Back to the comfort of basics. Sometimes tricky basics — I didn’t check if there were any poaching instructions 
For a soft-boiled egg, four minutes. For a hard-boiled egg, seven minutes if you’re going to let it cool on its own, eight minutes if you’re going to put it in cold water to cool.
I’m not looking at NYT Cooking because of the strike.
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The cooking time depends on whether you keep your eggs refrigerated or not. I’ve had more success getting reliable results for soft-boiled eggs from refrigerated, so that’s where I keep them now.
The link will still be there when the strike is over.
I’m a complete convert to steaming my eggs. I never have problems peeling them when I steam them - and all the “tricks” that people have said to fix peeling problems have never worked for me.
We’ve landed on steaming for 13 minutes, straight from fridge, for hard boiled eggs (e.g. for deviled eggs) - fully cooked yolks. 12 minutes if I’m doing them to put on a green salad (slightly softer yolk). 9 minutes for a soft yolk for something like putting in ramen.
Can’t go back to dealing with boiling, way too many failures for me. YMMV
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What contraption do you use for steaming? I have a bamboo steamer and see no reason why that wouldn’t work…
Personally, I have a steamer basket insert for my sauce pan (like a double boiler topper but with holes in the bottom). I actually have them in two sizes LOL - the big one I can do 2 dozen eggs easily (4th of July is the only time it gets used).
But, at my parents’ house they have one of those baskets with little feet on it, where the sides open out. It works great too.
I’ve never tried it in my bamboo steamer but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I have a belief (that I’ve never actually tested) that the 2nd and 3rd tiers of my bamboo steamer never get as hot as the first tier - so I might try it at first with just one level in the bamboo steamer as this is such a time/temp related thing!
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Bring egg to a boil, remove from heat and let stand covered for 7 mins, plunge into ice bath for 8 mins. Jammy HB eggs.
Well, it depends. See the article and my previous comments. All eggs aren’t equal.
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Same. I have also had success with plunging them directly into boiling water (in terms of them coming out easy to peel), but not as consistently as with steaming. Plus, steaming is MUCH faster since you only need to bring an inch or two of water to a boil.
I also cook straight from fridge. I usually buy XL or jumbo eggs, and prefer 15-17 minutes for hard boiled (I like truly hard yolks, no hint of softness) and 8-10 minutes for ramen eggs. Jumbos get the longer end of that cooking range. Straight into an ice bath until cool enough to handle, and they peel perfectly every time.
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I also steam in a pot with an insert, but have to go a little longer than recommended in this serious Eats process.. They are still runny at 12 minutes, and usually, but not always easy to peel.
In addition to it being my most recent “truth” about the best way, it also seems to use less water and time to get going.
Somehow this seems like a good thread for today. We can disagree without loosing our minds. Why are there no comments in the NYT link?
I use the insert, too and steam 15 minutes. The eggs peel easily.
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Perfect… eggs… every time… 
I use a similar method for HBEs — start in cold water, get to a boil, take off the burner, let sit for 12 min. Pretty perfect HBEs every time as well.
I’m happy to try other methods for jammy / ramen / etc eggs, tho 
I start the eggs, from the fridge in cold water then I let them sit for a while. For me, ease of peeling is as important as “doneness”. Almost nothing induces rage more than an uncooperative egg 
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You’re telling ME? 
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I start with cold eggs out of the fridge. Bring to a boil and boil 5 minutes. Pull off the heat and let stand 5 min then j to an ice bath.
(For hard boiled…stand 3 min for jammy/soft)
Gives me fully cooked yolks without being chalky or having sulfur rings
J. Kenji López-Alt has done two major “tests” on boiling eggs.
the first on Serious Eats, the second on America’s Test Kitchen.
the second, which was more extensive, explained all the reasons and factors why starting in cold water, boiling x minutes, cooling y minutes… does not work for all people all the time. with tests and pictures.
starting boiling water has only two variables:
- the temperature of the egg on start
- length of time boiled.
sat, vinegar, baking soda, etc etc etc additives make no difference.
I do have one nit to pick with his ‘finding’ of chill shocking hard cooked eggs.
I plunk mine in water with lots of ice cubes floating around, do a tap crap&roll, the shell come off cleanly - often in two pieces.
this is a (?) more recent video - multiple prior misconceptions explained . . .
This post explains why you sometimes have trouble peeling eggs. Chowhound archive and most memorable posts - #43 by Olunia
this is my
start in boiling water
after M minutes : S seconds
plunge into ice bath
let cool 15+ minutes
in the last 20+ years in this house I’ve taken divots out of exactly two eggs . . .
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You are clearly a naturally good person!
