Internal Cooking Temperature for Boiled Eggs

The perfect boiled egg cooks best at a temperature below the boiling point.

The necessary internal temperature for boiled eggs will vary with the level of hardness that you want for the egg white and yolk. The temperature for a hard-boiled egg is much higher than that of a soft-boiled egg. However, both temperatures are lower than the boiling point of water, and the correct temperature of the water for boiling eggs is about 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a cooking thermometer to keep the water temperature steady while the egg cooks. Does this Spark an idea?

Print this article

Soft-Boiled
- A soft-boiled egg has a hard egg white with a soft, gooey yolk. Soft-boiled eggs come in a variety of textures, from incredibly runny to mostly solid. The internal temperature of the egg will dictate the firmness of the egg white and yolk. To get a firm egg white, the temperature of the egg must reach between 170 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Typically, it takes between five and nine minutes of boiling an egg for the white to reach this temperature. To get a soft runny texture, the yolk must reach 130 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hard-Boiled
- Hard-boiled eggs require a higher temperature and a longer cooking time than soft-boiled eggs. The internal temperature of hard-boiled egg yolks must reach between 160 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The egg yolk should reach between 170 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit. The best way to obtain the perfect hard-boiled egg is to cook the egg in water between 180 and 200 degrees Fahrenheit for about nine to 11 minutes.
Overcooked
- If any part of the egg reaches over 180 degrees Fahrenheit, the yolk and egg white can react with one another, creating a sulfur smell and releasing iron oxide into the egg. This causes the outside of the egg yolk to turn purple or slightly darker than the inside of the yolk. If your eggs have a dark rim around the yolk after cooking, you overcooked the egg and need to reduce the heat or cooking time in the future.
Other Factors
- A few other factors can contribute to the necessary temperatures for cooking eggs. Using a lid with the pot while boiling an egg will likely cause the egg to overcook. Water with a slightly alkaline pH can make the egg easier to peel, which is necessary for soft-boiled eggs where the risk of breaking into the runny center is a factor. Older eggs are slightly easier to peel than new eggs.