How Long to Boil an Egg: Times for Runny, Jammy, and Hard Boiled

Six minutes for dipping toast in, seven for the jammy egg on ramen, ten to twelve for the ones you slice into a salad. Everything below is the detail behind those numbers: what shifts them, why the ice bath matters, and how to stop guessing.

How long to boil an egg: the full timing chart

For one large egg taken straight from the fridge and lowered into boiling water, then simmered: 6 minutes gives a runny, soft yolk with a set white, 7 minutes gives a jammy yolk with a soft centre, 9 minutes gives a nearly set yolk, and 10 to 12 minutes gives a firm hard boiled yolk. Times below assume a boiling-water start, not a cold-water start.

Three minutes take you from a yolk that pours to one that slices, which is why guessing costs you the egg you wanted. If you only remember two numbers, remember 7 for jammy and 12 for hard boiled.

Boiling water start or cold water start: which one do these times assume?

Every time on this page assumes a boiling water start: the water is already at a rolling boil before the egg goes in. With a cold water start you put the eggs in cold water, bring the whole pan up to a boil, then usually turn the heat off and let them stand, so the clock is measuring something completely different and none of these numbers apply.

The boiling-water start is the more reliable method for one simple reason: the timer starts at a known temperature. With a cold-water start, how long the eggs sit below cooking temperature depends on your pan, your burner, and how much water you used, so the same recipe can give a runny egg on one hob and a chalky one on another.

A practical detail: keep the water at a steady, gentle simmer rather than a violent boil. A hard rolling boil knocks the eggs against the pan and each other and cracks them, and it does not cook them any faster, because boiling water is boiling water at 100 C either way.

Do egg size, fridge temperature, and altitude change the time?

Yes, all three shift the timing. As a rule of thumb, medium eggs need around 30 seconds less and extra large or jumbo eggs around 30 to 60 seconds more than a large egg, and room-temperature eggs run about 30 seconds ahead of fridge-cold ones. At altitude water boils below 100 C, so the eggs cook in cooler water and need longer.

• Egg size. These times are calibrated to a large egg, roughly 50 g of egg out of the shell. Move down to medium and shave about 30 seconds. Move up to extra large or jumbo and add 30 to 60 seconds, because a bigger yolk sits further from the hot water.
• Starting temperature. A fridge-cold egg has to warm through before it starts setting. Room-temperature eggs run about 30 seconds ahead, so a 7 minute jammy egg becomes closer to 6 minutes 30. Pick one habit and stick to it so your timing means something.
• Altitude. Water boils at a lower temperature the higher you go, so the egg cooks in cooler water and needs longer. There is no single universal correction, so treat published sea-level times as a starting point and add time in small increments until you learn your kitchen.
• Number of eggs. Six cold eggs dropped into a small pan pull the temperature down and it takes a moment to recover. Use plenty of water, enough to cover the eggs by an inch or two, and get the boil back quickly.

Timing charts get you very close, and your own kitchen closes the gap. Cook one egg at your chosen time, cut it open, and adjust by 30 seconds in whichever direction you need.

Time it properly instead of guessing

Thirty seconds is the difference between a jammy egg and a chalky one, so start the timer the moment the last egg is in the water. Guessing by feel is where boiled eggs go wrong.

For a runny soft boiled yolk use the 6 minute timer, and for classic hard boiled eggs use the 12 minute timer. If you like your hard boiled eggs firm but still bright yellow rather than dry and crumbly, the 10 minute timer is the one to bookmark.

Why do boiled eggs get a green ring around the yolk?

The green-grey ring is iron sulfide, formed when sulfur from the egg white reacts with iron from the yolk. It is a sign of overcooking, not spoilage, and it is harmless to eat. Cooking for the shortest time that sets the yolk and then chilling the eggs immediately in ice water prevents it.

The reaction is driven by heat and time, and it keeps going while the egg cools in its own retained heat. That is why an egg left sitting in the hot pan after the timer ends can go green even when the timing was right. The fix is mechanical: lift the eggs into a bowl of ice water the second the timer goes off. That stops the cooking, keeps the yolk the colour you wanted, and makes the eggs cool enough to handle in a couple of minutes.

Why are my boiled eggs so hard to peel?

Very fresh eggs are the hardest to peel. As an egg ages it loses a little moisture and carbon dioxide through the shell, the air cell grows and the membrane loosens, so older eggs peel more easily than eggs laid a few days ago. Eggs that are a week or two old are ideal for boiling.

1. Use eggs that have been in the fridge for a week or more, and save the freshest ones for frying or poaching where peeling never comes up.
2. Start in boiling water rather than cold. The rapid heat hits the outer white first and helps it release from the membrane.
3. Chill the eggs in ice water immediately and give them a few minutes, so the egg contracts slightly inside the shell.
4. Crack the wide end first. The air cell sits there, so you get a pocket to start from instead of tearing into the white.
5. Roll the egg gently on the counter to craze the whole shell, then peel under a trickle of cold water so the water gets under the membrane.

If a batch still fights you, it is almost always freshness. No amount of vinegar, salt, or baking soda in the water reliably beats using an older egg and chilling it hard.

Storage and safety: how long do boiled eggs keep?

Hard-cooked eggs should go back in the fridge within two hours and be eaten within one week, according to USDA guidance. Keep them in the shell if you can, since the shell slows moisture loss and stops the egg picking up fridge smells. Peeled eggs are best eaten the same day or the next.

The USDA notes that hard-cooked eggs spoil faster than raw ones, because cooking removes the shell's natural protective coating. That is the reason for the one-week limit. For the full official guidance, see the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service page on shell eggs from farm to table and the FoodSafety.gov cold food storage chart.

One more safety note: a 6 minute egg has a runny yolk, which means the yolk has not reached a temperature that kills salmonella. For most healthy adults that is a normal everyday risk, the same one they accept with fried eggs. For young children, pregnant people, older adults, and anyone with a weakened immune system, the safer choice is a fully cooked egg, so 10 to 12 minutes with a firm yolk, or eggs marked as pasteurised.

The method in six lines

1. Fill a saucepan with enough water to cover the eggs by an inch or two and bring it to a full rolling boil.
2. Lower the eggs in one at a time on a slotted spoon so they do not crack.
3. Turn the heat down until the water is at a steady gentle simmer, not a violent boil.
4. Start the timer immediately: 6 minutes runny, 7 jammy, 9 nearly set, 10 to 12 hard boiled.
5. Lift the eggs straight into a bowl of ice water the moment the timer ends and leave them for at least 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Peel from the wide end under cold running water, or refrigerate in the shell and eat within a week.

Boiling an egg is not hard, it is just unforgiving of a vague clock. Pick your number, start the timer the second the egg hits the water, and finish in ice.