How to cook the perfect egg

A quick guide to EggTimer Max — and to boiling eggs in general.

EggTimer Max works with three methods: dropping eggs into already-boiling water, cooking them over steam, or starting them in cold water that heats up with the pan. Pick the one that matches how you cook — all three give you a time calculated to the second.

Boiling water — a single egg

The classic method · most precise

Weigh the egg. Drag the Weight slider, or pick S / M / L / XL. Heavier eggs need more time.
Set the starting temperature. Straight from the fridge, or at room temperature — a cold egg takes longer.
Choose your doneness. Slide from runny to hard-boiled; the cooking time updates live.Make sure the method at the bottom reads “Boiling water”. You can switch to steam or cold-water start in Settings.
Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil — enough to fully cover the egg.Once it’s boiling hard, turn the heat down a little so the water just keeps boiling gently. A violent boil bounces the eggs around and cracks them.
Tap “Start timer”. After a short 3-2-1 countdown, gently lower the egg into the boiling water.
Wait for the alarm, then take the egg out of the pan and cool it in cold or iced water for about 20 seconds — this stops the cooking and makes peeling easier.

Living at altitude? Water boils below 100 °C up in the mountains, which slows cooking. EggTimer Max corrects for this automatically — see the boiling point shown at the bottom of the screen.

Several eggs at once

Each egg timed individually

Set up your first egg as above — weight, start temperature and doneness.
Tap “Add this egg”. It moves to your batch, and you can dial in the next one with its own settings — a soft one for you, a hard one for the kids.
Repeat for every egg you want to cook. Each keeps its own cooking time.
Tap “Start timer”. Lower the eggs into the water one at a time — the app tells you exactly when to add each one, so they all finish together.
Wait for the alarm, then take all the eggs out together and cool them in cold water for about 20 seconds.

Steaming

Gentler on the shell · easier peeling

Prefer to steam your eggs instead of submerging them? EggTimer Max calculates the exact time for that too — steam cooks slightly slower than a full boil, and the app accounts for that automatically.

Switch the method to “Steam” in Settings. The bottom of the screen will read “Steam”.
Set weight, start temperature and doneness for your egg (or add several, just like above).
Bring a pot with a steamer basket or insert to a boil, with enough water that it won't boil dry during cooking.
Tap “Start timer”. After the 3-2-1 countdown, place the egg(s) in the steamer basket, over the steam.
Wait for the alarm, then take the eggs out of the pan and cool them in cold or iced water for about 20 seconds — this stops the cooking and makes peeling easier.

Cold-water start

Gentle · fewer cracks · great for fridge-cold eggs

Prefer to start your eggs in cold water and let everything heat up together? This method is gentler on the shell. Because every stove heats at a different rate, you tell the app when the water actually reaches a boil.

Switch the method to “Cold water” in Settings. The bottom of the screen will read “Cold water — warms up with the pan”.
Set weight, start temperature and doneness for your egg (or add several, just like above).
Put the egg(s) in a pan of cold water and place it on the heat.
Tap “Start timer”. The app starts watching and waits for the boil.
Tap “Water is boiling!” the moment the water reaches a full, rolling boil. The exact countdown begins from there.
Wait for the alarm, then take the eggs out of the pan and cool them in cold water for about 20 seconds — right on time to stop the cooking.

The cold-water timer only starts once you confirm the boil — so you never have to guess how long your pan takes to heat up.

General egg-cooking tips

Use enough water. The egg should be fully submerged, with a couple of centimetres to spare, so the temperature stays stable.
A pinch of salt or a splash of vinegar in the water helps any white from a hairline crack set quickly instead of leaking out.
Lower eggs in gently with a spoon to avoid cracks — and to keep your fingers away from the steam.
Older eggs peel more easily than very fresh ones. If peeling is a struggle, eggs that are a week or so old work best.
Always cool in cold or iced water. It stops the cooking the instant your timer ends and loosens the shell from the white.
Start cold eggs gently. Fridge-cold eggs are more likely to crack in boiling water — the cold-water method or letting them warm up a little helps.
Roll and peel under running water. Tap the egg all over, then peel from the wider, blunt end where the air pocket sits.

EggTimer Max doesn’t use fixed rules of thumb — it runs the physics-based Williams model on your egg’s exact weight, temperature and altitude. That’s why the same doneness setting works for a tiny egg and a jumbo one alike.

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