250°F · large egg
No pot, no water, no waiting for a boil. Pick a yolk texture and we will time it — 12 minutes for soft, 14 for medium, 16 for hard.
Air fryer eggs cook in dry circulating air rather than water, so there is nothing to bring to a boil and nothing to lower the eggs into. Set the basket to 250 °F (about 120 °C), put the cold eggs straight on the rack in a single layer, and run the timer.
Then move them into an ice bath for 5 minutes. That step is not optional — eggs carry a lot of residual heat and keep cooking on the counter.
This is the one method where published times genuinely disagree, and the reason is simple: wattage, basket size and fan design vary enormously between models. A 1,700 W basket model and a small 1,000 W one will not produce the same egg in the same time.
Treat the times above as a starting point. Cook one egg first, cut it open, and adjust in one-minute steps. Once you know your machine's number, use the Custom preset so you do not have to remember it.
| Air fryer | Boiling | |
|---|---|---|
| Hard yolk time | 16 min at 250°F | 12 min at a rolling boil |
| Prep time | None — no water to heat | 5–10 min to reach a boil |
| Consistency | Varies by model | Very consistent |
| Cracking | Rare | Common without care |
If you want a repeatable result the first time, boiling is still more predictable — see the egg cooking time guide. The air fryer wins on convenience once calibrated, and for cooking a dozen without babysitting a pot. Air fryer eggs keep exactly like boiled ones: see storing hard boiled eggs.
Answers
About 16 minutes at 250°F for a fully set yolk, then straight into an ice bath for 5 minutes. Times vary between models, so test one egg first.
Preheating gives more consistent results because the eggs start at a known temperature. If you skip it, add a minute or two and check the first batch.
No. The eggs cook in dry circulating hot air, which is why no pot or boiling is involved.
Those are scorch marks where the shell sat closest to the element. They are harmless and disappear once peeled. A slightly lower temperature reduces them.
Many people find they are, because the shell is not knocked around in moving water. A full ice bath still does most of the work.
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