Egg Boiling Calculator 🥚
The only thing in life with a definitive correct answer.
Yolk jammy and partially set. Perfect for ramen. You're welcome.
large egg, medium-boiled, cold water start
About This Calculator
How It Works
Egg boiling time depends on egg size (which affects how long heat takes to penetrate to the center), desired doneness (soft, medium, or hard), and starting water temperature (cold water vs. already boiling). This calculator combines those three variables into a recommended time using tested cooking reference data. It also starts a countdown timer so you can set it and actually walk away without catastrophe.
The Formula
Boil time based on egg size (S/M/L) x doneness modifier (soft/medium/hard). Starting from cold water adds ~2 minutes.
When to Use This
Use this whenever you want a specific result from a boiled egg and you're tired of guessing. The soft/medium boundary in particular is surprisingly narrow — a 90-second difference can take you from perfectly jammy to fully set. This is also useful when cooking eggs of a different size than you usually use, since small vs. large eggs can vary by 2+ minutes at the same doneness level.
Example
Large egg, hard-boiled, from cold water: 13 minutes total. Medium egg, soft, from boiling water: 5.5 minutes. The math is simple. The execution is everything.
Did You Know?
The ideal soft-boiled egg requires the white to be fully set while the yolk remains runny — a narrow window of about 60-90 seconds. Professional chefs time this to the second. Now you can too.