Soft-Boiled Eggs

Ingredients

• 1 or more eggs
• 2 cm above eggs cold water

Method

soft-boiled-eggs are built on precise temperature-control. The yolk sets from outside in, so the water temperature matters more than time. Eighty-five degrees Celsius keeps the white just firm whilst the yolk stays molten at the centre; push to ninety-five and you're edging towards a fully set yolk. Use a thermometer if you have one. Without it, you're looking for a water surface that trembles with small bubbles but never breaks into a full rolling boil — the distinction is crucial.

Place your eggs in a single layer on the bottom of a pan or electric cooker. They must not stack; water needs to circulate around each one for even cooking. Cover with cold water to 2 centimetres above the eggs. Bring to temperature on high heat with the lid off. Once the water hits your target temperature, remove from heat immediately and cover tightly. The residual heat will continue to cook the egg, and the lid traps steam that keeps the temperature stable.

The resting time is where you control the result. Six minutes of rest produces a flowing yolk — the white is set but barely, and the centre remains liquid enough to run across toast. Ten minutes gets you a yolk that's cooked through but still soft, with a faint creamy quality rather than the chalky crumble of a fully hard-boiled egg. The white begins to set from the outer layer inward, so the thicker the white, the longer before it reaches the yolk. egg size matters: a large egg needs the full six or ten minutes; a small one may be done a minute earlier. Only experience teaches you this in your own kitchen.

Once the time is up, plunge the eggs into cold running water for a minute. This stops the cooking immediately. Peel under the cold stream — the shock of temperature helps the shell separate cleanly from the white. Serve at once, ideally in an egg cup with the top cracked and a butter-soft soldier of toast waiting. The moment between cooking and eating is brief; soft-boiled eggs collapse fast.