peeled soft boiled eggs….
A while back I saw this picture that appeared to be a hard boiled egg with a fried egg yolk in the middle. Well, that image floated around in my head and I decided that I had to figure out how it’s done…
and, yes.. I know what a soft boiled egg is… but usually those are served in an egg cup with the shell intact, you know? So, with no shell intact, I began to ponder….
Has that ever happened to you? I get these “foodie” obsessions.
So, after MUCH google-ing…. I figured it out.
Some people call them four-minute eggs, some people call them six minute eggs. And, you have to move quick if you’re going to snap a pic of it’s golden goodness.
Because, there’s no turning back once you cut into the buttery yolk…
So divine. And simple.
To make these:
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar.
Place desired number of eggs into boiling water.
BOIL EXACTLY FOUR MINUTES!!! (or six, but I went for four) *many readers have told me six works best for them.
Immediately place into a bowl with ice water.
Once cool enough to handle, CAREFULLY peel shell.
Place on top of hash browns, toast, salad…etc.
Slice into and enjoy!
- #ingredient#
- To make these:
- Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar.
- Place desired number of eggs into boiling water.
- BOIL EXACTLY FOUR MINUTES!!! (or six, but I went for four) *many readers have told me six works best for them.
- Immediately place into a bowl with ice water.
- Once cool enough to handle, CAREFULLY peel shell.
- Place on top of hash browns, toast, salad…etc.
Runny eggs are the only way to go! But my family disagrees- the weirdos!
This looks amazing. I love runny eggs. And hashbrowns?! Count me in!
Ohhh, yummmmmy! The only way this could be better would be with some bacon. Thank you for your foodie obsession! =)
It’s called a soft boiled egg.
do i have to use vinegar or will something else work?
The vinegar (supposedly) helps with the peeling of the shell. I’m sure you could omit it…
Do the eggs have to be room temperature before you boil them?
Mine weren’t!
have you never heard of a soft boiled egg before?
That beautiful egg is making my mouth water. I am so going to try this soon!
We used to eat eggs and hash browns back when we Catholics abstained from meat on Fridays.
@Laura J – you can use a 1/2 tsp of baking soda for the vinegar for the same ease of peeling.
The boiling time will depend on your altitude. Higher altitudes have a lower boiling point, so it takes a little longer to cook.
I was so excited to try to make these eggs for Sunday morning breakfast and had zero luck! I followed the directions above and cooked the eggs for our minutes. After peeling the first egg I took off a little more white than I wanted and was left with a perfectly cooked white on the outside and a disgusting raw mess in the middle…maybe I should’ve done 6 minutes? Good luck to anyone else that tries
You could try six minutes, I’m so sorry the first batch didn’t work.
My grandma used to make this for me as a kid and it was sooo good! She’d tear up a piece of toast in a mug and add the egg and I’d eat it with a spoon. Mmmm! I haven’t had this in years!
I tried this today, and putting the eggs into boiling water caused them to crack and leak egg whites… My usual method is to put eggs in tap water and bringing it to a boil, then taking it off the heat and letting it sit for 6 min. Works great!
That sounds awesome, Tammy!
I tried this and I think 5 minutes boiling would’ve been perfect! They were delicious but just a bit too runny in the white.
I agree with Nicolene. Starting the eggs in cool water and bringing to a boil then letting the eggs sit works best for me.
I love the runny soft boiled eggs. But at 4 min they were still pretty much raw inside. Next time I would cook them for 6 min. Definitely didn’t turn out like the picture.
My father used to make these for us. We put 2-4 in a coffee mug, put saltine crackers in it, mashed it up, topped with some pepper and ate it with a spoon.
My dad used to make these for me all that time as a kid and now I continue to make them for my son. I think the best way to cook them is to put them in the pot with your water. Let the water with the eggs in it come to a boil. Exactly 2 min after boiling place eggs in cold water.
You can also achieve this by using an immersion circulator (not common in most kitchens). You can set the circulator to a very precise temperature and it will result in hard boiled eggs with the yolk at varying degrees of doneness. At one temperature, you can even get the eggs to the consistency of something akin to silly putty, allowing you to mold and shape them. In my modern cooking class at school, we lumped a bunch of these yolks together, wrapped them in bacon, and seared until crispy. DELICIOUS!
Can you save these eggs and use them later after you have already boiled them?
Is this something you can make ahead of time? Or just right before eating?
Yes, simply warm them up in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes.
Yes, you can make them ahead of time. Keep them in fridge, then warm up in a bowl of hot water for several minutes,
Can you save these eggs?
