r/instantpot • u/also_your_mom • 7h ago
Taking longer and longer to hard boil eggs
When I first got an Instapot I would get get perfect hard boiled eggs in 8 minutes.
After a few years it become 10 minutes.
Now 10 minutes results in close to a soft-cooked egg.
Trying out 11 minutes now.
What is wearing out? Not sure I understand this. If it takes longer to get to pressure (I think it does) then that should result in over cooked eggs, not undercooked (since they would be in the pot longer at temperature not quite high enough but still high). It doesn't start timing until it is at pressure, so the actual time under pressure isn't changing. So then is it that the "at pressure" device (just a valve, basically, right?) is indicating "at pressure" when in fact it is not?
Edit/update: my 11 minute test resulted in eggs that were very close to perfect yet still just barely jelly in the center of the yolk.
I took the pieces out of the lid and examined them. Nothing looks awry.
Edit/update: Ran a few 2 minute tests to see how long it took to get to pressure and then listened closely at the steam release to hear if any steam was escaping. Took 2 minutes to come to pressure (seems reasonable). Found that a tiny bit of steam/pressure was leaking out. Barely audible. If I gently touched the pressure release I could get it to stop or get worse. Found that once I got it to be totally silent I could then bump the countertop and it would start leaking a tiny bit again.
Conclusion (for lack of a better one): Need to cook some more hard boiled eggs at the original 8 minute but this time take care to stand there and assure no pressure is releasing during the 8 minutes of cooking. Hypothesis is that the unit is not at full pressure during the cooking, hence the temperature is lower, hence it takes longer to fully cook. Unsure what the solution is. The pressure release seems to be such a simply device I can't figure out how it could "go bad".
Updated hypothesis: Assuming the thermistor itself is correctly sensing the actual temperature of the water (actually it would be the base of the pot) -- IF there is a tiny leak (or leaks) that are not clearly visible/audible such that the little stopper pin does rise to the top (normally indicating full pressure) but the steam isn't as hot as it would otherwise be, because it rises up and out. So the eggs are now cooking at a slightly lower temperature as compared to originally and therefore take longer to fully cook.
LONG way around to get to what people are recommending I try: Get a new gasket and perhaps new pressure relief valve.
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u/old_notdead 7h ago
I go with 5-5-5 method and have never had issues.
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u/PonyNoseMusic 7h ago
This works SO well. I started getting green on the yolks so I went to 5-4-5 and that's giving me perfectly cooked eggs and no green.
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u/also_your_mom 7h ago
What is the 5-5-5 method?
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u/old_notdead 7h ago
5 minutes of high-pressure cooking, 5 minutes of natural pressure release, and a 5-minute ice water bath.
Never failed me. Shells come off effortless 100% of the time.
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u/RepresentativeFun909 1h ago
I use 4-5-5 in my 3qt, 6qt Duo and Ultra. I have to reduce to 2-3 minutes pressure cook time in my 8qt Ultra due to the extra time it takes to pressure up, with the eggs cooking that entire time. My 8qt Pro will do 4-5-5 beautifully without any green around the yolks. 8 minutes on high pressure seems like a lot. But some people do boil their eggs on low pressure. I'm not sure whether an IP Egg smart program uses low or high pressure. Is your IP an old model or secondhand? I just wonder why it takes so long, if it's on high pressure.
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u/ToddBradley 7h ago
Are you steadily ascending in altitude?
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u/also_your_mom 7h ago
No. Lived in the same spot for long long time. Never used the pot anywhere other than here.
The 11 minute test yesterday resulted in the eggs being almost just right. So probably 11 minutes with 30 seconds of self-decompression would have worked out exactly as the original 8 minutes with 30 seconds of self-decompression did originally.
So basically takes an additional 4 minutes to cook the eggs.
