Soft boiled eggs will have 'perfect yolk every time' with chef's simple method

Soft boiled eggs will have 'perfect yolk every time' with chef's simple method (Image: Getty)

It can be difficult to get the perfect soft-boiled eggs when making them yourself - with the yolk often getting just slightly too solid to be enjoyable.

Luckily, Frank Proto, chef, cooking instructor and host of ProtoCooks has shared his method for perfecting this popular breakfast dish.

Sharing his tips in a video with Epicurious 101, Frank began: "If you keep a few tips and techniques in mind, you'll pretty much get a perfect yolk every single time.

"Normally with soft-boiled eggs you get an egg cup and a spoon, and it's eaten right out of the shell.

"We just basically get the egg, we take the top off, put it in our egg cup, and then we scoop it out with a little salt, sometimes a little butter, and we eat it like that."

Frank advises boiling an egg for six minutes to get the perfect runny yolk (Image: Getty)

He added that soft-boiled eggs should typically have a super runny yolk and whites that are "just set, but not slimy", which is where many people mess up as their whites will end up somewhat slimy.

Frank recommends starting with boiling water, as you want it to take about six minutes, and cold water will take longer, but also cook your egg for longer, meaning it may not be quite perfect when finished.

Whether you use brown or white eggs, it doesn't matter - nor does the type of put used, just so long as the eggs are completely covered by the boiling water.

"With soft-boiled eggs, you're going to want to eat them pretty immediately," Frank adds, explaining that there is no need to put them in an ice bath after boiling and that peeling them is both unnecessary and messy.

Soft-boiled eggs are a popular breakfast dish - but one that can easily go wrong (Image: Getty)

After removing the boiled egg from the water and placing it in a dry bowl, Frank continues: "What we want to do is take our egg, put it into our egg cup. If you don't have an egg cup, use a shot glass; this works really well.

"And then I get my spoon, and I'm gonna tap around. They have tools for this called egg toppers, but we're just going to use a spoon, and basically what we're going to do is cut the lid out."

If following Frank's method of soft-boiling, you should then be left with a nice set egg white, and a super runny egg yolk, which you can eat straight out of the egg, or dip some toast into.