Just tried this, couldn’t peal it without breaking the egg, noticed the white inside was just way too runny…resorting to poaching now lol
Oh no, I’m so sorry!
I will be trying this soon. One of the meals I was glad to find when I was young, ok talking 50s here was smoked sausage with home fries and or at least what we called soft boiled eggs broken over the potatoes, YUMM. All I can say is play with the time so it works for you, for me a tad loose white is fine. I as of this year have 8 egg laying hens and am so looking forward to collecting fresh eggs every day. I will have this all soon, just need the sausage,and the three minute egg timer, nope got that timer, just never used it, and yes it was Moms.
I went with the 6 minutes. Some of the whites were still runny. But we are higher altitude. I will try 7 minutes next time.
Think I would call this a pinterest fail for me. Total mess, egg whites runny and could not peel well at all…wasted 8 eggs! Oh well, my husband kindly advised it is good to get some humble cooking pie every now and then. He is now making instant oatmeal as the kids are running around like crazy wanting food!
Try eating soft boiled eggs on leftover Thanksgiving stuffing. It is the BEST!!!
Oh my, I’m adding that to my black Friday to do list for breakfast!
I’m sorry, you could boil them a little longer for hard boiled? For the remaining 7? Or try 6 minutes, allow to cool slightly enough to be able to peel. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Great feedback, Mia.. I’m in FL, so there’s no altitude here.
Thanks for the feedback, Ken~ that sounds delicious! And… how lucky you are to have hens! Enjoy those super fresh eggs!
Oh. My. Gosh! Best egg, evah! I tried your method this morning for breakfast, I had mine with toast and it was delicious. The white was perfectly cooked through without being rubbery or chewy and the yolk was warm and velvety. Perfect for dunking toast.
My only gripe with this method is now I don’t think I will be happy to eat my eggs done any other way. LOL
I live at higher altitude, just over 5000 ft. and six minutes gave me a perfect egg.
Thank you for posting and pinning this.
have u tried eggies? I bought some at store bcuz I hate peeling hard boiled eggs…no need to put in ice water making the egg get cold. I have never had a 4/6 min egg, but the pic puts my 2 fav together, the white with runny yolk…I don’t like hard boiled yolk
Simple and yummy!
My dad makes these every morning. He uses a butter knife and cuts the egg shell in half then uses a spoon to scoop out the egg. No peeling needed!
My Mother Use To Fix Eggs For My 2 Sons…She Called Them ” Dippy Eggs ” They Would Dip Their Toast In The Yolk .YUM !!!
Looks perfect! But for me, it is a 6 minutes egg.
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I have made soft boiled eggs since I was a kid. You don’t need the vingar as it does nothing to the egg itself. Place eggs(from the store NOT FRESH FARM EGGS) in pot cover with water put on burner at high. DO NOT LEAVE THE KITCHEN! When the water begins to boil set your timer for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Take the eggs off when your time goes off and immediately drain water and and fill with cold water. Peel when you handle the eggs. The yoke will be soft the white will be firm. THe reason you use store bought eggs of older farm eggs because they peel bad. You may need to extend your time to adjust how runny vs firm you prefer the yoke. Advice from 4 Home Ec teachers (Mom, 3 aunts)!
I grew up with 4 min eggs. LOVE them!!
My mother made these over buttered toast!! A favorite childhood memory and go-to comfort food!!!
I live at 9000 feet. I made one eggs this morning to try it out, YUM! My mom use to make me soft-boiled eggs when I saw sick and starting to want to eat again. I boiled the water, dropped an egg in with a wire basket (so he egg wouldn’t crack) and boiled a little over 6 minutes. I think if I did it again I would go 7 minutes. The only problem was getting the shell off…any tips their. I’m super anal about getting all shells off.
First I would like to say these eggs look delicious! I am a retired Executive Chef of a 5 star hotel. Second Leilani is correct neither vinegar nor baking soda do a thing for the egg. Buying older eggs is what makes the shells peel and ice water helps too. I too put my eggs in the pan of water and then turn it on. 5-6 min is best for my taste and many others. Seriously when my mom use to make soft boiled eggs for 4 min (on never mind too gross of a tale). One more hint. If you buy eggs during the holidays to use as horderves like deviled eggs or at Easter, buy them a couple weeks ahead of time. They put out so many eggs durning this time and they are way too fresh for this purpose.
PS I start the clock when I see the water start to boil.
