedible.

Corin then excused herself, returning a few moments later carrying a modern egg timer that she sells at the Emporium, which has three different coloured sands flowing from three different glass funnels. The red sand signifies three minutes, the white four and the blue sand means that the egg has been boiling for five.

This attractive stainless steel timer means all the eggs can go into the water at the same time, and removed according to taste.

I must admit we were all impressed, though it didn’t answer the question, which we finally accepted was really down to personal preference.