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Mar 21, 2023

The 10 Best Electric Egg Cookers, Ranked

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Many of us probably have childhood memories of the electric egg cooker only emerging from the dusty depths of the cabinet once a year: At Easter time, when Mom would hard-boil enough eggs to decorate (and then to languish in the fridge long after everyone tired of eating them). Today's egg cookers, however, deserve a place of pride on the counter for daily use. You can find cookers with cute designs and on-trend colors, and ones that are versatile enough to cook your eggs exactly how you like them. Do you prefer a jammy egg to top your bowl of ramen? Need a batch of hard-cooked eggs for deviled eggs? How about no-fuss poached eggs for eggs Benedict at brunch or egg bites like you have at the coffee shop? There's an egg cooker out there for you.

Another reason to keep that egg cooker front and center: Eggs have a whole host of health benefits, including being high in protein and choline and low in calories. And while they also contain more than half the recommended daily amount of cholesterol, experts agree that eating one egg a day — that's seven per week — will allow you to reap the nutritional benefits without adversely affecting your heart health.

So, go ahead and add an egg cooker to your cooking arsenal. Since there are a lot of them to choose from, we've gone ahead and done the research for you, so you can choose the one that's eggs-actly right for your needs.

Undoubtedly one of the cutest egg cookers on the market, the Henrietta Hen Egg Cooker is sure to be a conversation starter in your kitchen. It's shaped like a hen, with the tail feathers in the lid serving as handles, and it promises to chirp when cooking is done. We like how the base interior of the cooker has integrated fill lines that correspond to the different amounts of water needed to cook various quantities of eggs, which means there's no need for a special measuring beaker. The piercing pin is also integrated into the insert that holds the eggs. But, you'll need to memorize what the different fill lines mean or keep the instruction booklet handy, and you'll also need to be careful not to accidentally prick yourself on the piercing pin, which doesn't have a cover.

This unit doesn't have an on-off switch: it starts when you plug it in, and although it shuts off when the cooking is done, you'll need to unplug it immediately before it turns back on. Some users also found that the water and cooking times were inaccurate, and eggs took more water and longer cooking time than indicated. Plus, batches of eggs are sometimes still cooked unevenly. Another gripe? That advertised chirp just sounds like a garden-variety alarm. We'll gladly trade the cuteness for a product that performs better.

Bella's assortment of egg cookers is fairly similar to other cookers on the market: trendy colors, sleek designs, and simple operation. The Rapid Electric Egg Cooker, which has a seven-egg capacity, operates just like others with a similar design. Fill the beaker to the desired amount that corresponds with how many eggs you're cooking, and add the water to the base. Pierce the eggs with the pin at the base of the beaker, add them to the cooker, put the lid on, and turn the unit on. The machine will beep and shut off when the eggs are finished. It also includes a poaching tray and an omelet tray.

The cooker has a few drawbacks, though, compared to a similar model from our favorite brand. For one, the printed fill line markings of the measurement beaker rub off easily, which renders it useless. For another, as with the Henrietta Hen egg cooker, the unit shuts off when it's finished but will turn back on after a few minutes, so you'll need to turn it back off. It also takes a long time for hard-cooked eggs to be cooked through ... up to 20 minutes. That's even longer than if you were to make a hard-boiled egg recipe the old-fashioned way on the stove!

The egg cookers from Elite Gourmet closely resemble others on the market thanks to an assortment of cheerfully colored containers. Elite Gourmet offers two different seven-egg-capacity models (which seem only to differ in that one base is more rounded, while the other is wider), plus a stainless steel-lidded egg cooker and a model that cooks up to 14 eggs at once in two tiers. As with other cookers on the list, the Elite Gourmet cookers come with omelet and poaching trays. A full tray of hard-cooked eggs will cook in 17 minutes, which is faster than the BELLA and Maverick models, though slower than our top-ranked pick. A single button operation starts the cooking process and a press of the button also turns it off when the alarm sounds.

