How long does it take to boil an egg?

If you are an egg lover like me, then you would have tried various ways to come up with the right boiled egg. Depending on whether you want a soft boiled egg or a hard boiled one, the time required to boil also varies. The common theory that floats around in cookbooks is to boil the egg between 3 and 6 min if one wants a yolk that is soft and boil the egg between 8 and 10 min if the yolk is to be hard. However the time required to boil an egg to perfection depends on a number of factors. The egg size, the temperature of the egg before boiling, if they were put in the water before boiling them or after boiling the water, the size of the vessel used for the boiling are all factors that are not considered by you and I while boiling the eggs.

However if one wishes to use a formula to calculate exactly the time required, there is one that inputs the initial temperature of the egg, water’s temperature, the temperature that is needed to be reached and the diameter of the egg to give the result. The time also varies with the altitude. I’m going to stick to my intuitions and boil the egg to perfection.