How to boil eggs – Bring water to a boil first, add eggs, start the timer. 6 minutes for runny yolks, 8 minutes for soft boiled (my go-to!), 10 minutes for hard boiled. Peel under water to make life easier.
After cramming directions for how to boil eggs in the notes of more recipes than I can count, I figured it was high time to share a proper recipe. So here is how I boil eggs!
How to boil eggs
This method will produce consistent results to the level of doneness you desire no matter what pot you use and how weak or strong your stove is.
Boil water first.
Gently lower in fridge-cold eggs.
Lower the heat slightly – so the eggs don’t crack due to being bashed around but water is still at a gentle boil.
Start the timer – 6 minutes for runny yolks, 8 minutes for soft boiled, 10 minutes for classic hard boiled, 15 minutes for unpleasant rubbery whites and powdery dry yolks.
Transfer into a large bowl or sink of cold water.
Peel under water starting from the base (it’s easier).
And that’s all you need to know. But if you’re wondering about the why, read on!
How long to boil eggs
Dippy eggs and soldiers – 3 minutes (can’t peel)
Runny yolks – 6 minutes
Soft boiled – 8 minutes
Hard boiled – 10 minutes
Remember, lower fridge-cold eggs into boiling water then start the timer!
My egg boiling rules & the why
Boil water before adding eggs – Your water boils faster than mine, because you have a better pot and stronger stove. So if we both start with eggs in cold water then bring it to a boil, our egg cook times will be different.
Plus, at what point really do you consider the water to be boiling so at what point do you start the timer? And who wants to stand over a pot, waiting for that exact moment it comes to a boil so you can start the timer? Remove that variable! Always start your eggs in boiling water.
Lower heat slightly once eggs are added – So the eggs aren’t bashed around so they crack. But keep the water at a gentle boil / rapid simmer else you will lose heat. Goal: maximum water bubbling without eggs cracking.
Fridge-cold eggs – Insurance policy for creamy / runny yolks, eggs are consistently easier to peel, pls there’s a consistent baseline for everyone boiling eggs. 8 minutes for a room temperature egg = hard boiled, fridge cold egg = soft boiled!
Egg size – The egg cook times provided above are for “large eggs” which are sold in cartons labelled as such. “Large eggs” are ~50 – 55g / 2 oz each, a size prescribed by industry regulations. For other egg sizes:
– Extra-large eggs (60g/2.2 oz): add 30 seconds
– Jumbo eggs (65g /2.5 oz): add an extra 1 minute
– Emu eggs: separate recipe coming one day….. (maybe!😂)Don’t crowd the pan – Small saucepan and too many eggs = not enough heat in the water per egg = slower cook time.
Saucepan size – A 18 cm / 7″ saucepan is suitable for 6 eggs, a 16cm / 6″ pan for 4 eggs.
Save ice for cocktails – Ice is precious around these parts. There’s no need to waste them on your morning eggs! A bowl of cold tap water is enough to stop the cooking process.
Peel from the base – It’s easier. Try it.
Peel under water – Also easier. Try it!
What type of boiled eggs I use for what
Dippy eggs for soldiers (3 minutes) – Made for dipping in toast sticks (pictured above), these cannot be peeled as only the outer rim of the whites are set. The yolks are runny as is the inner layer of egg whites, so you can mix it up and dip the bread sticks in.
Runny yolks (6 minutes) – I don’t use these very often because they are a bit of a pain to peel because the egg whites are just barely set so they are rather delicate! Usually if I’m after a runny yolk I’ll do poached eggs (such as for Eggs Benedict) or fried eggs sunny-side up (for burgers). Just easier to handle and cook, I find.
What I use them for – Caesar salad and on toast with avocado in some form (smashed/smeared, guacamole or avocado sauce).
Soft boiled eggs ⭐️ (8 minutes) – My favourite and default boiled egg because it is at its best! Cooked so the yolk is just set which means it is at its optimal creaminess. But the yolk is cooked enough so it doesn’t run when you cut it.
What I use them for – salads (Nicoise, chicken pasta salad, Gado Gado), studded throughout fish pie and for my favourite egg sandwiches.
Hard boiled eggs (10 minutes) – The other alternative level of doneness for the above listed salads. I prefer soft boiled rather than hard boiled simply because the yolks are creamier and the whites are softer.
Overcooked eggs (12 minutes+) – Powdery yolks and rubbery whites are not to my taste, but do your eggs as you wish! I just hope nobody is aiming for the dreaded grey ring around the yolk. That’s as overcooked as you can get!
Egg cracking problems?
To prevent eggs cracking:
Lower the eggs in gently using a slotted spoon or similar – don’t drop them in from a height!
Reduce the heat slightly as soon as the eggs are added so the water isn’t bubbling so furiously that the eggs are thrown around so violently that they crack.
