How Long Should a Soft Boiled Egg Boil?
Preparation
Place the eggs into an empty pot and fill until 1 inch of water is above the eggs. Remove the eggs, place a lid on the pot and bring the water to a full, rolling boil. Place the eggs into the pot, ensuring that they are still covered by at least 1/2 inch of water. Cover with the lid and remove the pot from the heat.
Steeping
After two minutes of steeping in the just-boiled water, the thin outside of the egg white next to the shell begins to turn opaque and solidify, but the deeper part of the egg white and yolk are both still runny. One minute later, the entire egg white is white rather than transparent, but the portion nearest the yolk is still runny, as is the yolk. At five minutes of steeping, the egg whites are solid, but they are not cooked firm, yet. The yolk remains runny. Most people prefer to remove the eggs from the pot at the seven minute mark, when the egg whites are cooked and the yolk is runny but thickened. Only after seven minutes can the eggs be peeled; until then, the whites are not solid enough to maintain the shape of the egg.
Shocking, Peeling and Serving
Remove the eggs from the hot water in the pot at exactly the seven minute mark and carefully transfer them to an ice-water bath. This immediately stops the cooking process of the egg by cooling the egg whites. Once the egg whites are no longer hot, the egg yolk stops cooking. Shocking the eggs in ice water for one solid minute also causes the eggs to slightly constrict from the cold inside their shells, which makes peeling easier. Gently tap the eggs on all sides on a flat counter top to create a series of tiny cracks across the entire shell. Remove the egg shells under cold, running water. Heat eggs that are too cool by placing them back into the pot with the hot water for two to three minutes, then serve.
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