Hard-boiled and soft-boiled eggs?

Question

What's the difference between hard-boiled eggs and soft-boiled eggs? And what are their respective method of preparation? Thanks.

There are so many good answers, it's hard to choose one. Thanks for your informative answers!

Answer 1

Soft boiled has the yolk still runny. Hard boiled has the yolk hard.

Bring eggs to room temperature before using.
If the egg has been stored in the refrigerator it can be warmed gently under a flowing hot tap.

Place sufficient water to cover the eggs in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil.

Lower the eggs carefully into the water, using a tablespoon.

When the water reboils, start timing and reduce the heat so that the water simmers gently.

Fast boiling makes the egg white tough and causes the egg to bang against each other and crack.

Timing boiled eggs depends on the size and degree of hardness desired.

You should start timing the eggs from the moment the water first boils.

Soft-boiled (soft whites, soft yolks):

Large size: 3 minutes 20 seconds.

Medium size: 3 minutes.

Small size: 2 minutes 40 seconds.

Medium-boiled (hard whites, soft yolks):

Large size: 4 minutes 15 seconds.

Medium size: 3 minutes 50 seconds.

Small size: 3 minutes 20 seconds.

Hard-boiled (hard whites, hard yolks):

Large size: 10 minutes.

Medium size: 8 minutes.

Small size: 7 minutes.
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Answer 2

A hard-boiled egg is when the yolks are solid - it takes longer to cook it that way.

A soft-boiled egg is when the yolks are more runny - this will take less time.

To cook a soft-boiled egg you would put it in a pot with water covering the egg and wait till the water boils. Then you turn off the oven and put the lid on the pot about two or three minutes. This should produce a runny yolk. If not, you can adjust the time by leaving it less time to get the style you want.

For a hard boiled egg you would follow the same preparation as above, but you would leave the egg in the pot covered for about 7 to 10 minutes.

Answer 3

Boil for 7 minutes to get soft, and 11 to get hard eggs. If you like them a little less than soft, then boil for 5 min.
John

Answer 4

Hard Boiled - Boil for about 10 minutes and they are completely firm.

Soft Boiled - Boil for about 3-4 minutes and they are runny in the middle. Usually served over toast (similar to a poached egg)

Answer 5

I usually put the egg into a pan of cold water, enough to cover the egg, bring to the boil, switch off the heat then time for 2 to 2 1/2 mins depending on size of egg. For hard boiled I leave it another 5 mins or until the water is cool. If you have gas you may need to add another min. When you remove the egg from the water the shell will start to dry straight away when it's cooked.

Answer 6

Soft boiled eggs are cooked for about three minutes in barely boiling water until the whites start to set and the yoke is still runny. They are eaten warm.

What are called hard boiled eggs should be refered to as hard cooked eggs. Boiling is too hot and will crack the shell. The egg is placed in simmering water for 15-17 minutes until completely cooked, but before the yoke develops a grey ring around it. Cool them in ice water, remove the shell and serve cold on salads or chopped up with maynaise to make egg salad.

Answer 7

Hard boiled are the ones with the yellow part well cooked (hard) soft boiled are the ones with the yellow part soft. In boiling water, you put an egg for 6 minutes and it will be soft. You leave it for 10 and it will be hard.

Answer 8

Soft boiled eggs have the yolk still liquid.
To achieve that, you need to place them into already boiling water (the eggs cold right out of the fridge) and at sea level, leave them in for 5 1/2 minutes, by the time you get up in elevation (like Colorado Springs at 5,900') it'll take 7 minutes (lower temp of water at boil)
Then as you take them off the heat, immediately rinse them with lots of cold water, then peel.
If you don't do the cold rinse, they will turn hard because of the latent heat.
For hard boiled (and solid core eggs), you can place them even in cold water and bring the water to a boil, leave them for 15 minutes (from cold).

Answer 9

Soft boiled are a bit runny in the yolk; hard boiled are not. If you boil until the shells start cracking, you can be sure they are hard (10-14 min); about half that for soft.

Answer 10

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