Time for Boiling Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
For poached eggs, cook for 4 minutes.
For soft-boiled eggs, cook for 2½ to 3 minutes.
For hard-boiled eggs, cook for 6 to 8 minutes.
To prepare soft-boiled eggs for someone with a weak stomach, bring 1 pint of water to a boil, add the egg, remove from heat, and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Proteins that set with heat, firming the white and thickening the yolk as cooking time increases.
The step that matters
Watch the cooking time. Egg proteins set gradually with heat. A difference of even half a minute can turn a soft yolk fully firm, so timing decides the final texture.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More boiled eggs recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipes