Home > Recipes > Boiled Eggs Boiled Eggs HOW TO BOIL THE PERFECT EGG Ingredients 2 teaspoons salt eggs Soft-boiled (soft white and soft yolks) Large eggs: 4 minutes Medium eggs: 3 minutes 30 seconds Small eggs: 3 minutes Medium-boiled (hard whites and soft yolks) Large eggs: 5 minutes Medium eggs: 4 minutes 30 seconds Small Eggs: 3 minutes 30 seconds Hard boiled (hard whites and hard yolks) Large eggs: 10 minutes Medium eggs: 8 minutes Small eggs: 7 minutes Instructions Bring eggs to room temperature before using. Fill a saucepan with enough water to cover eggs. Bring water to a gentle boil. Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Lower eggs carefully into the water using a large spoon. When the water comes back to a boil, start timing and reduce the heat so that the water simmers gently. Boiling the eggs quickly toughens the egg white and causes the eggs to bang against each other and crack. The timing of your eggs depends on the size and degree of hardness desired. You should start your timing of the eggs from the moment the water first boils. Soft and medium boiled eggs are usually set in an egg-cup, the top is cracked with a knife and the egg is eaten directly from the shell with a small spoon. Immediately plunge hard boiled eggs into cold water. This makes peeling eggs easier and they won’t develop a green ring around the yolk. Ideas for hard cooked eggs: Deviled Eggs – deviled eggs get their name from the use of mustard. Scotch Eggs – an excellent picnic food. They have an herbed sausage and bread crumb coat that surround the egg. Pickled Eggs – pickled eggs are almost always available in any English pub. As hors d’oeuvres, they are delicious sliced and served on thin slices of dark bread.