As with the Bella models, users discovered that the lines rubbed off the measuring beaker after time. Others found that the alarm is overly jarring, a detriment if you're sensitive to noise before having your morning coffee! And others complain that the beeping stops after a few moments, and the cooker does not automatically shut off, which means if you are in another room and miss the alarm, your eggs will continue to cook.

The Elite Gourmet cookers can be found online for a few dollars cheaper than similar models from higher-ranking brands, so if you're on a budget, this is a good mid-grade model to go for.

Presto's egg cooker, with its rectangular design, is a departure from the colorful spaceship-shaped models that seem to dominate the market. Presto's shape is ideal for kitchens with limited counter space, it stores easily, and other items can be stacked on the flat lid. Another bonus: The lid and cooking tray can be used to store eggs in the refrigerator. But, we think it's a design flaw that the short handles make it hard to remove the lid, especially when it's hot.

This cooker holds up to 12 eggs and can accommodate jumbo eggs when placed on their sides. It also comes with two poaching trays, but no omelet tray. Operation is bare-bones: plugging it in turns the power on and unplugging turns it off. Like other cookers, it comes with a measuring cup with fill lines that correspond to the number of eggs you want to be cooked.

Presto is the only company on our list that does not include a piercing pin and actually advises against piercing eggs before cooking; according to the manual, piercing raw eggs can introduce bacteria, a claim the American Egg Board confirms. Some egg cooker manufacturers recommend piercing eggs before cooking to make peeling easier, but there are other tips for peeling hard-cooked eggs, so pierce at your own risk! Plus, Presto users seem divided as to whether their unpierced eggs were easy to peel.

Cuisinart is best known for its food processors and is usually a brand associated with splurge-worthy kitchen appliances. But, you can get that coveted name on your counter with one of its more affordable products: the Cuisinart Egg Central Egg Cooker. This appliance is as sleek as its sister products and looks a bit like a futuristic egg with a brushed-stainless domed lid and a fancy embossed logo plate. It comes with a poaching insert and an omelet tray, and a little rack that rests on the bottom layer of eggs to stack three more.

Cuisinart is known for its high-quality products, and this one is no exception. It's pricier than other models but is well-made. The printing on the plastic measuring beaker seems unlikely to rub off as it does with other models, and the stainless components are also sturdier and less prone to cracking or scratching as plastic lids tend to do. Users say the water level takes a little fine-tuning to get it right, but once you've figured out the exact amount of water to use to get your eggs just how you like them, they cook consistently every time.

Our favorite touch? The pair of individual egg holders for serving your cooked eggs. It's an extra that didn't come with any of the other products we considered. With room for making four poached eggs at once, this cooker is a great option for making an eggs Benedict recipe for the whole family.

Bear Appliance is quickly becoming known for its whimsical pastel-colored products. The company makes a number of egg cookers for its international markets, but the Rapid Multifunction Egg Cooker is the one that's most commonly available here in the U.S.

It's the priciest cooker on our list, but it has the most high-tech functionality, including a digital display with a push-button operation for six functions, as well as a delay-start timer of up to 9.5 hours. The lid and egg tray are made of ceramic, a bonus for those who prefer less plastic in their products. And the base doubles as a nonstick cooking surface on which you can cook small quantities of food. Most egg cookers can be used for more than just cooking eggs, but these features give this cooker even more versatility.

There are a few drawbacks to the product: First, it only holds five eggs. Second, the instruction manual and the commands printed on the appliance are badly translated, which can lead to confusion. Pro tip: the six presets actually correspond with cooking times, which can be adapted to the appropriate cooking times for steaming eggs. Third, we love the cute pink color, but, if you don't, you're out of luck because it's the only option.

However, with its cooking surface, this cooker would be a handy appliance in a dorm room or for a single person to have in their first apartment.

Chef's Choice is the maker of Ina Garten's favorite knife sharpener, and it's a brand worth considering for other kitchen appliances, such as waffle makers, kettles, meat slicers, and, yes, egg cookers. The company's stainless-steel Gourmet Egg Cooker makes up to seven eggs (or three poached eggs) and has the unique capability of cooking eggs to different consistencies in the same batch. If there's one person in your family who loves a runny egg and another who prefers a hard-cooked yolk, this is a great option.

