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How to Cook an Egg - Soft or Hard Boiled

Last Modified: 06/27/10
First Published: 09/30/07
Views: 21196
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Views: 21196
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To perfectly boil an egg can be tricky. How many minutes for a soft-boiled egg and how many minutes for a hard-boiled egg? How do you cook the egg without cracking and how do you make sure you don’t overcook the egg? After all, a boiled egg is perfect in its own simplicity – but how do you make sure your egg will be perfectly cooked?

First of all:
Place the eggs in cold water in a pot.
Put the heat on high and let come to a boil

Method 1:
Once the water is boiling, immediately lower the temperature to medium-low. A soft boiled egg requires to cook about 3 minutes, while a hard-boiled egg will require about 6 minutes.

Method 2:
Remove the pot from the heat the minute it reaches a boil. Cover and let the eggs sit in the warm water. Hard-boiled eggs require about 12-14 minutes and soft boiled eggs require about 4-8 minutes depending on your taste.

The second method will produce “a softer result.” There will be less of a chance that you overcook the eggs if you try this method and the eggs will not become “rubbery.” We recommend this method for cooking eggs, unless you’re in a hurry.

Once the eggs are finished cooking, place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. To peel the egg, roll it between your hands or between a hard surface to gently crack it all around, then remove the shell.

Tip 1: Pierce the flat end of the egg with a needle before cooking in order to reduce cracking.

Tip 2: A fresh egg will be more difficult to peel. To ensure easier peeling, boil eggs that are 1-2 weeks old.

Tip 3: Boiled eggs can kept in the fridge for about a week.