How to Cut the Top Off a Soft-Boiled Egg

Remove the egg from the water and allow it to cool slightly. Peel the egg by cracking one end and running the egg under slow-running, cool water while peeling. Avoid peeling the egg by placing the egg into an egg cup and leaving the shell intact.

Use a sharp paring knife to move around the top half of the egg. If the shell has been removed, the knife should slide easily into the egg top, which is the slimmer half of the egg, and cut with ease. An unpeeled egg will be more difficult and may require you to use your finger to create a crack the knife can slide into. Once the knife is inserted into the cracked shell, it should cut through the outer layer easily.

Snip the top of the egg off with large kitchen shears. Shears can be purchased at a kitchen supply store, or may come included with a kitchen knife block set. Place the egg into an egg cup and open the scissor blades. Using one sharp motion, slice the egg top off. This method works best on smaller to medium-size eggs that are peeled, with shear blades that are extremely sharp.

Purchase an egg top cutter to cut the top off of the soft-boiled egg. Egg cutters, which can be purchased at a kitchen supply company, are shaped as a ring with smaller rings located on the exterior of the large, center ring. The egg, either with the shell or peeled, is inserted through the center of the center ring and your fingers are placed inside the smaller rings. You will squeeze your fingers together, which triggers the cutting blade inside the larger ring, to slice the top off the egg.