Cooking eggs in an air fryer feels unusual the first time, but it works well and skips the business of watching a pan of boiling water — the dry heat cooks the egg through its shell in a genuinely different but reliably repeatable way once you've dialled in your own machine's timing.
Timing by Yolk
At 130°C: soft yolk 9–10 minutes, medium yolk 11–12 minutes, hard yolk 14–15 minutes. Place eggs straight from the fridge into the basket — cold-start timing is what these numbers assume, so room-temperature eggs will cook slightly faster and need checking a minute or so earlier the first time.
After Cooking
Transfer straight to a bowl of iced water for a few minutes — it stops the cooking instantly (preventing that grey-green ring sometimes seen around overcooked yolks, which is a harmless but unappealing reaction between iron and sulphur compounds) and makes the shell far easier to peel.
Why an Ice Bath Matters More Here
Because air fryer eggs cook via dry, circulating heat rather than being submerged in water, the shell and white stay hotter for longer after cooking than a stovetop-boiled egg pulled straight from the pan — the ice bath step matters more here to stop carryover cooking pushing a medium yolk toward hard.
Batch Cooking
Eggs can be cooked in a single layer without touching, which most air fryer baskets comfortably fit 6–8 at once — useful for meal-prepping a week's worth of boiled eggs in one go rather than doing several stovetop batches.