How to Tell If Eggs Are Raw or Hard Boiled

Last Updated: October 25, 2022 References Approved

Have you gotten your hard boiled eggs mixed up with the raw eggs in your fridge? Never fear — they may look the same, but you can usually tell if eggs are raw or hard boiled by giving them a quick spin: boiled eggs are steady and raw eggs wobble. If this doesn't work, there are also other tests you can use to determine whether or not the intact egg is cooked.

Things You Should Know

Spin the egg on a flat surface and stop it suddenly with your index finger. If it stays still, it’s hard boiled. If it continues to wobble, it’s raw.
If the egg is dark or opaque when you shine a flashlight through it or it feels solid when you shake it, it’s hard boiled.
Dye or mark hard boiled eggs with a marker to identify them later.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Spinning the Egg

1
Lay the egg on a smooth, flat surface and spin it. Grasp the egg between the fingers and thumb of your hand. With a sharp twisting motion, spin the egg on its side like a top.^{[1]
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Expert Source

Randall Chambers
Personal Chef
Expert Interview. 1 March 2022.} The motion you use should be a little like snapping your fingers. It should now be spinning at a steady, regular pace.^{[2]
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- Some flat surfaces in your kitchen that you can use are a cutting board, a counter top, or even the bottom of the sink.
2
Stop its rotation quickly. Extend your index finger as if you were pointing. Quickly place your finger down on the center of the rotating egg. It should stop spinning. Immediately remove your finger from the egg as soon as it comes to a stop.^{[3]
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- Press hard enough to stop the motion of the egg quickly. It should go from spinning to still in the span of a second or so.
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3
Watch what happens to the egg. Depending on whether your egg is hard boiled or raw, it will behave differently at this point.^{[4]
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Expert Source

Randall Chambers
Personal Chef
Expert Interview. 1 March 2022.} See below:^{[5]
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- If the egg stays still, it is a hard boiled egg.^{[6]
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  Expert Source
  
  Randall Chambers
  Personal Chef
  Expert Interview. 1 March 2022.}
- If the egg continues to slowly rotate or wobble it is uncooked.^{[7]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Randall Chambers
  Personal Chef
  Expert Interview. 1 March 2022.} This is because the liquid white and yolk are still spinning inside the shell. The egg's center of gravity shifts as the liquid contents move around, causing the egg to keep moving.
4
For a quicker test, watch the egg's motion as it spins. The test above should tell you accurately whether or not your egg is hard boiled. However, you can also get this information by carefully watching the way the egg spins — you don't need to stop it with your finger. This is convenient if you need to test many eggs at once.
- If the egg spins quickly and steadily like a top, the egg is hard boiled.^{[8]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Randall Chambers
  Personal Chef
  Expert Interview. 1 March 2022.} Its center of gravity is stable.
- If it spins slowly, it has a major wobble, or it's tough to spin at all, it's raw.^{[9]
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  Expert Source
  
  Randall Chambers
  Personal Chef
  Expert Interview. 1 March 2022.} The liquid inside is shifting around as the egg spins and throwing it off balance.^{[10]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Other Tests

1
Shake the egg. Take the egg in your fingertips and give it a gentle shake like a maraca. Concentrate on the feeling you get from the egg.
- If the egg is hard boiled, it will feel solid like a rock.
- If the egg is liquid, you will be able to feel the liquid inside moving and shifting as you shake it.
2
Look for tiny streams of air bubbles. Place the egg in a pot or bowl of very hot water (nearly boiling is best). Look for small streams of bubbles coming out of the shell of the egg. When the test is over, take the eggs out quickly unless you want them to boil.^{[11]
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- If the egg is raw, you will see these bubbles. Egg shells are not completely solid — they are actually covered by thousands of tiny holes that sometimes can allow gases to pass through. Heating the egg makes the gas inside the shell to expand and pass through these holes, creating bubbles.
- If the egg is boiled, you probably won't see these bubbles because the gas was already forced out during the boiling process.
3
Shine a flashlight through the egg. Wait until night or head to a dark room with your egg and a bright flashlight. Turn the flashlight on and hold it against the side of the egg. This test works best with smaller flashlights so that the rim of the flashlight forms a tight "seal" against the egg shell.^{[12]
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- If the egg lights up like a lantern, it is raw. The liquid inside allows the light through.
- If the egg is dark and opaque, it is hard-boiled. The solid white and yolk do not let the light through.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Marking Boiled Eggs

1
Boil with onion skins. If you mark your eggs when you boil them, you won't need to do the tests above to tell them apart from your raw eggs. One simple way to do this is to drop some loose onion skins into the boiling water with the eggs. The boiled eggs will come out a nice beige color. This makes them easy to tell apart from your raw eggs. ^{[13]
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- The more onion skins you use, the more noticeable the dying effect. If you can, use about 12 onions' worth of skins to get eggs with a deeply-dyed appearance.
- Skins from red onions also tend to dye the eggs more darkly than skins from white or yellow onions.
2
Dye the eggs with food coloring. Using food coloring or Easter dye kits makes it easy to keep track of which eggs are boiled. You can even color code your eggs: red for hard boiled, blue for soft boiled, etc.
- If you're boiling the eggs in a small pot, you can add a few drops of food coloring and a few teaspoons of vinegar directly to the water as you boil. Otherwise, boil the eggs first, then soak them in a mixture of 1/2 cup boiling water, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and a few drops of food coloring afterward.
3
Write on the shells. This method isn't fancy, but it is quick and easy. Simply boil your eggs as normal, then remove them from the water and allow them to dry. When they are completely dry, mark them on the shell with a pencil or marker. For instance, you can try writing "B" for "boiled."
- Don't worry — since you have to remove the shell to eat boiled eggs, this doesn't make your eggs unsafe to eat, even if you use ink.

Community Q&A

Question

If I didn't boil my eggs long enough, can I reboil them? Note: I boiled 2dz eggs in a large pot for 20+ minutes. They don't seem to be done enough. They won't peel nicely for making deviled eggs.

Community Answer

No. They are already over cooked.Be sure to use older eggs - buy them at least one week before you cook them. Fresh eggs will never ever peel well.
Question

Do raw eggs float or sink?

Qamar

Top Answerer

If the eggs are fresh, they will sink on their sides. Rotten eggs will float.
Question

If the shell is soft, is it hard boiled or raw?

Community Answer

The shell of an egg should never be soft, but a good way to tell is by shaking the egg. You will feel the yolk moving inside it if it's raw, and nothing if it's boiled.