I’ve never added vinegar to soft boiled eggs before. I’ll have to try it. Four minutes would be disgusting for me. I like mine cooked from 6-6.5 minutes, but I’m in a KC altitude. Your altitude DOES matter. For me, 6-6.5 minutes leaves the eggs completely firm, and the yolks sticky and loose, but not really runny. I’ve spent a lot of time mastering it. I wrote a post on how to make the perfect soft boiled eggs here:
http://threeblindwives.com/2012/07/24/soft-boiled-eggs/
Great info Peggy! Thank you so much!
If it has a runny yolk, it’s not a hard boiled egg. It’s a medium boiled or soft boiled egg.
We call these medium boiled eggs. We make soft-boiled eggs, but only boil those for three minutes and serve in an egg cup. We like to take fresh bread, put on some garlic mayonnaise, sprinkle some arugula on top, and then put the medium boiled eggs on top of that. Salt and pepper. It’s divine!
Had these this morning. lLoved them only problem had a hard time shelling the egg. Broke open while shelling. Next time will try the 6 monutes.
I must be an odd-ball. Real odd, because I love the whites to be a bit runny as well as the yolk. I put my eggs in a pot and cover with at least 1 inch with cold tap water. Bring to a boil on medium high then count to 75 (one minute and 15 seconds). Take off the heat, dump the hot water out of the pot and run cold water over the eggs until they’re cool enough to handle. I crack the eggs like I would raw eggs and scrape out the egg with a spoon into a small bowl. Works for me all the time.
I told you I was odd.
Cracking open and scraping out the egg with a spoon is so much easier than trying to peel a delicate soft boiled egg. AND you’re going to break the yolk anyway to eat it. AND you can handle it long enough to crack it open even if it’s really hot. AND it doesn’t matter how fresh the egg is, where peelability (my new word for the day) depends on the age of the egg.
I make these eggs most mornings. I start with cold tap water. Put the egg or eggs in the water and boil for exactly 10 minutes. Empty the hot water and add cold water. Peel, chop and put in a cup. These eggs are perfect. We call them “Eggs in a Cup”
the success of peeling an egg depends on the freshness there of. the fresher the egg, the easier it is to peel. trust me, we go though a dozen of hardboiled eggs in 2 days in my house. the perfect harboiled egg is achieved by boiling the water together with eggs and then letting it stand for 15 minutes off the heat after it has come to boil. the same would go for runny eggs – I would say 5 minutes would do it.
Saw this, made it immediately. Loved them. Will make them often. Thank-you
Hi Dasha, I’m sorry to say, realy fresh eggs are the most difficult to peel….when I take the eggs right from under de Hen and cook them…it will be impossible to peel without a lot of white comming of. The reason that is it takes a bit of time before the thin membrane seperates from de outer shell, better half them and spoon them out
) Best are the ones that are older than 48 Hours…..I always store some longer, especially for boiling.
The 4 to 6 Minute rule is a normal one for me (depending on the size, I have realy big eggs from my Amrock hens)but I don’t know why you should add vinegar?
Kind regards from Austria.
Danuta
This is a soft boiled egg!
Can you cook these and then save them for future use like you can hard boiled eggs?
When I was a kid I would make them like this but my timer was as soon as they went in the hot water I would run to the piano and play The Marines Hymn through 1 1/2 times. They were perfect every time.
Try putting a teaspoon of baking soda in the water when you boil. It helps to peel the eggs. Works wonders for us…
If you don’t use the vinegar will it still work well?
I make these eggs ( 6 minutes ) often and put on top of grits. Delish and filling.
Really, this is just a soft boiled egg. You can achieve the same results (just won’t look as “pretty”) by cracking the egg and placing it straight into the boiling water…creating a poached egg.
I boiled the eggs for 6 minuets-it looked like the yolk was just starting to harden. I think I will try 4 minutes next time. I didn’t use any white vinegar, just salt when boiling and I had no trouble peeling the shell. This was so easy and so delicious! Thank you!
The timing of the soft/medium boiled egg can be tricky…but so worth it if it’s right! 4-5 minutes is usually good. We put ours in egg cups and serve with toast sticks…we used to call them “dip-dip eggs” when we were kids. If you use a push-pin and poke a tiny hole thru the shell at end of the egg, it will help prevent the shell from cracking during cooking.
Made these this morning. Followed directions but boiled for 4.5 minutes. Had ice water ready and scooped them out of the pan into the water bath. Within about a minute or less, I could pick them up. Struck them on the bottom and carefully located the membrane and worked under to easily peel the egg. They were perfect and my husband said they were the best eggs he has eaten. After peeling mine and before putting on toast, I put them back into the pot with the hot water that they were cooked in to warm them up a bit.
Break out the Hollandaise Sauce !
I had to tell you that this saved eggs for me!! I was in such an egg rut and this just obliterated it!