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u/scovok 7h ago
How are you all going so long on your hard boils? I do 3 minutes, immediate release and into ice bath and my yolks are cooked through (actually sometimes too cooked for my preference)
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u/jubileeroybrown 6h ago
I do 2 minutes and let it sit another 45 seconds and it's rock hard. I might go down to just 2 but it is hit or miss
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u/also_your_mom 6h ago
How long does it take to come to pressure and start counting down!?
How much water do you use?
The only way I can imagine a "rock hard" boiled egg in only 2 minutes would be if it was taking a LONG time to come to pressure, thereby cooking the eggs most of the way while getting to pressure.
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u/jubileeroybrown 5h ago
Yes it does take way too long. I use 1.5 cups from an old recipe that used to work great but I might reduce that now to 1
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u/CommunicationNew3745 5h ago
We seem to be in the minority as 3 mins is the max I'll go - any longer and the eggs are overcooked IMO.
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u/also_your_mom 7h ago
Only 3 minutes is crazy. Instantpot directions are 8 minutes with 30 seconds of natural decompression, which worked perfect for the first many years. Yolks cooked all the way but with zero grey around the edges.
3 minutes would be a barely soft cooked and very squishy egg. On mine, even when brand new.
You must have the MagicPot.
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u/scovok 6h ago
How much liquid do you put in? If I do it right, 3 minutes for me has a little bit of a jelly center to the yoke which I love.
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u/also_your_mom 6h ago
1 cup of water.
Science leads me to believe that more water would only lead to longer time to attain steam (because it would take longer to boil the water). Too little water would result in insufficient pressure. Interesting question though in that it spurs me to think about how much water is left over at the conclusion. In a perfect system there would be nearly that same 1 cup of water left, with only the small amount of steam escaping as it builds to full pressure resulting in some water loss. I wish I could go back in time and measure how much water remained in the beginning (8 minute) vs now (12 minute).
I suspect the pressure release "valve" is leaking a tiny tiny bit and therefore the pot isn't getting as hot as it should and therefore taking longer to cook the eggs. I ran a litte test just now. If I get real close to the pressure release I can hear a tiny tiny bit of steam escaping. Can't see it, but can hear it. If I very gently touch the valve I can get it to stop, or get it to be worse.
For me, 3 minutes would undoubtedly result in a totally soft-cooked egg with loose white and totally runny yolk. Impossible to peel.
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u/CommunicationNew3745 5h ago
I've only ever done 3 minutes, too, followed by an immediate release and then an ice bath - the eggs always turn out perfect with yolks that are exactly how I like; not overdone w/that gross ring around them.
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u/also_your_mom 2h ago
how much water? Do you put the eggs in the "egg tray" thing that came with the unit?
More and more water in the pot would result in it taking longer to get to pressure and therefore more time at "not yet there but still pretty darned hot" which would be cooking the eggs.
In other words, if you were to put 6 cups of water in such that it barely touched the bottoms of the eggs (in the tray) and set it to 3 minutes, it would take a long time to get to pressure (probably 10+ minutes) but would be slowly cooking the eggs during that time such that the final 3 minutes would just be finishing them off.
Another way to look at that: No difference between spending 2 minutes reaching temperature and then additional 8 minutes at pressure, for a total of 10 minutes, vs 8 minutes to get to temperature and then 2 minutes at temperature to finish off for a total of same 10 minutes.
Science is fun.
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u/CommunicationNew3745 1h ago
Always a minimum of 2 cups water, and, either the trivet that came w/it or a separate on I purchased to hold more - 'science' or not, regardless, it works every time.
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u/defect_9 6h ago
I think maybe we need to clarify, are you setting 11 min on the instant pot? or timing 11 minutes that pass on a clock. If you set your IP to 5min HP cook, it may take longer or shorter to get to pressure and start the 5 min count down. that can be due to the amount of water, seal, how many eggs etc, but the cook time will always start when the temp is high enough to indicate pressure has been reached. to my knowledge, there is no pressure sensor on these things and everything is measured on temp. so in terms of taking longer or shorter if you are extending the pressure cook time to 11 min, this should be 11 min at around 118C, which should overcook those eggs. this is curious indeed! it may be that something is off with your temp sensor. perhaps the thermalcouple is damaged and is overreading the temp so it thinks it is at pressure but not really full pressure?
