How do you boil an egg to perfection?

Question

Do you start with cold water and heat it or place directly into boiling. A good set of data would be to weigh the egg and try different times and record the data.

Answer 1

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS WITH PHOTO's @ LINK
1. Place eggs in single layer in saucepan. Add enough tap water to come at least 1 inch above eggs.
2. Cover. Quickly bring just to boiling. Turn off heat.
3. If necessary, remove pan from burner to prevent further boiling. Let eggs stand, covered, in the hot water about 15 minutes for Large eggs (12 minutes for Medium, 18 for Extra Large).
4. Immediately run cold water over eggs or place them in ice water until completely cooled.
5. To remove shell, crackle it by tapping gently all over.
6. Roll egg between hands to loosen shell.
7. Peel, starting at large end. Hold egg under running cold water or dip in bowl of water to help ease off shell.
8. To segment eggs evenly, various styles of egg slicers and wedgers are available. For chopped eggs, rotate a sliced egg 90° in the slicer and slice again. No slicer? A sharp pastry blender and a bowl work, too. When a wedger’s wires are drawn down only partway, an egg can be opened to hold a stuffing or resemble a flower.

Answer 2

ignore every thing you have just read this is the one and only way for perfect boiled eggs. The method is for medium sized eggs
1/bring a pan of water to a steady boil
2/place an egg(room temperature) into the boiling water
3/leave on the heat for one minute
4/remove the pan from the heat
5/leave for six minuets
6/remove from the water place into your egg cup make yourself some toasted soldier's and enjoy the best boiled egg you will ever eat

Answer 3

i would suggest boiling it in methanol as this has a boiling temperature in between the temperature at which the white sets and that at which the yolk sets. consequently you get a perfectly boiled egg with the white set and the yolk still runny. however there is a very slight problem with this. methanol is highly flammable even on an electric hot plate and consequently you might end up burning your kitchen down.

another option would be to move to a sufficently high altitude so that the water in your pan boils within these 2 values. however again this may well involve high costs and a deterioration in your social life.

however if again this is not an option i have included the following data for you:

egg diameter (mm) - time to cook (mins)

39 - 3.34
40 - 3.5
42 - 3.9
44 - 4.25
46 - 4.6
48 - 5
50 - 5.5

these assume the egg is at 20 degrees celcius and that you messure the diameter at the widest point. i hope this helps (and dont try the methanol one at home kids you will burn your kitchen down)

Answer 4

First of all, the egg should not be cold from the fridge, else it will crack. And try putting a pitch of salt in the water. Boil for about 5 mins then leave it to stand for another 2. That should get you a pretty hard boiled egg.

Answer 5

You start with putting the eggs in the pan with cold water heat them to boiling leaving the eggs in the pan. Remove pan from heat and let cool. Also adding a little vinegar to the water will help to congeal eggs if they crack and it makes them easier to peel. That is for hard boiled eggs.

Answer 6

this method has been working for me for years!

put eggs in pot
add cold water to cover eggs by about 1/2 inch
heat to boiling
immediately remove from heat and cover pot
let stand 17 minutes
immediately drain hot water and rinse eggs in cold/ice water
peel while still warm

( eggs can then be placed in a zip-lock bag and placed in the refrig if you want them cold )

I've never cracked eggs because of boiling water this way either !!

Answer 7

No no no!! You begin with your eggs in cold water, bring to a boil, turn off the burner and leave the pot where it is. Leave the eggs in the water for 10 minutes. Rinse under running cold water until they've cooled down. Take the shells off, or leave them on and put them in the fridge until you need them.

Answer 8

Put the egg into boiling water and leave it for 4 minutes

Answer 9

for a perfect egg the egg must be at room temperature then bring a pot of water to a boil place the egg in with a spoon so it wont crack boil the egg for 15-20 min cool completely with cool water before peeling. the egg should be at room temp before cooking to prevent it from cracking when it hits the hot water

Answer 10

Put the egg in cold water then bring it to the boil then turn it down and let it simmer for about 4 mins, enjoy