I cook mine for 6 minutes and they’re absolutely perfect. The first time i tried these I had a hard time peeling them, but now I can get them peeled in no time! Even my 6 year old son can peel these. Amazing!
Ummmm I’m not being funny but have you never heard of poached eggs?!?!
This were the style of eggs my mom made us growing up for breakfast all the time and these are still my ultimate favorite. I make them all the time and I use 6 minutes. We call them runny eggs. mmmm soo good…served on an english muffin.
Omgosh!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for doing the grunt work for this because it is AMAAAAAAZING!!!!!
I’ve been trying to figure this out as well since seeing a pic of it and it turned out perfect!
Ok, i’m dutch and this is how most of us eat an egg. It’s just an softboiled egg. Try to make a hole in the eggshel at the wide side of the egg. We have special hole-making devices for this. A needle or a pin or a sharp knife will do the trick. Th egg won’t crack (well most of the time it won’t). getting them at room temparature before boiling also helps. You’ll have to find out by trial and error how long to boil an egg, a bigger egg takes longer.
You can save thes soft boiled eggs in the fridge,up to 5 days.
Enjoy!
My mom always made these for us growing up. They’re still just soft boiled eggs. I love them but hate having any runny whites. I use large or jumbo eggs and boil for 6 and a half minutes. The trick to keep them from cracking when you put them in the water is to use a slotted spoon to lower them in gently. You don’t need vinegar, just don’t use super fresh eggs. Fresh eggs are always harder to peel. I put the egg in a bowl, slice it up with a little butter and dip my toast in it. Yum! My kids now love it too!
Tried this out, diastrous results. Just easier to soft boil the old fashioned way. Sorry!!
You know what REALLY works well – FIVE minutes. Four is too little, 6 cooks yolks hard. It’s called a soft boiled egg – and people have been doing this for DECADES!
Vinegar is NOT necessary unless you’re going to make hard boiled eggs and store them which helps prevent the yolk from turning green.
We have 15 chickens and can take an egg right out from under the chicken, boil it, then try to shell it and it doesn’t come off clean. It peels hunks of egg off with the shell, so no, age of the egg has nothing to do with being able to peel it.
Just a tad bit of info.
Buy a can of corned beef hash and take serving spoon sized scoops of it for each egg. Put the hash on a plate and heat the hash in the microwave while egg is cooking and then put the peeled egg on top of each serving of hash. This is so delicious!Or you could make patties out of the hash and fry it before putting the peeled egg on top. Yumm-o!
Siobhan – I think that was the point most were making in this thread. The fresher the eggs, the harder they are to peel.
I will definitely be trying this idea to see how it turns out. Never heard of this before so it will be new for me. Generally to have eggs like this I just make sunny side up. This will be an interesting twist.
For all of you that commented this is just a soft boiled egg, or have you ever heard of a soft boiled egg. that’s probably why the title of her post is “peeled soft boiled eggs” smh
For all of you that commented this is just a soft boiled egg, or have you ever heard of a soft boiled egg. that’s probably why the title of her post is “peeled soft boiled eggs” smh Now I am going to go make myself some eggs
Found you on pinterest and im finally able to pull off a soft yolk egg. 7 mins worked best for me (nd) and i put the eggs in the water on a high boil w/a splash of white vinegar (with the help of a spoon so i didnt break the eggs) perfect! They were fresh eggs and i had no problems peeling them at all so i think it helps with the added vinegar. Thank you
Found this post on pinterest and im finally able to pull off a soft yolk egg. 7 mins worked best for me (nd) and i put the eggs in the water on a high boil w/a splash of white vinegar (with the help of a spoon so i didnt break the eggs) perfect! They were fresh eggs and i had no problems peeling them at all so i think it helps with the added vinegar. Thank you
It is not surprising that younger people haven’t heard of soft boiled. Most people just don’t make them. I usually make poached, but I end up wasting some of the white. I tried your recipe and thank you. Everything was great, but I was chicken and went for 6 minutes – not soft enough, so I’ll try your 4minutes next time!:)
These sound great; I’ve always hated soft-boiled eggs, but very much like hard-biled; love them fried sunny-side up (that wonderful runny yolk but cooked whites) so this particular egg-cooking method looks as if it will answer both needs (completely cooked white, runny yolk).
Thanks for pinning it!
I think the time has to do with the size of the egg. I cooked some large eggs for 5 min and they were perfect. Then I tried it again with jumbo eggs for 5 min and the whites were slimy and under cooked. I did another round at 6 min because I HATE runny whites and they were perfect.
