With egg prices on the rise, it's more important than ever to get the cooking times right when boiling eggs. Luckily, I did this research many years ago. The principles still apply.
Whether you like them soft-boiled or hard boiled, this recipe explains all the factors involved in making perfectly boiled eggs for your setup. As a bonus, I've also tested several methods of making eggs easier to peel and have come up with the best method for peeling boiled eggs.
If you've ever boiled an egg you've probably run into problems at one time or another. Two challenges generally arise: cooking the egg and peeling the egg. You might have found your eggs under/overcooked, or when you tried to peel the egg it ended up looking like the surface of the moon.
The good news is that both of these problems are easily resolved with a little understanding of the science of eggs. Read on and you'll be boiling expertly oval eggs whether you're going for a perfect hard boiled egg or a gooey soft cooked one.
Jump to:
- How to Choose Eggs
- Setting Temperatures of Yolks and Albumen
- How Do You Cook the Perfect Boiled Egg?
- Boiled Egg Variables
- How Many Minutes for Hard-boiled Eggs? How Many Minutes for Soft-boiled eggs?
- What's The Best Way to Peel an Egg?
- Recipes Using Boiled Eggs
- Master Other Perfect Eggs
- Recipe
- Perfect Boiled Eggs
- Comments
How to Choose Eggs
As with most things, the quality of the ingredients will determine the quality of the results, so start with the best quality eggs you can afford. You won't remember the extra dollar you spent when you see that perfect jammy egg on your plate. And well-fed chickens produce tastier eggs with thicker shells that are easier to peel.
Another thing to consider when selecting an egg is the color of the yolk. Chickens that feast on a diet rich in beta carotene (red chili peppers, marigolds, etc.) lay eggs with strikingly orange yolks. In a blind tasting, you won't be able to taste the difference, but the visual impact makes most people feel like the eggs taste better. Some U.S. grocery chains are marketing eggs with darker yolks, so look for those if you want results that look like mine.
My method will make any egg easier to peel, but starting with older eggs gives you a head start. When peeling an egg, you remove two layers, including a hard shell and a thin inner membrane. In a freshly laid egg, the membrane is tightly adhered to the albumin (egg white), and you can see this if you break open a raw egg and the egg white sticks to the shell. As an egg ages, albumin loses CO2, which raises its pH and makes it thinner. This is bad for dishes like poached eggs, where you want the egg white to hold together in the water, but it's good for boiled eggs because it's not able to adhere to the soft membrane, making it easier to peel. The downside of using older eggs is that they also tend to have a bigger air pocket inside, which gives the boiled eggs a big crater on one side after you've boiled and peeled them.
Finally, you want to look for eggs that are similar in size. In grocery stores, eggs are usually sorted by size and labeled, so you don't have to think about this too much, but if you raise chickens or you get your eggs from a farm stand, it's worth remembering that different-sized eggs will take different amounts of time to cook.
Setting Temperatures of Yolks and Albumen
Egg yolks set at a much lower temperature than egg whites (70 degrees C vs 80 degrees C). Since the heat source (boiling water) is outside the egg, it cooks from the outside in. In theory, this means that by the time yolk is set, the white has also reached its higher setting temperature.
Since the boiling water is much hotter than the setting temperature of the egg, it's very easy to zoom past the desired temperature. Because the temperature is rising so fast, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly when to stop the cooking to get the egg exactly how you like it, whether you're going for runny yolks or firm yolks.
The problem with most boiled egg instructions is that they create a formula (put eggs in cold water, bring to boil, boil for X minutes) assuming you put the exact same size and temperature of egg into the same amount of water in the same pan on the same stove… Well, you get the idea.
How Do You Cook the Perfect Boiled Egg?
The best way to figure out what works for your setup is to boil a dozen eggs and start pulling the eggs out of the water in thirty-second increments after about 3 minutes. But who wants to waste that many eggs? Well, luckily I have a friend that farms eggs and I've been busy experimenting in my lab to come up with an (almost) foolproof method of boiling eggs.
