Home › Home & Kitchen › Kitchen & Dining › Cookware › Saucepans How to Boil Eggs Published: July 9, 2026 · Updated: July 9, 2026
Lower eggs into already-boiling water, cook at a gentle boil, and time it — about 6–7 minutes for a runny yolk, 9–10 for just-set, 11–12 for hard — then plunge them into ice water. Starting in hot water and shocking them cold gives reliable timing and shells that peel cleanly.
Recommended Into boiling water, time by doneness, then straight into ice water — the cold shock makes them peel — Boiling eggs is about controlling one thing, the time the yolk spends cooking, so lowering them into water that's already boiling gives you a known starting point every time (starting in cold water makes the timing drift with how fast your pan heats). Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, gently lower in the eggs with a spoon so they don't crack, drop to a lively simmer, and set a timer: roughly 6–7 minutes for soft, jammy yolks, 9–10 for just-set, and 11–12 for fully hard. Then move them straight into a bowl of ice water for a few minutes — this stops the cooking so yolks don't overcook and grey, and shrinks the egg from the shell so it peels cleanly. Older eggs (a week or more) peel far more easily than very fresh ones. Peel under running water or in the bowl, starting at the wide end where the air pocket is. A splash of vinegar in the water helps any cracked whites set rather than leak.
