How to boil the perfect egg
What you need
A perfect boiled egg takes no special gear — just a few deliberate choices. Use a pot that holds your eggs in a single layer, with enough water to cover them completely. A crowded pot cools down too much when the eggs go in, and eggs stacked on top of each other cook unevenly.
Two details matter more than most recipes admit. First, the water should be at a gentle rolling boil, not a simmer — water simmering around 90 °C cooks noticeably slower, and your timing quietly drifts with it. Second, lower each egg in with a spoon instead of dropping it. That one habit prevents most cracked shells, because the egg never knocks against the bottom of the pot.
The method, step by step
- Fill the pot and bring the water to a rolling boil.
- Take the eggs straight from the fridge — the reference times below assume fridge-cold, size-M eggs.
- Lower them into the water one by one with a spoon.
- Start the timer the moment the last egg is in.
- Keep the water at a steady, gentle boil.
- When the timer rings, lift the eggs out and rinse them briefly under cold water.
Starting from boiling water is what makes this method repeatable: the water is at the same temperature every single time, so the only variables left are egg size and starting temperature — both easy to control. If you're wondering how this compares to starting in cold water, we've laid the two methods side by side in cold start vs. boiling start.
The exact times
These times are for a size-M egg straight from the fridge, lowered into boiling water:
| Doneness | Stove | Induction | Egg cooker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft — runny, creamy yolk | 5:00 | 4:30 | 8:00 |
| Medium — firm white, creamy centre | 7:00 | 6:30 | 10:00 |
| Hard — firm and sliceable | 10:00 | 9:30 | 12:00 |
| Extra hard — cooked through and through | 13:00 | 12:30 | 14:30 |
Induction hobs recover their boil faster after the eggs go in, so each time is 30 seconds shorter. Egg cooker times are total times from switch-on, including heat-up. For other egg sizes, the rule of thumb is about −30 seconds for S, +30 for L, and +60 to 90 for XL — our egg size chart has the full breakdown.
Don't skip the cold-water shock
An egg keeps cooking after it leaves the pot — the heat stored in the white continues to firm up the yolk. A brief rinse under cold water stops that carry-over cooking right where your timer left it, which is exactly what keeps a soft or medium yolk creamy instead of chalky. As a bonus, shocked eggs tend to peel more willingly.
Brief is the key word. A quick rinse or a short dip in cold water is enough to stop the cooking; you're not trying to chill the egg. For a breakfast egg, it should still be warm in the cup.
The mistakes that ruin boiled eggs
- Starting the clock too early. The timer starts when the eggs go into boiling water — not when you turn on the hob.
- Cooking at a simmer. Lazy bubbles around 90 °C cook slower than a rolling boil, and every minute on your timer is suddenly worth less.
- Ignoring egg size. An XL egg needs roughly a minute to a minute and a half longer than an M — enough to turn soft into medium.
- Skipping the cold shock. Carry-over cooking quietly pushes the yolk one level firmer than you planned.
- Overcooking into the ring. The blue-green ring around an overcooked yolk is iron sulfide — completely harmless, but a sure sign the egg cooked too long.
None of these mistakes survive a good timer. Egg Timer bakes the times above into four doneness levels for stove, induction and egg cooker, and rings like a real alarm clock even when your iPhone is locked — so the only variable left is how you like your egg. Choosing between the options? What to look for in an egg timer app covers the criteria that actually matter.
Get the perfect egg on autopilot
Egg Timer for iPhone and Apple Watch has all four doneness levels preset for stove, induction and egg cooker — and rings like an alarm clock, even on silent.
Coming soon to the App Store