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Instant Pot Eggs in the UK recipe

Name: Instant Pot Eggs in the UK
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1-36 eggs (ideally room temperature. Up to 78 eggs in an 8 quart pot); 250ml (1 cup) cold water; ice cubes

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The 5-5-5 method (5-minute high pressure cook, 5-minute natural release, 5-minute ice bath) is incredibly popular, but it's a lot for UK eggs.

Prep5m
Stand5m
Cook10m
Total20m

instant-pot protein

Watch my method for Instant Pot eggs

2-5-5 is surely the way to go, I thought. Nope. After searching the internet in bafflement, I finally saw a post by a helpful Redditor:

“If you're in the UK then max 2 minute steam and quick release is all you need... 5-5-5 would absolutely destroy boiled eggs over here. They'd be like rubber balls.”

They’re not wrong and I had 12 rubber ball eggs to prove it.

Someone else chimed in with:

“In the Netherlands, eggs from the fridge, 5 minutes of low pressure + quick release works best for me. I found that high pressure causes the egg whites to become rubbery.”

The settings I now use in my Pro Plus are:

2 minute low pressure cook for medium eggs (3 minutes for large)
Quick release
5 minute ice bath

The whites yield to my fork and the yolks are jammy. My friend asked why I don’t just boil eggs on a hob. I’m struggling to quantify why I prefer the Instant Pot method, but it just feels effortless. The clean up is a breeze and the Instant Pot status notifications on my phone are handy too.

Lots of people claim that pressure cooked eggs are easier to peel; I think it depends on the eggs.

I eat mine with kecap manis; a sweet soy sauce. My mum would frown at the sugar content but a quarter of a teaspoon is plenty.

Notes

A common tip is to pressure-cook one egg first to make sure that the Instant Pot settings work for your eggs, Instant Pot, altitude, etc. I didn’t listen but it’s good advice nonetheless.

Amazingly, the cooking time is the same, regardless of the amount of eggs. People have cooked 24-36 eggs in a 6 quart Instant Pot, or up to 78 in an 8 quart. I cook 6-8 eggs at a time and store them unpeeled in the fridge for up to one week.

Recipe credit

r/instantpot and this comment thread.

Recipe

Instant Pot Eggs in the UK

Prep5m
Stand5m
Cook10m
Total20m

Makes: 1-36

Ingredients

1-36 eggs (ideally room temperature. Up to 78 eggs in an 8 quart pot)
250ml (1 cup) cold water
ice cubes

Method

Put a trivet into the Instant Pot and place 1-36 eggs inside (or more, see notes). The eggs can stack and overlap.
Pour 250ml (1 cup) of water into the Instant Pot. Check the sealing ring for kinks then attach the lid.
For jammy eggs (medium-sized), select:
1. Low pressure, 2 minutes (3 minutes for large eggs)
2. Quick release
The Instant Pot will take around 6-7 minutes to come up to pressure. Prepare an ice bath. Once the programme finishes, the quick release takes around 20 seconds. Transfer the eggs straight into the ice bath and set a timer for 5 minutes (I often leave them longer).
Store unpeeled eggs in the fridge for up to 1 week. There’s conflicting information on the shelf-life of peeled eggs; I would say 3 days max, based on nothing but my gut feel.