I saw this pinned in Pinterest and it looked like the absolutely perfect thing to serve on top of my smashed peas with feta, lemon and mint in lieu of the less attractive poached option. Since there’s debate over technique, here’s mine: I used a very large, older egg, left out of the fridge to warm to room temperature before cooking. Placed into boiling water (nothing added) for 5.5 minutes, then straight into a bowl of iced water for two minutes before peeling. Shell came away easily and the egg was perfectly cooked (to my liking)–firmly cooked white with a ‘thick’ runny yolk (ie slightly gelatinous–but oozes out rather than runs). Brilliant! Thanks for the reminder about soft boiling!
I hard boil my eggs, after boiling, place in ice water. When ok to touch, dry them off, place in zip lock. When u want a soft boiled egg, take egg out of bag. Peel, I use a coffee mug. Cut egg up in mug, put 2 tbls. Cold water, put in micro, covered with damp paper towl, heat one or two eggs for, approx. One and half min, mabe a tad less, take out of micro add butter or flax seed oil, to taste. I eat out of mug or put on toast. Yyyumm.
I’m going to have to try this. I’m sure size of egg, length of time & microwave wattage all are in play to make this come out the way I’d like it. Just like the photo with the white done & a beautiful runny yolk. When I make hard boiled eggs I place in cold water, bring to a boil, turn off the fire & cover for 10 minutes. They turn out with beautiful yellow yolks & no green. Of course you have to put them in ice water before peeling. It helps release the membrane so they peel easily. I don’t know if adding salt or vinegar helps. I’ve added salt but never can tell the difference. I can’t really see how it would anyway. Older eggs work the best. New eggs never peel easily.
Hi, my eggs hard boiled than ice, also come out yellow no green. The piece, to seem the same as soft boiled before micro, add one and half tbls. Water. You cannot tell the diferance. Unless your cooking for a queen or king. Please donht be upset with me. I love ya, and maybe just try, by by.
I’m a grandmother and I’ve been eating and cooking soft boiled eggs all my life. Timing is a matter of personal preference, but peeling isn’t necessary. Just take a knife and whack the egg through the middle, then scoop out the contents into your bowl. I always scoop mine onto a torn up slice of buttered bread. That’s the way my own mom served them to me.
I just made these for my husband an I. They were fantastic. We live at a lower altitude (200ft) and boiling 6 and 1/2 minutes worked for me. No runny white at all but the yellow was
Thanks for the idea! 
Just tried this and they turned out great! Thanks for the how-to.
I have made these for years. I don’t use vinegar. I just bring the eggs to a boil with the egg in the water from the beginning (straight from the fridge) and once it comes to a boil I time it for 3 minutes. Fresh eggs may need the vinegar to make it easy to peel, but the older the egg is the easier it will be to peel naturally. But I also like to whack them in half and scoop them out. It’s easier and faster than peeling. I like them mashed up with a little butter, salt, and pepper.
This is the only way I eat boiled eggs and I’ve come up with a super easy way of peeling them.
I have a magical tool to peel eggs: a dessert spoon!
After boiling (I never used vinegar), I let them cool enough to handle in cold water. Then I crack the shell all over with the back of a spoon and remove the bottom part of it (where there usually is a little pocket of air). At this point I run water over them for a second, this way a little bit of water works its way between the membrabe and the egg, making it easier to peel away. Then I carefully work the tip of the spoon under the membrane, separating it from the egg. This is so much easier than trying to peel it by hand, because the curvature of the spoon is a perfect fit to go around the egg withoug taking out chunks of it.
By the way, I don’t think age of the egg has anything to do with being able to peel it, because I find no difference between store bought and garden picked eggs.
I don’t use vinegar. I heard it was to keep the whites from running into the water if the shells crack. Just poke a hole in the broad end of the egg with a pin. Keeps them from cracking and peeling is a cinch! I take my eggs right out of the fridge and dunk them for 6 1/2 minutes. Salted watwr will flavor the eggs a bit. A little wat
Just made for dinner and looooooved! I’m a big fan of poached eggs and found this to be easier. Boiled for 5.5 minutes and in ice water for 1.5 cracked over toast, perfect!!! No runny white! Will make often! My son liked itntoo! Thank you!!
This is calle “Poaching “.Place toasted English muffins on platter and then ham or bacon then the poached egg. Cover with Hollandaise Sauce.This is Eggs Benedict my way.When you break the eggyolk it makes a wonderful rich sauce combined with the Hollandaise Sauce.
I make these all the time and call them soft boiled eggs. I usually make 2 at a time and when the water comes to a full boil I boil them for 3 minutes and then I crack them in half against a bowl and scoop them out of the shell and add salt and pepper. I love soft boiled eggs.