Every time I make a boiled egg, no matter what I do, I can never get the bottom bit of the yolk to stay runny, it always sets.

I run it under cold water before opening it, and no matter which way up i eat the egg, this still happens?

Anyone know why and how this can be prevented?

A few questions.

Do you ensure that the water is actually boiling? As an aside, the boiling point of water drops with increasing altitude. This would not be a problem in England but problems can arise at high altitudes.

Have you tried experimenting with increasing boiling times?

How old is the egg. I believe that egg age makes a difference.

Otherwise your eggs must come from very peculiar chickens.

I put my egg into cold water and when it's come to the boil then time it for just 3 minutes, take it out immediately, smash the top of the egg...to let steam out...therefore, prevents further 'cooking' and hey 'voila' a runny yolk and set white!

So you do the following:-

1. Place egg in cold water and bring to the boil.
2. Boil the egg for 3 minutes on full boil
3. Smash top of egg and serve

Correct?

I have this problem too. What's more I often encounter uncooked white at the top of the egg, followed by soft yolk and finally the aforementioned hard yolk

I boil the water then reduce to a rapid simmer, place the egg in for 5 minutes, remove and run under cold water for 60 seconds, smash the top then serve.


Increasing the time makes the yolk less runny.


It's about 3 weeks old, so perhaps I need a fresher egg

The problem I have is that whilst I can get a runny yolk no problem, I can not get a fully runny yolk, the bottom part of the yolk seems to cook longer and set - despite whichever end of the egg I open.

This is exactly my problem.

It's like once you smash the top of the egg open, that part stops cooking immediately but the bottom half of the egg continues cooking.

Eggs do carry on cooking even after they have been taken off the boil. Since it always happens no matter what end you open, clearly the yolk is setting after you start eating it.
Either - eat it quicker!
or reduce your cooking time, though you may then find the white isn't set.

Maybe coddling them might work better for you?

I don't ever bother putting it in cold water.

Boil kettle, turn stove on, pour boiling water into saucpean on stove, lower egg slowly into the water, boil for 6 minutes.
Guaranteed for set white with runny yolk

OK, I've hit a new problem - my eggs keep cracking when lowering them into the water.

Any tips to avoid this?

Indeed!!

Make sure that the eggs are room temperature or at least not immediately out of the fridge....but if you do forget then put salt into the water before putting the cold egg in, this does help it from cracking, don't know why, it just does.

Just found this re Boiling and avoiding cracking, which bears out my way of doing boiled eggs.

Cover the eggs with cold tap water. Fill the pot gently with at least one inch (3 cm) of water. Pour the water against the side of the pan so that it does not disturb the eggs. If you cannot avoid pouring the water onto the eggs, steady them with your hand so that they do not slide around and crack.

•Add half a teaspoon of salt to the water. This makes the eggs easier to peel, and it may help prevent them from cracking. Salted water helps to make the egg white firm up more quickly. It also helps plug small leaks if the shell cracks during the cooking process.

•Never drop eggs directly into a pot of hot water, or the shells will crack and the egg will run (giving you poached eggs). By exposing cold eggs to warm or hot water, you are "shocking" them with a sudden temperature shift, which causes cracks to form. Furthermore, cold water helps to keep the eggs from overcooking.

check out how i do it in my vid - this turns into a runny yolk scotch egg which is a bonus!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb1UzdBL7s0

very helpful tips. thanks

My nanny used to put a lit match in the water. Don't know if it works. I suppose it must have done as she always did it.

Another thing that helps is piercing the shell with a needle. Just push it through the shell at the fat end of the egg. It equalises the pressure, or something, and helps prevent cracking.

Won't it start to immediately leak?

No. There is only an air pocket at the wide end of the egg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_as..._of_an_egg.svg

Who ever thought that boiling an egg was simple

I always put my egg into the food I'm cooking, and turn the heat off after about one minute. (I do usually cook soups with sauces though, so no dumping eggs into a cooking spagetti or anything)
They turn out the best for me that way.
(Almost like poached)

I was told by a friend, when I boil. Put them in cold water, let go to boil, then turn heat off and remove pan from cooker. Let stand for up to 1/2 hr, depending how cooked I want them. That works better than the traditional way also.

My gran, grandad and mom could cook a perfect egg, every time.

I do think there is something in the chickens that make today's eggs cook weirdly.