We tried air fryer hard boiled eggs, and here's how they turned out

Air fryer hard boiled eggs are a thing, and we put them to the test. When we heard that you can cook hard boiled eggs in an air fryer, we knew we had to give it a try. Of course, when you remove the boiling water from the equation it just becomes a hard air fried egg, but nonetheless I was keen to find out if this hack really works. How do you cook air fryer hard boiled eggs? Let’s find out together. 

I’ve subjected my air fryer (the trusty Ninja Dual Zone, which is the best air fryer I've tried to date) to a fair few tests. This includes an air fried lemon cake (not a complete fail, but also not recommended) and even dehydrating flower petals, but this one may be the weirdest yet. 

The concept makes complete sense when you think about it. Boiling an egg is simply submerging it in hot water until it’s cooked through, so there’s no reason why you can’t do this with air. 

Air fried boiled eggs: does it work?

To cut to the chase, yes it does. This hack is very appealing for a few reasons. For one, it takes time to heat up water, and then add your egg carefully so it doesn’t crack when it hits the bottom of the pot. By comparison, simply placing your egg at the bottom of an air fryer basket can be done without splashing your hand with hot water, so cracking is less likely.

It is also easy to lose track of how long your egg has been cooking for when boiling it, which can result in your egg either being under-cooked or too hard boiled. 

Air fryers come with timers, so you can go about making your morning coffee while your egg cooks away and be notified when the cooking is finished. Most air fryers also stop cooking when the timer is done, so you don’t have to hurry back to the kitchen to retrieve it. 

Boiled eggs are very hot to peel, but I found it a lot easier to peel my air fried eggs without burning my fingers.

How long to air fry boiled eggs for

Hard boiled eggs: 150°C/300°F, for 12 minutes
Soft boiled eggs: 150°C/300°F, for 8 minutes

How to make air fryer hard boiled eggs

You will need: 1 air fryer, and however many eggs you want to eat. 

Right off the bat, I was nervous that my air fryer would be too hot to do this justice. Visions of egg explosions did cross my mind, but I’m pleased to report that no such explosions took place when testing this hack. 

While boiling water is roughly 100°C or 212°F, the minimum heat the Ninja Dual Zone air fryer would cook at was 150°C, which is the equivalent of 300°F. 

My first attempt was more or less successful. I put in the egg at 150°C for 15 minutes and it came out looking like this: 

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My initial observations: 

1. It’s harder to peel than a regular hard boiled egg (hence the chunk I removed from the top when peeling it), but this may be because I overcooked it
2. My home now as a mild eggy smell in a way it doesn’t when the egg is submerged in water

I tried a second egg for 12 minutes in the hope of a slightly less tough exterior and it came out far better, with just a hint of softness but no rubbery exterior. This was also far easier to peel. 

One tip I have is to immediately submerge the egg in cold tap water when you take it out of the air fryer (I did this with tongs to protect my fingers). It only needs to be in there for about 30 seconds until it’s ready to peel.

How to make air fryer soft boiled eggs 

I prefer my yolk to be soft boiled, so I put a third egg in the air fryer at the same temperature for 8 minutes to see if this would deliver my desired firmness.  

The white came out cooked through but the yolk was just the right amount of soft. Perfect for putting on top of a bowl of ramen or uploading to Instagram with some avo toast. 

So, there you have it. Can you air fry hard boiled eggs? The answer is yes, and they taste more or less the same.