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Comment by forgetsusername | Hacker News Reader

>Cook eggs for 5 minutes

Thing is, it's difficult to apply a time to the process. Different stoves, different water starting temperature, different pots..these these will all affect how quickly you can cook the eggs.

I think it's a matter of having some idea, some "recipe", and tweaking it. Currently I warm my eggs by running them under tap water, then put them in the water on the stove, set a time for 14 minutes, bring the water to a boil, turn it down to medium, remove from stove when timer elapses.

It works for me. Judging by the article, and the comments, almost no two people do the same thing.

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> Different stoves, different water starting temperature, different pots..these these will all affect how quickly you can cook the eggs.

No matter what model of stove or pot or starting temperature you have, water boils at 100C* . If the water is supposed to be boiling the whole time, the 5-minute cook time is completely repeatable.

You understand that it is physically impossible to have liquid water above 100C without applying pressure, yes?

* Depending on atmospheric pressure.

>No matter what model of stove or pot or starting temperature you have, water boils at 100C

And? Does water boil instantly, or are there factors that can affect how long it takes to get water to boil? Things like, say, your stove, pot and starting water temperature.

>You understand that it is physically impossible to have liquid water above 100C without applying pressure, yes?

Wow, thanks for the physics lesson.

I was referring to the OP stating "the process" takes X minutes from start to finish. Well, different stoves are going to heat water at different rates. Colder water from the tap will take longer to heat that warmer water from the tap. When I'm the one cooking my eggs, these things matter. Time-from-boil isn't relevant to me when I'm getting ready in the morning.

Learn to tame your nerd-rage and give people the benefit of the doubt that they aren't as stupid as you think.

Your initial reasoning is correct, which is why it's best to first bring the water to boiling temperature, _then_ drop the eggs in the pot.

Think about this for a second: When the water gets to 100C, it stays at 100C as long as there is sufficient fire under the pot, correct? So, your water is stable after it boils. You can then drop the eggs, time 5 minutes, and you're done.

If you don't do this, it would be difficult to apply a time to the process, like you said. But, if you let the water boil first before adding in the eggs, it's always going to be 5 minutes to soft-boiled eggs, so it becomes easy to time the process.

> Different stoves

How different does the temperature of boiling water get from 100? If your little eggs are lowering the temperature of your water at a simmer by that much, you should try bigger pots.

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