Since the main problem with boiling an egg is the narrow window of time during which the egg is perfect, I asked myself how I could slow the cooking down to expand that window of perfection. I found my answer in the way I cook my chicken for chicken soup
This is how I adapted the technique for eggs. Put refrigerated eggs in a heavy bottomed pot and cover with cold tap water so they're covered by about 1" (2.5cm) of water. Bring the water to a full boil (100 degrees C) over high heat, and then remove the pot from the heat. Let the eggs cook the rest of the way using the residual heat in the water. As the temperature of the egg rises, the temperature of the water will fall, which will give you a much wider window when your egg is perfectly cooked.
Boiled Egg Variables
Before I give you cooking times for the eggs though, you need to know that there are many other factors that will affect the cooking time of the egg and I've outlined some of the major ones below along with what I did in my kitchen.
- Initial egg temperature - An egg right out of the fridge will take longer to cook than an egg at room temperature. But since room temperature varies by season, and most people have their fridges set to around the same temperature. I decided to develop my method using eggs straight out of the fridge.
- Egg size - Size greatly effects the cooking time; the bigger the egg, the longer it will take to cook. I did all my experiments with large eggs (not extra large or jumbo)
- Egg to water ratio - The more water you use relative to the number of eggs, the longer it will take to boil and the longer it will retain heat. Too much water and your eggs will cook too fast, too little and the temperature will fall too fast, resulting in uncooked eggs. Ideally, you'd measure out a certain amount of water for each egg you're boiling. But that seems a little extreme for something so simple. I typically use a pot that comfortably houses the number of eggs I'm going to cook (not crowded, not too spaced out, i.e., six eggs in a medium saucepan), and then cover the eggs with enough water so there's about 1" of water above the top of the eggs.
- Heat retention of the pot you use - Thicker pots, made of denser materials (iron vs aluminum) tend to retain heat better than thinner pots. I used a heavy bottomed stainless steel pot to boil my eggs. If you're using an electric stove (coil or plate type), you should remove the pot from the stove and put it on a trivet after the water boils, as these types of stoves tend to retain heat long after you've turned them off.
- Heat output of your stove - Some stoves are able to boil a pot of water much faster than others. IH (Induction) cooktops tend to be the most efficient, while electric plate type stoves tend to be the least efficient. I've tested this method on both IH and gas cooktops using 5-8 eggs. If you try and do too many eggs, or use an under-powdered stovetop it will take too long for the water to come to a boil. If the water takes too long to boil, your eggs are going to be sitting in hot water for much longer, which will affect the amount of time they need to sit in the water after you turn the stove off.
- Altitude - The boiling temperature of water falls as your altitude rises. If you live in the mountains, this will certainly affect the eggs' cooking times, so you'll need to adjust accordingly. I boiled my eggs at roughly sea level.
- Room temperature - If you're in a very cold room, your water will cool faster than if you're in a warm room. I boiled my eggs in a 24 degree C (75 F) room.
How Many Minutes for Hard-boiled Eggs? How Many Minutes for Soft-boiled eggs?
With all that in mind, here are the cooking times for various types of boiled eggs. The times start after the water has come to a boil and you've turned off the heat.
- 2 minutes - The white isn't fully set and the yolk is totally raw.
- 4 minutes - The white is fully set, but the yolk is thick and runny.
- 6 minutes - The white is fully set, and the yolk is mostly set, but still a little runny in the middle.
- 8 minutes - The white is fully set, and the yolk is set, but tender.
- 10 minutes - The white is fully set, and the yolk is fully set.
Remember to transfer your eggs to cold water as soon as you take them out of the pot to stop the cooking immediately. Otherwise, your eggs will continue cooking even after you've taken them out of the water.
What's The Best Way to Peel an Egg?
If you do a search on google for "peel an egg" there are literally dozens of purported ways to make peeling an egg easy. Most of them don't work with fresh eggs, and while using older eggs works pretty well, who wants to wait two weeks or more to make a boiled egg? It might not matter so much for egg salad, when you want those perfect half-ovals for devilled eggs, frustration mounts.