The other thing that can cause egg cracking is thin shells. The thickness of shells varies which can come down to the chicken breed and the quality of the chickens – and therefore the eggs. Do you use free range eggs?
Crater eggs
As for the burning question about why some eggs peel neatly and others end up cratered like the moon? Ahh, so much information out there! The only thing I know for sure is that older eggs peel more neatly than fresh eggs. This is simply because the membrane of freshly laid eggs is adhered more firmly to the shell so it’s harder to peel off. The older the egg, the more that membrane degrades = easier to peel.
I find eggs purchased from the store that I’ve had for a week+ in the fridge almost always peel neatly.
And onwards!
And that, my friends, is all the pertinent information I have to impart on the matter of boiling eggs. Go forth and enjoy your new egg boiling life, with guaranteed perfectly boiled eggs every single time!
And for egg boiling experts – share your tips. I love learning new things! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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How to boil eggs
Ingredients
- Large eggs , fridge cold (55g/2oz each, Note 2)
Instructions
- Water level 3cm/1" – Fill the saucepan with enough water so it will cover the eggs by 3cm / 1" or more.
- Boil first then add eggs – Bring to a rapid boil over high heat. Using a slotted spoon, gently lower fridge-cold eggs into the water.
- Lower heat – Reduce the heat slightly to medium high – water should still be bubbling but not so much the eggs are being bashed around so roughly they crack. (Note 3)
- Start the timer once all the eggs are in. – Dippy solders: 3 minutes (can't peel)– Runny yolks: 6 minutes– Soft boiled: 8 minutes– Hard boiled: 10 minutes
- Cool 10 minutes – Remove eggs using a slotted spoon into a large bowl or sink filled with plenty of cold tap water to cool the eggs. (Ice – Note 4) Cool 10 minutes.
- Peel from base in water – Crack the base of the shell by tapping it on the counter, then peel under water from the base (it's easier).
- Storing – Hard boiled eggs can be stored in the fridge for up to 7 days (peeled or unpeeled). Freezing not recommended (whites go weird).
Recipe Notes:
Egg doneness
Start timer once eggs put into boiling water:- Dippy soldiers (3 min) – Made for dipping toast stick in (see photo in post). Only outer rim of whites set. Can’t be peeled.
- Runny yolks (6 min) – Barely set whites, runny yolk. Delicate to peel. For runny yolks I usually do poached eggs or sunny-side up.
- Soft boiled (8 min) my favourite – Soft set but fully cooked whites, fully set yolks but a bit jammy. My favourite / most used.
- Hard boiled (10 min) – Firmer whites and fully cooked yolks but not dried out.
- Overcooked (15 min) – No! Unpleasantly firm rubbery whites and powdery dry yolks.
1. Don’t crowd the eggs, they will take longer to cook! Saucepan size for number of eggs: 16cm/6″ – up to 4 eggs 18cm/7″ – 6 eggs More eggs = larger pot 2. Egg size – Eggs are sold in different sizes. The cook times provided in the recipe are for large eggs (55g/2oz each in the shell), sold in cartons labelled as such. For extra-large eggs (60g/2.2oz) add 30 seconds, for jumbo eggs (65g/2.5oz) add 1 minute. 3. Egg cracking – Lower heat as needed to prevent eggs from cracking but goal is to keep it at a gentle boil / rapid simmer. If the water is still, there is not enough heat and your eggs are not cooking fast enough! Still got cracking issues? Thin shells is a problem (are you using free range?) and sometimes eggs already have a hairline fracture (can be invisible). 4. Ice water – there’s no need to waste precious ice for the water though if you have an abundance of ice, feel free to go ahead as it will speed up the cooling time. Just be sure to use enough tap water to cool the eggs. Nutrition per egg.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Size context: large eggs and jumbo paws.
I have had good success with this method for hard boiled eggs, but unfortunately found the soft boiled to be a combination of overcooked outer rim of white and raw everything else. I think they needed more time in the water and to not be cooled down. I would be keen to hear others’ thoughts.
I just realised my eggs are marked as “jumbo” on the packet despite looking like normal sized eggs to me. So it’s likely my error in not adjusting the cooking time. I’ll try adjust next time and will report back if I get better results!
Delicious
Perfect eggs! And I’ve been cooking eggs for 40 years. I have my new lifetime method. Thank you for the detailed information.
Carefully with a skewer I put a small hole just through the shell in the blunt end of the egg before putting same into the water. Reason is there is an air pocket encapsulated there which builds up pressure on heating and cracks the shell allowing the not set guts to spill out into the pot. Having a bleed hole prevents this from happening.
Perfect! I have four pet hens so we eat a lot of eggs. This recipe is definitely the best way to boil eggs! Thank you for the best information.
I used this to make Kedgeree. It worked perfectly! Thank you!!!
Really useful information, thank you!
Tried this today with a perfect result. Thank you!
