Ask any egg aficionado how to boil eggs, and they might start by telling you something you weren’t expecting to hear:Start with old eggs.As odd as that sounds, it’s good advice. Fresh eggs are harder to peel once boiled than older ones. So if you’re planning to makedeviled eggs,egg salad, orporridgetopped with an oozy soft-boiled egg, buy a dozen eggs a week ahead of time and shove them to the back of the fridge. That way, you’re not tempted to burn through them before you commence boiling. And, when it comes time to peel the soft- or hard-cooked eggs, your fingers will thank you.
Got your older eggs ready? Great. Here’s the best way to make perfectly boiled eggs every single time.
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
The first step of the egg-cooking process is to place a large pot of water on the stovetop and bring it to a rolling boil over high heat. (You only need water, by the way; some recipes call for salting the water or adding baking soda, but both are completely unnecessary.) Add enough water so that your eggs will be covered by a few inches. Eggs that aren’t totally submerged in the boiling water won’t cook evenly. If you’re cooking alarge batch of eggs, consider using a wide pot so that the eggs all lay in a single layer for more even cooking.
You might have heard that you should drop your eggs into room temperature or cold water andthenbring the water to a boil. This is a myth. In our tests, bringing the water to a boil first and then lowering the eggs into the bath made for easy peeling and more accurate timing.
2. Gently lower eggs into the water.
Once the water has come to a rolling boil, grab yourcold eggs straight out of the fridge(the temperature shock will make them easier to peel). Use a large spoon to gently place eggs in the hot water. If you drop the eggs in haphazardly, they can hit the bottom of the pot and crack, leaving you with floating wispy egg whites strewn throughout the pot.
3. Boil eggs for 4 to 14 minutes.
Set a timer and let the eggs cook to your desired doneness. Adjust the heat as needed, keeping the water at a steady simmer; you want the eggs to cook, but too vigorous a boil will leave them thrashing around the pot like they’ve been dropped into a mosh pit.
For soft-boiled eggs (the kindyou spoon right out of the shell), pull your fighters from the pot at 4 minutes. At 7–8 minutes, they’ll technically be hard-boiled but with a slightly jammy yolk. For those who like drier hard-boiled eggs, you can keep cooking up to 14 minutes. After that, you’re likely to encounter an unsightly green ring around the perimeter of the yolk, a hallmark of overcooked eggs. We determined the cooking times below using large eggs; for medium eggs or extra-large eggs, your results may vary. Expect to experiment a bit to find the total time foryourideal level of doneness.
- 4 minutes:tender egg whites with a runny soft-boiled yolk
- 5 minutes:firm egg whites with a runny yolk
- 6 minutes:firm egg whites with a gooey yolk
- 8 minutes:firm egg whites with a fully set but jammy yolk
- 10 minutes:firm egg whites with a firm pale yolk that’s just a bit soft in the center
- 12 minutes:firm egg whites with a firm hard-boiled yolk
- 14 minutes:firm egg whites with a crumbly, dry pale yolk (ideal for deviled eggs)
Don’t have time to think about all this? You canboil your eggs in an Instant Potfor a more hands-off cooking method.
4. Transfer eggs to an ice bath.
When the timer goes off, use a slotted spoon to transfer the eggs from the boiling water toa large bowl of ice water. Not only will the ice bath stop the egg from cooking (ensuring it will be exactly as you want it), but the drastic change in temperature also makes the cooked eggs easier to peel.
5. Peel the eggs.
When your eggs are cool enough to handle, peel them under cool running water. The water will get under the eggshell, which will help you lift the shell away cleanly. (It’ll also wash away any tiny flecks of shell left on the eggs.)
Alternatively, you can peel eggs right in the bowl. After a few minutes of cooling, swirl the unpeeled eggs around with a spoon. Let them rattle around so their shells begin to crack (starting the peeling process for you). The shells won’t rinse off as they would in running water, but you’ll use less water this way. (This is our former food editorRhoda Boone’spreferred method; she canpeel hard-boiled eggsby the dozen in under 2 minutes.)
You can store boiled eggs in your refrigerator for up to a week, whether shelled or unshelled, sealed in an airtight container. Enjoy them on their own, or chop them up forsandwiches,salads,pasta,casseroles, orgrain bowls. Need more inspiration? Check out ourbest hard-boiled egg recipes—if these ideas don’t inspire you to learn how to boil eggs perfectly, nothing will.