The good news is, I've come up with a method that works every time, no matter how fresh the egg is. The secret is to put a small crack in the bottom of the egg(the fat side) BEFORE you boil it. The crack needs to extend all the way through the hard shell, but it must not rupture the soft inner membrane (otherwise you'll end up with egg white spewing out of the crack as it boils). I use a small curved object (like the end of a pestle or back of a spoon) to crack the egg on. It creates a more predictable circular crack rather than a linear crack that could spread and rupture the membrane.
So why does this work? My theory is that by putting a small crack in the shell, it allows water to enter the egg and saturate the membrane, mimicking the membrane of an older egg.
By putting a small crack in the shell, it allows water to enter the egg and saturate the membrane, mimicking the membrane of an older egg. If any scientists out there want to compare some cross sections of the albumen-membrane interface under a scanning electron microscope it would be awesome to finally put this mystery to rest.
Recipes Using Boiled Eggs
Once you've mastered the technique, you'll be ready to try the many dishes on No Recipes that include boiled eggs. Japanese Potato Salad, Japanese Egg Sandwich, Ramen Eggs, and Egg in a Biscuit all feature boiled eggs. You can also use them to crown a bowl of udon, bejewel a composed salad, or tuck inside a bento. They even make a nutritious protein-rich snack just as they are, or with a pinch of salt and pepper. Serve them with a bowl of Soy Sauce Butter Rice, and you have a quick and satisfying breakfast. You'll be finding new ways to show off these beauties every day.
Master Other Perfect Eggs
Now that you've mastered the art of boiling eggs how you like them, how about becoming a poached egg pro, or a sunny-side up superstar? To help you along, I've put together a short digital cookbook where I walk you through my techniques for making the perfect egg recipes every time!
Recipe
Perfect Boiled Eggs
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
Instructions
- Take the eggs from the refrigerator, then tap the bottom of each egg on a curved surface (like the back of a spoon) to make a small circular crack through the shell. Be careful not to rupture the inner membrane.
- Place 6 eggs in a single layer in a saucepan that's big enough to hold 12 eggs and add cold tap water to the pot until the eggs are covered by 1-inch of water.
- Put the pot on a burner over high heat until the water comes to a rolling boil.
- Set a timer for your desired doneness (see times above), and turn off the heat.
- Remove the boiled eggs from the water when they are done. Place eggs in a bowl and repeatedly cover the eggs with cold water until the water doesn't warm up anymore. This will stop the eggs' cooking. Let them soak in this cold water for at least 20 minutes.
- Crack every bit of shell by tapping firmly with the back of a spoon and then peel the egg from the bottom in a spiral pattern towards the top. Be sure to keep the egg wet at all times.
Nutrition Facts
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OneLove says
Thanks for this recipe, it work great at the first time I try, but the egg yolk didn't look like in pic 6. Mine kind of look more like pic 8 but still taste yummy XD.I leave the lid on while let's the egg rest, is it the problem that mine egg like pic 8 not pic 6 ???
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Natalie, what picture are you not able to see? What browser and operating system are you using. I'd be happy to help you with your problem, but I need to know a little more about what the problem is first as the images are not cutting off on my computer.
Natalie Rivera says
ugh u cant see the picture. it cuts off and u cant click on it. so basically stupid recipe
Eric says
THANK YOU RANDOM GUY ON internet for sharing egg wisdom.
wasn't "perfect" but it's clearly a superior technique.
Kerry Maxwell says
Probably not, more likely it will raise the PH and make it alkaline. Especially since you don't specify how much sodium bicarbonate. Most likely the water will be fairly close to a neutral PH of 7 to start with.
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks for reporting back and I'm glad to hear it worked out!
Susan Rowald says
Tried your method and was able to keep the eggs in their shells for the week. I didn't notice any drying out either. So, the storage in the refrigerator for a week in the shells worked fine! Thanks again for solving my boiled egg dilemma ! 🙂
Susan Rowald says
Thanks! I will try it. The method worked great when I cooked a dozen eggs. I peeled them all easily. I usually cook lots more at once though and store them in their shells. I will let you know what happens.
Susan Rowald says
Thanks! I will try it. The method worked great when I cooked a dozen eggs. I peeled them all easily. I usually cook lots more at once though and store them in their shells. I will let you know what happens.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Susan, I hadn't really thought about this too much, but it shouldn't change the shelf-life too much as the membrane should still be intact protecting the egg inside. That said, you might end up with some moisture evaporating through the crack over time, which could render part of the egg dry. Give it a try and see how long they keep.
