The gemorrah in Maseches Shabbos , Daf Peh, Amud B states that Rav Sheissess said that the egg of a hen is the easiest to cook . Presumably this means that a hens egg may be cooked in less time than any other egg. Yet a quick search online shows that a quails egg can be cooked in 1/2 the time of a hens egg. Any thoughts on the possible discrepancy?
And if non hens eggs can be cooked faster why didn't they just try an experiment to see if the statement was correct?
chaim bruchner, new york usa
Chaim - was the site (which you didn't reference) referring to a single egg, or an equal volume of egg? After all, the Shiur for cooking on Shabbos is not an egg, but a Grogeres of egg.
Mordecai Kornfeld
The gemara in Maseches Shabbos , Daf Peh, Amud B states that Rav Sheissess said that the egg of a hen is the easiest to cook. This is in the last 4 lines of Amud B where the gemara says that the egg of a hen is the easiest to boil.
Since the discussion in the Gemara prior to this conclusion related to the ease of cooking eggs and determined that a hen's egg was easier to cook than any other egg, including a hummingbird's or a small dove's, apparently the size of the egg is irrelevant. So the question is, obviously a quail's egg will cook faster than a hen's egg. What is the Gemara referring to?
chaim bruchner
In the Gemara's question, Mar brei d'Ravina indeed thought that size doesn't matter, as you wrote.
Rav Sheshes' statement (that the chicken's is the easiest egg to cook), however, was based upon the correct explanation of the Mishnah, which the Gemara mentions immediately afterwards - that we are cooking a Grogeres of egg, not a single, entire egg.
Best regards, Mordecai Kornfeld