I always dreaded hard boiled eggs. This was fast and worked! I boiled water added refrigerated eggs timed to 7 minutes. Ball cold water, no ice. Peeled under water from bottom. Perfect runny for me. Leftover reheat in micro for 45 seconds. Came out jammy.
I always made mistake of overcrowding. I have tried a lot of methods. Funny the absolute simplest worked. Thank you.
This is a work of genius. I want to nominate you for some kind of award
hack to peel a hard-boiled egg – https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/video/mol/2023/04/06/8122158004098842971/1024x576_MP4_8122158004098842971.mp4
Hahaha. I love the picture of dozer with the egg! Too funny! Yeah after reading this recipe I realized I’ve been overboiling my eggs for years! Been following your recipe for perfectly soft boiled eggs yum!! Also, I am from the US and am currently in Australia (Melbourne) so hello from your country!!!
Four perfectly done hard boiled eggs for my spinach salad. Thank you, thank you.
Thank you, as usual you make it easy and we get it perfectly right following your recipes!! May these twice already and they come out perfectly and I can actually peel the egg perfectly as well!
My gran taught me two things when cooking eggs, when boiling eggs and you think they are done lift it out of the water with a spoon and blow on it. If it dries right away it’s cooked. And the easiest way to peel a really fresh boiled egg is to cut it in half and use a soup spoon to scoop out.
Oh how I smirked when I saw this post – how hard is it to boil an egg?! And how my smugness turned to shame as I read about grey-ringed yolks and craters, and thought about the boiled eggs in my fridge 😂 For a tiny bit of extra effort, I now have perfectly boiled eggs. Nagi, thank you for continuing to make my life better!
I usually steam my eggs instead of boiling them. Have you tried it? 11 minutes of steaming the eggs.
I just have a question. How can you put fridge cold eggs in boiling water without the shells cracking from the heat? I was told by everyone I knew not to do this because the shells would crack from the hot water.
I did slightly off the boil (I took the pan off large hob to tiny hob) and had no cracked eggs. Will see tomorrow (lunchtime) how cooked they are. I agree, rolling boil causes cracked eggs and cracked eggs are frustrating to peel but flavour/texture is the same (personal experience re. impatient waiting for water to boil)
Yes I have the same problem. Not all of the eggs crack but surely out of the 6 one or 2 do
What a good boy Dozer was to sit there with the egg on his paw long enough for you to take a photo.
How was that !!! 🙂
Funny about your recipe regarding eggs, and how to cook them.
Eggs ARE my favourite food,
When it comes to toast ‘soldiers’ for dipping I LOOOOVE my eggs runny.
When it comes to making an egg and bacon roll for myself or for when I’m serving them up at my local cafe I make them soft boiled, aiming for runny as my idea of an egg and bacon roll is the egg trying to escape from the roll to ooze down my hand 🙂 🙂 🙂
To me, adding a sauce like tomato, or BBQ, is an insult to the egg.
The only thing I add to an egg is a bit of salt or pepper for dipping purposes, and for an egg sandwich; may.
It’s a bit like my idea of putting gravy on vegetables like broccoli, carrots, zucchini, peas and beans: insult to the vegetable, I want to taste the vegetable in its purity, not taste the gravy.
I only put gravy on meat, potatoes, pumpkin and sweet potato … I’m weird like that 🙂
I will try your method tonight Nagi as one of my favourite sandwiches is egg, lettuce and mayo.
However, I’ve always cooked my eggs from cold water.
When I want runny eggs I bring the eggs and water to the boil and time it for 1 minute and 30 seconds, taking them off the heat immediately and bunging them both in their respective egg cups for dipping.
When I want a soft boiled egg for sandwiches I put them in cold water, bring the eggs to the boil and cook them for 5 minutes, taking them off the heat immediately, then soaking them in cold water, ensuring that the water has been changed three times to ensure that they don’t continue to cook.
Well darling girl, I have my eggs in a saucepan tonight, as I have plans to have an egg, lettuce and mayo sandwich for supper. I shall follow your instructions to the ‘T’ and see how it works out xxx
Thank you 🙂
Outstanding~! I had a hankering today for an egg salad sandwich. I don’t know how I overlooked this posting earlier this week but it was in my face when I looked today.
I followed your instructions and did the 8 minutes. I was thrilled when I started mushing the eggs and discovered that with the jammy yolks I didn’t need to add any mayo as the yolks acted great to hold the chopped onion.
I had bought some Bavarian multi grain sandwich bread that was very fresh and the egg salad sandwiches were simply outstanding and the best I’d made in years.
Thank you!!!
P.S. – I did see the posting yesterday that contained the link to watch your live event so I was able to watch it after the fact.
You did great and your home is truly beautiful.
Still awaiting delivery of my copy of your cookbook but excited that it shouldn’t be too much longer.
Love to Dozer.
Freezing in Toronto today~!