Get the exact soft, medium, or hard boiled-egg cook time adjusted for egg size, whether eggs start cold or at room temperature, and your cooking altitude.
Adjusts the simmer time for doneness, egg size, starting temperature, and altitude.
Method: boil water, gently lower the eggs, start the timer, simmer, then ice-bath immediately.
About this tool
The Perfect Boiled Egg Timer gives a cook time tuned to your exact conditions instead of a one-size-fits-all number. Pick the doneness you want — soft (runny yolk), medium (jammy), or hard (fully set) — then dial in egg size, starting temperature, and altitude, and the tool returns the simmer time to run once the eggs are lowered into boiling water.
The base times assume a large egg lowered into already-boiling water that is then dropped to a bare simmer: soft is about 6 minutes, medium about 8, and hard about 11. Larger eggs need more time (extra-large +1 min, jumbo +1.5 min) and medium eggs one minute less. Eggs taken straight from the fridge are the baseline; starting at room temperature shaves about a minute. Altitude matters because water boils cooler as you climb — roughly 1°F lower per 500 feet — so above 3,000 feet the tool adds about half a minute per additional 1,000 feet, rounded to the nearest half minute.
Everything is computed in your browser. For the cleanest result: bring water to a rolling boil, gently lower the eggs with a spoon, start the timer, hold a gentle simmer, then plunge the eggs into an ice bath the moment the timer ends to stop cooking and make them easy to peel. The final time is floored at 3 minutes so it always stays sensible.
Frequently asked questions
How long do you boil an egg for soft, medium, or hard?
Starting from a large, fridge-cold egg lowered into boiling water then simmered: about 6 minutes for soft (runny yolk), 8 minutes for medium (jammy), and 11 minutes for hard-boiled. This tool adjusts those figures for your egg size, starting temperature, and altitude.
Why does altitude change egg boiling time?
Water boils at a lower temperature as elevation rises — roughly 1°F per 500 feet — so eggs cook slower in the cooler water. Above 3,000 feet the tool adds about half a minute per extra 1,000 feet to compensate.
Does egg size really matter?
Yes. A jumbo egg holds noticeably more mass than a medium one and needs more time to set. The calculator applies −1 minute for medium, 0 for large, +1 for extra-large, and +1.5 for jumbo relative to the large-egg base times.
Should I start the timer in cold or boiling water?
This timer assumes you lower eggs into already-boiling water and then simmer, which gives more consistent, easier-to-peel results. Start the timer the moment the eggs go in, and use an ice bath immediately after to stop the cooking.