Soft-Boiled Eggs with Runny Yolk

Ingredients

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

Method

The control point is water temperature. Eggs cook through retained heat rather than direct boiling, which is why you bring the water to 85–95 °C and then stop — a gentle, sustained temperature that firms the whites while leaving the yolk's centre protein-cooking|still runny. This is temperature-control at its most precise because eggs lack the thermal mass of a roast; they're done or they're overdone in minutes.

Arrange the eggs in a single layer on the bottom of a wide pan or electric cooker. They must not stack or crowd — each needs direct contact with the heated water and room to move if it cracks. Pour cold water over them until they're submerged by roughly 2 cm; this buffer prevents the eggs closest to the heat source from cooking faster than those higher up.

Set the pan to high heat with the lid off. Watch until the water reaches about 85–95 °C — you'll see it move with purpose but not break into a rolling boil. The moment you hit that range, kill the heat entirely and cover with the lid. This is where the passive cooking starts. For a runny yolk centred in a set white, leave the eggs undisturbed for 6 minutes. Go longer and the yolk firms; 10 minutes gives you a fully cooked, crumbly centre. Time from the moment you cover, not from when heat stops.

Drain the water at once. Run the eggs under cold water — a full minute of it — to arrest the cooking and shock away the grey-green ring that forms when the iron in the yolk meets the sulphur in the white. This ring isn't harmful but it signals overcooking, even if only slightly. Peel while still warm; the shell comes away cleaner from the hot egg, though let it cool enough to handle without burning your fingers.

Serve immediately, or stop the cold water after 30 seconds and let them reach room temperature if you're peeling ahead. The yolk should still move inside the white when tilted — not fluid, but frankly runny. That's the entire point of soft-boiled-eggs: the contrast between set exterior and molten centre.