🥚Do I put the eggs in hot or cold water for cooking?

Eggs that are dyed and usually kept for longer should be placed in a pot of cold water so that the eggs are covered and then boiled. The reason: sudden temperature differences can lead to cracks in the shell, which reduces the shelf life.

🥚How long do eggs need to cook?

This depends on the size of the eggs, their temperature and also the water temperature – and, if you’re really precise, also on whether you cook the egg on the Zugspitze or in Hamburg. But first things first:

Basically, a larger egg needs to cook longer than a small one.

Here are guide values for M-eggs:

• 4 minutes: Egg whites are set, egg yolks are still very runny.
• 7 minutes: The egg yolk is waxy.
• 11 minutes: The egg yolk is hard and firm.

To achieve the same consistency, remove small eggs (S) from the pan approx. 30 seconds earlier, large eggs (L) cook for 30 seconds longer.

However, the temperature of the water and egg also has an influence on the cooking time. If you take the eggs out of the fridge before cooking, they will take about a minute longer than eggs at room temperature.

Another bit of physics: Boiling water is around 100 degrees at the seaside, but only 90 degrees on the Zugspitze, which is why an egg has to boil longer there than in Hamburg.

🥚When does the timekeeping start?

The cooking time only starts when the water is bubbling! After 7 minutes, the yolk is still nice and juicy – that’s how most people like it.

🥚Do I have to quench eggs after cooking?

No, please don’t. Quenching with cold water should make it easier to peel the eggs. However, the temperature jump causes fine cracks in the shell, through which bacteria can get inside and cause the eggs to spoil more quickly.

🥚How do I get a perfect egg with a firm egg white and a runny yolk?

This is only 100% successful with precise temperature measurement, because even small temperature differences have a big effect: egg whites solidify at 62 degrees. At around 66 degrees Celsius, the egg yolk is waxy soft, but at 70 degrees it is hard.

For a perfect egg, you could boil the egg at 66 degrees for hours and still have a waxy egg yolk. However, most kitchen appliances do not work as precisely.