My Hard-Boiled Eggs Are Always Perfectly Cooked—THIS Is the Inexpensive Gadget I Use

Despite nearly two decades of practice, there are plenty of cooking tasks that still make me feel uncertain. I’m extra cautious anytime I’m using my mandoline, I can’t figure out how to cut a potato into evenly-sized chunks, and I’m always a bit worried I’m going to undercook my chicken or overcook a beautiful cut of steak. But there’s one thing I can confidently cook every time: hard-boiled eggs.

My foolproof method is to turn to an egg timer. Specifically, I use the Norpro Egg Perfect Egg Timer ($9.96), which I’ve owned for so long that I’m not sure how old it is or where I purchased it. It continues to reliably inform me when my eggs are at the right doneness, whether I’m making jammy eggs for breakfast or hard-boiled eggs for egg salad. 

All I have to do is add the egg timer to boil alongside the eggs, and cook until the red face of the timer turns a dark maroon right up to the line I’m looking for—soft, medium, or hard. It works whether the eggs start at room temperature or boiling water, the water stays at a boil or is brought down to a simmer, in any pot size with any volume of water, and with any number of eggs. (I boil anywhere from four to a dozen eggs at a time.) 

Any of those variables may affect the cook time, but they don’t affect the accuracy of my egg timer. It really does feel magical to me, because I don’t understand how it works. I know the temperature of the egg timer is rising alongside the eggs, but I don’t know how or why. Whatever the witchcraft, I’m grateful to this kitchen tool for taking the guesswork out of boiling my eggs exactly as I want them.

There is only one way I can think of that using an egg timer could go wrong, and that’s to forget about it altogether. Since it doesn’t have an alarm but only visual cues, you’ll need to check in on it as the eggs are getting close to done, or else you risk over-cooking your eggs.

Although I tend not to purchase or hang on to single-use gadgets, this egg timer turned out to be more than just a novelty. It takes up very little space in a drawer and has helped me achieve countless batches of perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs. Its small claim over my kitchen real estate is more than worth the peace of mind I have when it comes to this notoriously finicky kitchen task. Now, if someone could just invent a timer I can throw in the pan next to my steak, I would be all set.

BUY IT NOW: Norpro Egg Perfect Egg Timer