How to cook the perfect boiled egg
Boiling eggs sounds very basic, however there are a few rules you should stick to to get the perfect boiled egg.
- Don't use very fresh eggs. Only use eggs that are more than 4 days old (from being laid) or you won't be able to peel them without pulling chunks of white with the shell and the white will have a strange texture.
- Use eggs that are at room temperature. Don't use eggs directly from the refrigerator. The shock of boiling water will crack them immediately. That said, don't store eggs in the refrigerator anyway, there is no need. Shops don't sell them from the fridge - ever.
- You can prick the egg to stop it cracking. Pierce the top of the widest end with a pin or an egg-pricking gizmo.
- Don't let the water boil too furiously as this may result in cracked eggs.
A egg boiler is a device designed purely for the purpose of boiling eggs.
| How to cook the perfect boiled egg | |
|---|---|
 |
| 5 Minute egg | |
| Servings: | 1 per person |
| Calories per serving: | 235 |
| Ready in: | 8 minutes |
| Prep. time: | 2 minutes |
| Cook time: | 6 minutes |
| Difficulty: | 
|
| Recipe author: | Chef |
| First published: | 12th April 2013 |
|
Best recipe reviewBrilliant in it's simplicity 5/5 You'll be amazed you did not know about this! |
Ingredients
Printable 🖨 shopping 🛒 list & 👩🍳 method for this recipe
- 2 Large Lion Quality eggs
- Water for boiling
- Pinch of salt
- 1 slice of buttered toast cut into soldiers to serve (optional)
Method
- Place egg in a small pan. Cover the egg with at least 2.5cm (1") of cold water, add a pinch of salt and place the pan on a high heat.
- When the water is almost boiling, set a kitchen timer for one of the timings below:
3 minutes for really soft boiled yolk and set white
4 minutes for slightly set yolk and set white
5 minutes for firmer yolk and white
6 minutes for hard boiled with a firm yolk
7 minutes for firmly hard boiled Reduce heat slightly to keep water bubbling but not fast boiling and stir the egg once more.
Once the cooking time has expired, remove the egg from the pan with slotted spoon, place into egg cup and serve immediately with hot buttered toast soldiers.
Photographs of boiled chicken's eggs by cooking time
-
Very soft boiled egg
Cooked 3 minutes -
Soft boiled egg
Cooked 4 minutes -
Medium boiled egg
Cooked 5 minutes -
Hard boiled egg
Cooked 6 minutes -
Very hard boiled egg
Cooked 7 minutes
In taking these photos, I placed them in cold water immediately after the set cooking time to halt the cooking process. Normally they would continue cooking while they were still hot to touch, especially so for large eggs.
Easy peeling of a soft-boiled egg with a blow-torch
This tip comes from Modernist Cuisine at home: ISBN 978-0982761014
"Torching an eggshell makes it easier to peel without damaging the firm egg white. Soft- boil or hard-boil an egg, and rest it at room temperature for two minutes. Then flash the egg with the blowtorch torch while rotating it constantly. The shell should become dry and brittle within about two minutes, and will fall away easily when peeled."
Random recipe review
Infallible
5/5
Works every time. Amazed I only recently learned about this. They should teach this at school.
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