Susan Rowald says
How long can you store the cooked eggs with the cracked shell like this? I like to cook our boiled eggs once a week and we pull out from the frig each morning.
Susan Rowald says
How long can you store the cooked eggs with the cracked shell like this? I like to cook our boiled eggs once a week and we pull out from the frig each morning.
Mnc says
I just tried, but I'll have to cut a few minutes off to get the same results as you. I knew this might be a possibility, as I had read some comments before attempting, so I fished eggs out every two minutes from very early on.
I think the problem is, that I don't have a proper stove but a small 2-plate thing that you can put away. It plugs into the wall, so it can't draw as many amps. Result is, it takes longer to heat up, so more of the actual cooking happens before the water reaches boiling where I move the pot to the cool cooking plate.
In your "Before I give you cooking times" section, you should consider putting in a line or two for "time it takes to bring the water to a boil". 🙂
Also, thank you! I've wrecked too many eggs, by trying too many different things, without really sticking to anything and changing the variables slightly.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Simon, good point. Electric plate/coil stoves retain a lot of heat after you turn them off, so it's a good idea to remove the pot after you add the eggs.
Simon says
Have to say I just tried this, and I guess the variables also have to be whether you cook over gas or electric or take the pan of the hot plate once boiled or leave it there. I followed your instructions to see if I could improve my randomness in the boiling egg field and after 4 mins I ended up with what I can only describe as a seven minute egg (by the power of six). My toasty soldiers had nowhere to be dipped.
I shall endeavour to adjust my timings in future.
Much love.
Chrissy Tan says
Electric kettle - in the morning - fast and no fuss, no need cold water afterwards. Number 1 and number 2!
George Giblet says
The basic idea is good. However, as you have listed above, there are many factors. It would be more reliable to leave to pot lid on so the water temperature doesn't drop too much under worst case conditions (eg. cold air, cold eggs not much water). I'd say say just use whatever pot, amount of water and egg temperature you like. If it's not right this time, next time adjust the time by say 2mins (or use your photo to guess the time difference). That way each person to tune the method to their situation.
girloftree says
I think you've made this more complicated than it needs to be. I have been putting cold eggs in to lightly boiling water, very carefully and continuing to boil lightly for the desired time (14 minutes for fully cooked eggs). I very rarely have any eggs burst. When they are done, I immediately move them to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking and they usually peel very well, even when fresh. And of course you should not crowd the eggs and should have water about 1" covering them.
Marc Matsumoto says
The problem might be in the way they were cracked before being boiled. The crack needs to be radial, not linear (see the second photo from the bottom). If the crack is linear it tends to spread and will result in the egg bursting.
Wong Jock Onn says
Dear Marc, Thanks again. That is what I did - put the eggs in cold tap water and then heated them, but bursting occurred. I never put raw eggs into boiling water. However, I'll try again. Thanks, Marc. Best, Jock
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Wong, you can cook fewer eggs the same way, but just use a smaller pot. If there's too much water per egg, it will cook faster as the cool egg won't lower the temperature of the water fast enough. See the photo above for how crowded the eggs should be in the pan. As for the bursting egg problem, that only happens when you put a cold egg into boiling water. Here, the eggs are going in with the cold tap water and are heated to boiling before the heat is turned off.
Wong Jock Onn says
Dear Marc, Thanks for this. I have two questions, if I may. I normally cook just one or two eggs (for one person). Do I still do it the same way? The other question is that when I boil refrigerated eggs, they tend to 'burst', probably because of the stress caused by the quick change in temperature, so I normally boil eggs at room temperature. Any suggestions?
Marc Matsumoto says
After the water comes to a full boil, the set the timer and turn off the heat.
Jennifer says
Do you set the timer after the water starts boiling or when you put it on the stove?
Malea Hansen says
Tried this method of boiling eggs and they were absolutely PERFECT. Thank you for all the time and effort you put in to this and then sharing it so the rest of us can have perfect eggs as well!