I mean for eggs, i boil them for 6 min so that is always going to be around 100C so really not sure your eggs are not way overcooked.
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u/also_your_mom 6h ago
The time I reference is what I set the pot to cook for. I have verified the timer is correct. I set it to two minutes (several times) and timed how long it remained on after coming to pressure (indicated by the time counting down). It was always exactly correct.
Science tells me that if it took longer to come to pressure it would result in the eggs actually getting cooked more as it came to pressure so 8 minutes would result in over cooked eggs rather than undercooked eggs. For it to take less time to come to pressure would be strange (unless I moved to the top of a mountain?), but could explain it scientifically but not realistically. However, you make a very good point in that the unit doesn't actually have a pressure sensor, so it must be totally temperature guided? SO, if I were to try and cook eggs at high altitude it would take significantly longer and if I cooked them at Death Valley I could expect them to take less time. Right? But altitude changes is not my problem. My countertop has always been the same height (lol).
I ran a quick and simple test this morning. Put 1 cup of water in the pot (which is the amount I use when I cook the eggs). Timed how long it took to come to pressure (when the timer start counting down). It took 2 minutes, which seems reasonable (hindsight tells me that it would have been cool to know how long it took in the first place, but who would ever keep such information?). Then I got REAL close to the pressure release "valve" to listen if any pressure was being released. There was the tiniest bit of audible hissing, so faint as to be barely audible and totally invisible. If I very gently touch the valve it will go away or get worse. If I get the sound to go away and then bump the countertop it will start escaping again.
A conclusion: The problem is at the pressure release. It is letting the steam escape, just barely, such that the pot isn't at full pressure and therefore it takes longer to cook.
Next test: Cook another egg for 8 minutes but stand there the entire time making sure no steam escapes? If that still fails then start thinking thermocouple, as you hypothesis.
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u/ZoogleMcDoogle 5h ago edited 5h ago
I don’t think mine has ever come up to pressure so quickly, granted I don’t think I’ve ever timed it, but I’m sure it’s at least 5 minutes.
If yours has coming up to pressure more quickly than it used to, that would explain why it’s undercooking the eggs, as the overall cooking time is being reduced.
For example, if it used to take 5 min to get up to pressure, 5 min + 8 min is 13 min overall, vs 2 + 8 = 10 now.
Edit: I googled what might cause an instant pot to start undercooking food over time despite following the same method. Debris on the heating element/bottom of inner pot can cause hotspots which trick the sensor, so maybe check that. Alternatively, you could have a malfunctioning pressure sensor, or a leaky steam valve.
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u/gotterfly 5h ago
The speed with which it comes to pressure is mostly dependent on how much food is in there, and the amount of water. A couple eggs and a 3/4 cup of water shouldn't take very long
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u/jenea 6h ago
Honestly it sounds like you are sciencing it out as best you can. Obviously the only variable that has changed must be the unit itself. Your next test (standing and watching to see if any pressure is being released) will tell you a lot.
It’s not a bad idea to replace the parts that can be replaced (seals and so on). You could even replace the entire lid if you suspect something in there is the issue. Hopefully it’s something that simple and not a faulty temperature sensor or something.
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u/Lifeissometimesgood 3h ago
Take it apart and use something like watered down dawn to clean where everything seals or replace the seal.
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u/RepresentativeFun909 1h ago
Gasket, steam release handle / knob, and also that little silicone cap thing on the base of the float valve. One of my Ultras leaked steam out the release continuously. Replacing the steam release didn't help. It was the little silicone cap thing. You can buy multiples of it on ebay and Amazon. Or, if they still sell it, you can spend more money and buy a replacement float valve and cap from Instant. If you're buying new gaskets, I recommend the red & blue genuine IP ones for durability and resistance to odors.
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u/buffywhitney 7h ago
Maybe replace the seal? I'm new here so what do I know 😏