Try the “5-5-5” Method for Perfect Eggs in the Instant Pot

Here at Kitchn, we talk a lot about all the ways that your Instant Pot is surprisingly useful. It can make yogurt! It can make Ree Drummond’s chocolate lava cake! But it can also help out with those everyday tasks that could be even easier than they already are — like boiling an egg.

Now, boiling an egg is not the toughest kitchen task out there, but it does have its pitfalls: One common mistake people make is that they often overcook the egg, which gives it a gray-ish tint and thoroughly unappetizing sulphuric odor. If you have an Instant Pot, turns out there’s an ingenious hack for making sure your hard-boiled eggs turn out just right: It’s called the 5-5-5 method.

This tip is currently blowing up on the Instant Pot Facebook group (if you’re not already a member, you should be). Here’s how it works: First you add water to the bottom of the pot, then place a trivet on top, onto which you will place your eggs. Seal the pot, and set it to high pressure, cooking the eggs for five minutes. Then let the Instant Pot release any leftover pressure naturally for five minutes. The last step is crucial, whether you’re boiling eggs in an Instant Pot or not: Let the eggs cool in an ice bath for five minutes (the ice bath stops the cooking process). Get it? Five minutes for each step.

This method is great because if you’re boiling eggs on the stovetop, you could easily mess up by taking the eggs out too early or too late. Or you could walk away, forget about the eggs, and come back after they’ve been completely overcooked. The timed cooking system on the Instant Pot eliminates any human error. The only real work you have to do is make that ice bath. One more pro tip: Remember to use “older” eggs, as the fresh ones will be harder to peel.