Travis says
You should have folks submit photos with timing and elevation details so we can work out how to make the perfect egg anywhere.
Drew Liscomb says
Oohh! Crowdsourced recipe tuning!
Marc Matsumoto says
Wow, that's really odd. I used an induction burner for this, but it shouldn't make a huge difference in boiling times provided you're using a large burner. How long did it take from the point you put the eggs on the stove until it boiled and you turned the heat off?
Johnny says
I'm using a gas stove. The pot was not covered, and I put it on my largest burner on the highest heat. The eggs looked closer to 10.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hmm, are you using a gas or induction stove? I'm assuming the pot was not covered at any time? The only thing I can think of is that the amount if time it took your pot to come to full boil was somewhat longer than the time it took mine to come to a full boil which would have led to your eggs sitting in the warming water longer. How overcooked were they? Did they look more like 6 minute eggs or 8 minute eggs?
Johnny says
Straight from the fridge. My altitude/elevation is 171ft. They were covered exactly with an inch of water from the egg. I used a timer to wait 4 minutes and put them in ice cold water right away.
Thomas Abraham says
Hi Johnny sorry to hear it didn't work. Did the eggs come straight from the refrigerator? What's your altitude? When you day "over an inch of cold water" how much over an inch?
Johnny says
Doesn't work. I even used a digital thermometer. 6 Large eggs, stainless steal pan, covered eggs over an inch of cold water, water came to a perfect 212F boil, took pan off heat and waited 4 minutes = over cooked eggs.
Cody says
I'm old enough that one would think one would know how to boil eggs... I'm not sure I've ever made hard or soft boiled eggs before this. I used your instructions for egg boiling and must say they came out perfect!! I especially liked the way the shells came off without distroying the egg. Thanks...
Marilia says
This truly was perfect!!
Danielle Jacquot says
Does that help them taste different? Or boil better? Or peel better?
Marc Matsumoto says
I'm not sure I follow your logic, maybe you could elaborate? My theory is that as the water evaporates through the pores, the membrane gets saturated with water making the albumen stick less to the membrane, so I'm not sure how what you said is in disagreement with my theory.
K says
Fresh Eggs have more water than older eggs. As the egg ages, water evaporates through the shell leaving a greater space at the bottom or top of the egg causing it to float in water. This may disprove your theory somewhat.
Angela says
I used 10 minutes today, and the eggs turned out great! The yolks were a beautiful yellow and the eggs were tender. Thanks again!
Angela says
I'll have to try your cooking time for my next batch of eggs. I've always done the cold water method as you do, but after they come to a boil, I turn the stove off, cover the pan with a lid, and leave the eggs in for 18 minutes. Thanks for sharing.
Marc Matsumoto says
Nope, but I have tried the pin pricking method and it also works. The cracking method is just faster and less of a hassle than getting out a pin and piercing the egg (unless you have a tool to do it for you).
not_configured says
When I lived in Japan, I bought an tool that pricks the shell of the egg. The top piece has an indentation for the base of the egg, with a hole in the center for a needle to poke through. The base holds the needle and a spring. You hold the egg against the indentation, press, and the needle pushes up into the shell. Have you tried using one of these?
Marilia says
And this article is yet another example of how much I LOVE your blog! I'm a die-hard fan and LOVE all of your information! FANTASTIC STUFF!!! (You'll have to excuse me now, I'm about to make some eggs...)
Pamela says
I'm a 5 (somewhere between a 4 and six haha)! Great tips!
-Pamela (from https://pamelas-plate.com/)
Scott at Realepicurean says
I love this article. I'm definitely a number 4 man.
Marilia says
Marc, this is really helpful. Esp the peeling eggs part.
rblumiere says
Making the peeling of the shell very easy!
rblumiere says
Add baking soda to the water, this will neutralize the PH
Marc Matsumoto says
Nope, no need for a lid.
Vinny Merlino says
marc- do you have a lid on the pot at all during the cooking process
missmochi says
My family has a flock of hens, and I hate trying to peel fresh hard-boiled eggs. The moon surface has nothing on my pitted and mauled egg whites. I will have to try your tiny crack technique!