Boiling eggs in water is often a guessing game. Accidentally leave them in there for too long, and the yolks can quickly become powdery and dry instead of jammy and delectably gooey. A better way to soft-boil eggs is to forget the water and cook them in your air fryer. This move produces consistent results that are easy to repeat without constant monitoring.
To get started, place your eggs in your air fryer basket in a single layer (don’t tumble them into a pile as they could crack and won’t cook evenly). Cook your eggs at 250 degrees for about 8-10 minutes if you want them to be soft-boiled and jammy in the center. For full-boiled eggs, cook them for up to 14 minutes at the same temperature. Just bear in mind that you may need to adjust these times depending on the size of your eggs.
Once your huevos are done, plunge them in a bowl of ice water immediately. This will guarantee that your soft-boiled eggs don’t continue cooking and become hard in the middle. At this point, you can set them aside in the fridge for later to grab as a quick high-protein snack throughout the week. If you want them hot, place them in a bowl of hot water so they can warm up without overcooking and hardening in the middle. Of course, if you want to eat your eggs straight away by splitting them open over a serving of avocado toast, skip the ice water altogether.
Give your boiled egg a spin to check if it’s soft or hard boiled
If you’re unsure whether your boiled egg has reached that perfect sweet spot, remove it from the air fryer and give it a spin on the counter. An egg that’s hard-boiled will spin quickly and smoothly, whereas one that’s soft-boiled or still a bit liquid-y inside will wobble.
The best thing about cooking eggs in the air fryer is that you can prepare a large quantity at one time. This can be particularly useful if you’re making a big batch of creamy egg salad to last for the week or assembling a tuna Niçoise for a get-together. As an air fryer works like a convection oven, the hot air swirling around the cavity creates a balanced temperature, which guarantees that every egg cooks evenly, no matter if it’s sitting in the corners or the middle of the basket. As air fryers switch off automatically, you don’t need to monitor your eggs either. Simply pop them in, switch the fryer on for the set amount of time, and return to perfectly cooked yolks. If there’s enough space, you could also cook other elements of your meal alongside your eggs, such as cubed potatoes or veggies.
