How do I boil eggs?

Every complaint about boiled eggs — inconsistent doneness, grey rings, impossible peeling — comes from starting them in cold water. The temperature curve differs every time depending on your pan, hob and quantity, so the timing can't be reliable. Lowering eggs into water already at a boil starts the clock at a known point.

What you'll need

• Saucepan
• Slotted spoon
• Timer
• Bowl of iced water
• Pin for pricking the shell (optional)

Step by step

1. Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil — enough to cover the eggs by 2–3cm.Deep enough that adding cold eggs doesn't stop the boil entirely.
2. Lower eggs in gently with a slotted spoon, straight from the fridge.Lowering rather than dropping avoids cracks. Fridge-cold is fine and gives consistent timing.
3. Start the timer the moment the last egg is in.6 min runny yolk, 7 min soft-set, 8 min jammy, 9–10 min just-firm, 11–12 min fully hard.
4. Keep the water at a gentle simmer, not a violent boil.A rolling boil bashes the eggs against each other and cracks them.
5. Move straight into iced water for at least 3 minutes.Stops the cooking dead, and the sudden contraction separates the egg from the membrane so it peels cleanly.
6. Crack all over and peel starting from the fat end.There's an air pocket at the fat end, which gives you an edge to get under.
7. Peel under a running tap if the shell is stubborn.Water gets between the membrane and the white and floats the shell off.

Tips

• Slightly older eggs peel more easily than very fresh ones — the pH of the white rises as an egg ages and it clings less to the membrane.
• Adjust timings up by about 30 seconds for very large eggs and down for small ones. Altitude and a fierce boil both change things too.
• A grey-green ring around the yolk means overcooking. It's harmless, but the ice bath and accurate timing prevent it.
• For eggs to slice into a salad, go 10 minutes and cool completely — a warm hard-boiled egg crumbles when cut.

Common mistakes

• Starting eggs in cold water — The heating time varies with pan, hob and quantity, so the timing is never repeatable.
• Skipping the ice bath — They keep cooking from residual heat, and they're much harder to peel.
• Boiling violently — Cracks the shells and makes the whites rubbery.

Questions people ask