Add boiling water to a medium sized pan and bring to the boil then turn down the heat. Using a spoon gently lower each egg into the pan. Keeping the water gently simmering, boil eggs for 5-6 minutes for a soft boiled egg or 10-12 minutes for a hard boiled egg.
If you boil an egg for five or 10 minutes, it becomes firm and cooked. If you boil it for hours, it becomes rubbery and overcooked. Beyond that, things get a little mysterious. Eggs are full of coiled-up protein molecules.
Place eggs in a large saucepan and cover with water by at least 1 inch. Bring water to a boil over high heat. Let the water rapidly boil for 30 seconds, cover and remove from heat. Let sit 4-12 minutes.
For one to four eggs, bring the water to a rolling boil, cover the pot, and turn the heat down to its lowest setting for 12-14 minutes. For five to eight eggs, cook for 15 to 18 minutes. For nine to one dozen eggs, cook for 20 minutes. After cooking, transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water.
Heat water over medium heat until it is at a full rolling boil. Let eggs cook for 15 seconds, then remove pan from heat, cover with lid, and leave for 20 minutes. When time is up, carefully strain out the hot water and replace it with cold water.
If you're wondering how to tell an egg is hard boiled, set it on the counter and give a quick spin. Once it's moving, tap your finger on it to stop the spinning. Eggs that are cooked will spin easily and rapidly and stop quickly.
Boil for 6 – 7 minutes over medium-high heat for perfect hard boiled eggs. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a large bowl of ice water and let them cool for a few minutes. Or you can place them under cool running water to stop the cooking. This will also help the eggs peel easily.
How long to soft-boil an egg? The perfect soft-boiled egg time is a quick and easy six minutes (hence, why they're also called six-minute eggs). Basically, the amount of time it takes a press pot of coffee to steep is how long to cook soft-boiled eggs.
Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to low (so that there's no bubbles) and use skimmer to gently and slowly add the eggs to the water. Then, turn the heat back up to a boil. Set a timer and cook the eggs for 6 to 7 minutes for soft-boiled eggs and 12 to 14 minutes for hard-boiled eggs.
Bring the water to a boil, gently stirring the eggs several times. As soon as the water boils, remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let the eggs sit for 15 minutes (13 minutes for small eggs or 17 minutes extra large eggs).
Fill pot with water to completely cover the eggs at least 1 inch above eggs and turn heat to high. Bring water to a boil, takes approximately 15 minutes. As soon as eggs start to boil, let boil for 10-12 minutes (I do 11 minutes). Set timer to help.
Leave the pan uncovered. Turn the heat to high and bring the water to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit: Depending on how cooked you like your hard boiled eggs, the eggs should be done perfectly after sitting for 10-12 minutes.
Adding white vinegar or apple cider vinegar to your pot of water allegedly results in softer, easier-to-peel eggshells. That's because the acid in vinegar dissolves some of the calcium carbonate that makes up the egg's hard exterior.
We find the time saved by not tempering the eggs worth the gamble. 2. Drop the eggs into boiling water. Eggs that are added to a pot of boiling water rather than brought to a boil along with the cold water in the pot will be easier to peel.
Boiled eggs are not supposed to float, but floating isn't a sign that the egg is bad. What is this? Some eggs will float in fresh water while some will sink, and the idea that a boiled egg floats when done is a myth.
The bottom line
For a soft yolk, boil large eggs for about 7 minutes. For a classic hard-boil, cook them for up to 13 minutes. Keep in mind that smaller eggs cook faster and that you may need to cook for longer at higher altitudes due to changes in atmospheric pressure.
When you boil eggs, hydrogen sulphide - a toxic gas is released in the whites of the egg. This happens especially when you overboil the eggs. If you have noticed, overcooked eggs have a green coating on their yolk, which is a signal that you should not eat them.
Put the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Once the water is at a rolling boil, turn off the heat and cover the pot with the lid. Allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for the following times according to the desired doneness: 3 minutes for SOFT boiled; 6 minutes for MEDIUM boiled; 12 minutes for HARD boiled.
If you're about to place uncooked eggs in a pot of boiling water, stop what you're doing immediately. Making hard-boiled eggs should always begin with cool water. Bringing the water and eggs up in temperature together helps promote even cooking and prevent cracking. Follow this tip: Always start with cold water.
Starting with cold water lets you heat the egg more slowly, which keeps the whites from getting rubbery. But this method takes longer and gives you less control over the cooking time. (How long it takes the water to reach boiling depends on the size and shape of your pot, among other things.)
Bring your eggs to room temperature before boiling. If the eggs are too cold, the shells may crack during cooking. Place the eggs in a saucepan of cold water.
Lower your eggs straight from the fridge into already-boiling water, or place them in a steamer insert in a covered pot, steaming at full blast on the stovetop. If boiling, lower the heat to the barest simmer. Cook the eggs for 11 minutes for hard or six minutes for soft.
If you don't plunge your egg into cold water when you take it off the heat, it goes on cooking . . . and cooking . . . and cooking. The longer you cook the egg, the more likely you are to end up with a rubbery white and a green yolk.
Some people think that adding salt makes the water boil faster, which is actually not true. However, salting the water makes for perfect hard boiled eggs because it: Increases the temperature of boiling water. Adding salt raises the boiling point of the water slightly.