Rich and Strange Aeons

I went back to boiling, hot start. Brought water to a boil, this took nearly 9 minutes. Had the eggs inserted and the water boiling again by 9:30. Online advice was to simmer for 4 minutes if your eggs are room temp, 5-7 minutes if chilled, which mine were. I took one out at 4 minutes and 2 more at 5. Whites were partially set, yolk runny, for all 3. If you want firmer whites, probably 6+ minutes. Total cooking time 15+ minutes.

I think I now know why I always had soft-boiled less often than fried or scrambled. It takes longer!

One advice for room-temp eggs was to put them in warm water for 5 minutes. 'warm' was not specified. If we go with just room temp, or maybe from-the-tap hot, that soak could happen while you boil the water, bringing cooking time down to 13-14 minutes.

Cold-start soft-boiled eggs can be faster: put the eggs in, bring water to boil, let simmer or sit for as little as a minute. 10-11 minutes.

I didn't time the full steaming process, but if we go with 3 minutes to bring a smaller amount of water to boil, then 3+6 = 9. Boiling some water just now, probably more than enough to last 6 minutes, took 2.5 minutes.

(gas stove)

At least when you're doing a whole bunch at once. The usual advice is along the lines of "bring to a boil, let sit for 10 to 17 minutes" which is already a range. And sometimes that works. But at my current place, I'd cooled 12 medium eggs after 9 minutes sitting in hot water, and the yolks were already more set and bland yellow than I liked.

So last night I was doing 10 extra large (Canadian) eggs, and I pulled three right after the water boiled, for soft boiled eggs -- and the yolks were *already* heading into 'ooze' rather than 'runny'. So I cooled the rest of the eggs after scooping those 3 out, and they're hard. Maybe medium? The yolks have a rich golden color, and a hint of softness.

It seems that it takes so long to get the water to a boil that the eggs are already pretty much cooked by the time that happens. Electric stove, big pot, not that much water.

I had problems in Highland Park when I was boiling lots of eggs on a gas stove, but not so extreme.