Instead of relying on a precise water measurement to dictate cooking time, this cooker has a timer, so you don't need an easy-to-lose measuring cup. Fill the base with water, set the slider to the desired type of egg, and press start. For cooking soft, medium, and hard eggs in the same batch, set the slider to the softest setting, take out some of the eggs when it beeps, then move the slider up to the next level of doneness to continue cooking the others. The control markings also show how long the eggs will take to cook, so you'll know exactly when breakfast will be ready. Some may not like that there might be water remaining in the base, but this can be poured off after the cooker cools.

It's worth noting the lid only has a handle on one side, which some might find hard to use, especially when hot. Plus, the cooker doesn't come with an egg piercer.

With its compact rectangular shape and multiple accessories, plus a good price point for a product from a well-regarded brand, the Krups Simply Electric Egg Cooker is a winner. Our favorite feature is that this egg cooker includes not only a poaching tray that fits three eggs and an omelet tray but also a sandwich egg tray that makes perfectly sized eggs for the best breakfast sandwich recipes in your culinary arsenal.

The cooker uses measurements of water to determine cooking time, using an included beaker to choose the consistency. The beaker only shows measurements if six eggs are being made; if there are fewer eggs, more water is needed. The manual has a chart outlining how much water, in milliliters, is needed for smaller quantities. The chart comes in handy if you lose your measuring cup, too. This is a minor inconvenience, though, for a product that yields consistently cooked eggs, especially once you get a feel for how much water is needed for your favorite type of egg. Krups recommends that eggs are pierced before cooking and includes a piercing pin in the underside of the measuring cup.

The Krups egg cooker is ideal for those who want a traditional-looking appliance that is easy to use and performs reliably and consistently.

Hamilton Beach makes one of our favorite slow cookers, and the brand can usually be counted on for affordable, well-made products. When it comes to egg cookers, the company has a number of offerings. There are egg bites makers in two- or four-capacity models, an egg bites maker that has an insert for preparing hard-cooked eggs, and egg cookers in a seven-egg and a 14-egg capacity.

We are most impressed with the Hamilton Beach Egg Bites Plus Egg Cooker, the most versatile egg cooker we've seen. Using various included inserts, it can make poached eggs, egg bites, and eggs in the shell (up to nine). With the inserts taken out, the machine becomes an electric skillet that can be used to make omelets and fried or scrambled eggs. The heat can't be adjusted, so eggs in the skillet cook very quickly, but this little appliance is a great option for an RV, apartment, or small household. Our only complaint is the lack of an alarm when cooking is done.

Hamilton Beach's 3-in-1 Egg Cooker is a more straightforward egg cooker option. It has similar functionality and design to many of the other models on the market with a clear lid and a rounded base in either black or teal. Users rave about how easy it is to use, and how the eggs come out consistently cooked every time.

Dash has a sizeable selection of egg cookers, including two egg bite makers, an omelet maker, and three multifunction egg cookers. Our top pick for egg cookers is the Dash Rapid Egg Cooker, which holds six eggs, comes with poaching and omelet trays, and is priced under $20. The measurement beaker has embossed markings, unlike other beakers with printed measurements prone to rubbing off over time. The recommended fill lines on the beaker make it easy to fine-tune the cooking time.

The fact that this cooker comes in eight colors (and plays a cute melody when cooking is done) just makes us love Dash egg cookers even more. That mellifluous alarm seems to be the ticket to not overcooking the eggs: It's easy to hear, more pleasant than a beep, and it keeps singing until you turn the cooker off. It's also one of the fastest cookers on the market: A full tray of eggs cooks in 15 minutes.

Dash's well-designed egg cookers blend an appealing design with consistent performance: happy users find that the eggs cook perfectly time and time again, which will certainly make matters easier next time you're bringing deviled eggs to the party.