# Egg Boiling Calculator

Created by Hanna Pamuła, PhD candidate, Miłosz Panfil, PhD and Dominik Czernia, PhD
Reviewed by Adena Benn and Steven Wooding
Based on research by
Williams CDH The Science of Boiling an Egg University of Exeter (July 1998)
Last updated: Oct 26, 2022

Based on your preferences and where you live, the egg boiling calculator tells you how long to boil your egg. Amazingly, the length of time depends on how high you live above sea level. That's because water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, so the egg-cooking process takes longer.

This egg boiling calculator gives you both hard and soft-boiled egg calculations of the perfect cooking time. So whether you want to dip soldiers in your egg or add egg to a salad, we've got you covered.

In this short article, we cover the theory behind the calculator and the egg cooking time formula and how altitude will affect how long you have to wait for your egg.

## Egg boiling time calculator equation

Boiling an egg in water is all about transferring heat from the outside to the inside of the egg to cook the yoke and the white to your preferred consistency. For a soft-egg, the yoke-white boundary should reach no more than 65 °C (149 °F). For a hard-boiled egg, it should be no more than 77 °C (170.6 °F); otherwise, ferrous sulfide will be produced from sulfur in the egg reacting with the iron in the yoke.

Since an egg contains two different types of liquid, coming up with an equation to tell us the time when a particular temperature is reached inside the egg is a bit tricky. Luckily, of the University of Exeter has come up with just such an equation to crack this problem 🥚. The region between white and yolk will reach a temperature $T$ in the following time $t$:

$\small t = m^{2/3}K\log\!\left(\frac{{\rm ywr} (T_\text{egg} - T_\text{water})}{T - T_\text{water}} \right)$

where:

• $m$ – Mass of the egg;
• $K$ – Factor describing thermal properties of an egg;
• $T_\text{egg}$ – Initial temperature of the egg;
• $T_\text{water}$ – Temperature of the water;
• $T$ – Temperature in the region between whites and yolk; and
• $\rm ywr$ – Ratio of white to yolk.

At sea level, the temperature of the water at boiling point will be 100 °C. However, to obtain the boiling point of water for higher altitudes, we need two equations that give the pressure at different altitudes and the boiling point depending on the air pressure:

$\small \! \begin{split} P\! &= 29.921\! \times\! (1\! -\! 6.8753\! \times\! 10^{-6}h)^{5.2559}\\ &\text{and}\\ T_{\rm b}\! &= 49.161 \times \ln(P) + 44.932 \end{split}$

Note the following units of the terms in these equations:

• $P$ – Air pressure in inches of mercury (inHg);
• $h$ – Altitude in feet (ft); and
• $T_{\rm b}$ – Boiling point in degrees Fahrenheit (°F).

However, don't worry. This hard and soft-boiled egg calculator can accept both metric and imperial unit systems.

🙋 See our boiling point at altitude calculator for more details on how the boiling point of water changes with altitude.

## How to use the egg boiling calculator

Let's go through an example to calculate a soft-boiled egg cooking time at sea level using the egg boiling time calculator.

1. Give the size or weight of the egg. For this example, it is an EU medium egg, which is 57 g.

2. Provide the starting temperature of the egg. You can select either fridge, room temperature, or enter a custom initial temperature. For this example, let's say fridge temperate (4 °C).

3. Enter the altitude at which you are cooking your egg. In this case, for sea level, this should be zero.

4. And you have your result! It will take 6 minutes and 43 seconds for a soft-boiled egg.

5. The egg boiling time calculator also presents the time for a hard-boiled egg: 9 min 56 sec.

Try seeing how increasing the altitude affects the cooking time. Note that if you enter a very high value, you might see a NaN result for the cooking time. That means that the egg will never reach the hard or soft-boiled final temperature.

Click on the advanced mode button to see the boiling point of water and the air pressure at the altitude you've set in the calculator.

You have eggs but don't fancy a boiled one right now. How about checking out our pancake recipe calculator instead?

## Trying to lose weight? Eat eggs!

Eggs are a safe bet if you are on a diet or just want to eat healthily. They are loaded with nutrient elements, contain no harmful additives, are relatively cheap, leave you feeling much fuller than other foods, and, over and above – are low in calories.

A small egg (38 g) contains only 54 calories, a medium one (44 g) around 63 kcal, and a large (50 g) approximately 72 kcal, with around 55 calories in the egg yolk and 17 in the white part. That's nothing! Especially if you are comparing it to the nutritional bomb you get with every single egg:

• Proteins – one average egg contains ~6g of protein, mainly in the white part. Eggs are the source of complete protein - they contain all nine essential amino acids. Moreover, they have the highest possible , which means that they are the best quality proteins – in fair proportion and easy to digest. Just to remind you - proteins are essential for our body for growth and repair but also to make enzymes, hormones, and antibodies.

• Fats – one egg contains ~5 grams of fat (1.6 g of saturated) concentrated in the yolk. Most of those fats are the "good" ones, crucial in a balanced diet. Eggs are also a good source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which helps to protect your heart.

• Cholesterol – eggs have been demonized in the past for their high cholesterol content. However, one medium egg has around 186 mg of cholesterol (62% of the recommended daily intake), and it contains both HDL ("good") and LDL("bad") cholesterol. To clarify, we need cholesterol, but in reasonable amounts, it's essential, e.g., in the digestion, hormone production, or bodybuilding processes. One or two eggs a day is healthy for most people.

• Vitamins and nutrients – eggs are an excellent source of vitamins (A, D, E, K, B12), iron, folate, selenium, but also lutein and zeaxanthin (antioxidants that reduce your risk of eye diseases), and choline (essential brain nutrient).

Do you believe now that egg is one of Nature’s most nutrient-dense products? Don't forget to add a couple of eggs per week to your diet!

💡 To determine how many calories you should eat a day, try our calorie calculator.

Hanna Pamuła, PhD candidate, Miłosz Panfil, PhD and Dominik Czernia, PhD
Egg's size...
US M
...or weight
oz
Egg's origin
Custom ▾
...or initial temperature
°F
Altitude
ft
Soft egg boiling time
7
min
47
sec
Hard egg boiling time
10
min
51
sec
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