Hamilton Beach Electric Hard Boiled Egg Cooker, 3-in-1: Boiled Egg Cooker, Poacher & Omelet Maker, Can Hold 7 Eggs, Black with Silver Knob (25500)

This cooker replaced a Cuisinart egg cooker I've had for years and disliked because it bubbled water out of the base onto the countertop whenever I hard cooked eggs. This Hamilton Beach cooker DOESN'T do that! There's only one small thing about it that I dislike, but first the positives:*It cooks eggs perfectly. Every morning I poach two extra-large eggs; the instructions are for large eggs and recommend adjusting the amount of water for for larger or smaller eggs. I tried adding just a bit more water the first time and found it overcooked the whites a bit; the second time (and every time since) I've added the amount of water it recommends for two large eggs and they've been PERFECT.*I have tried hard cooking eggs--following the instructions exactly--and they turned out just as I wanted without being either overcooked or undercooked. The instructions don't specify piercing the eggs before they're hard cooked, even though there is a piercing point on the bottom of the measuring cup, but I didn't take any chances and pierced my eggs before I cooked them.*I have EXTREMELY hard water, and I found crusty mineral deposits were already occurring on the base after a couple of uses. My recommendation is to use filtered water in the base, and since it has somewhat of a non-stick surface, a wipe with a a soft, wet cloth is all the clean-up that's required. Likewise, the insert for hard cooking eggs (egg holder) is very easy to clean (the Cuisinart insert was filled with small nooks and crannies that after a while NEVER came clean even in the dishwasher, and were impossible to get into even with a toothbrush). The instructions for the Hamilton Beach cooker are that the poaching tray and egg holder are top-rack dishwasher safe. The egg holder is plastic and would be fine, but the poaching tray is metal with a non-stick surface, and even the best dishwasher soaps eventually scour those surfaces to death. I found the poaching tray comes clean easily with a swish of soapy water and a quick rinse.*When eggs have finished cooking, the Hamilton Beach has a constant alert tone (as opposed to a beep) that is like a faint shriek, but it's not overly loud. I can hear it from another room even with the TV on, which I consider a good thing, but I don't find it deafening or irritating, even in close proximity.Now for the one negative caveat: the measuring cup is ridiculously difficult to read, especially after water is added, when the measurements seem to vanish because of the refraction caused by the water. The measurement gradients are lightly molded into the cup rather than printed on, which was a mistake. However, that's a very small problem that's easily overcome: I saved the measuring cup from my Cuisinart cooker, used the HB cup one time to determine how much water I needed, poured it into the Cuisinart measuring cup to see where it came to, and ever after I've used that as my guide.Other than that one small thing, I think this is a GREAT little cooker which delivers on nicely cooked eggs every time I've used it. I recommend it!

Wow! Just received this product and used for the first time. Read the instructions and reviews before use. Cooked four eggs the first time. Went with the suggestion of NOT piercing hole in top of egg. Made sure small end of egg was pointed down in tray. Measured precise water. This is where I agree with previous negative on some reviews. Water cup is extremely hard to read. But once I was able to read it I just marked with permanent marker. Used cold eggs. Poured water in center of water reservoir as instructed. Made sure lid was on and secure to base. Turn unit on and waited. When unit made sound that eggs where finished I immediately removed lid and eggs, placing them in cold water as instructed. I then refrigerated the eggs for a couple of hours. Pulled the eggs out, peeled them and had 4 perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs! I mean perfect. Did a second batch of 6 with different amount of water as required and presto same beautiful result. Don’t know why I haven’t tried one of these before. Here are a few of my guesses as to why some others my have had issues. Just my quess. Eggs not cold, egg has crack, large end of egg put down instead of up, to large or small of egg, water not measured precisely, lid not closed tightly, not removed immediately and not put in cold water. All of these are written in the instructions. Like I said the only thing in the instructions I did not follow was piercing a hole in the egg. The reason I did this is to me that would be the same as having a crack in the egg.I am so happy with this purchase(time will tell if it remains that way). And for the money can’t believe the ease of use with such results.PS daughter works as a waitress and when she came to the house and saw it she informed me that the cook where she works uses the small unit to cook hard boiled eggs for their salads because he said it’s easier the the old fashioned way.Hope this helps.

Works as described, alarm is too soft, but makes great poached eggs.

The media could not be loaded. This is a wonderful little egg cooker, especially for the price.I like the hard boiled egg setting; it made the eggs perfectly the first time. The yolk wasn’t too undercooked but it also wasn’t so cooked that it turned to dust when you touch it.There is a measuring cup that tells you how much water to put in for the number of eggs you want to cook and whether you want the eggs to be soft, medium, or hard. Unfortunately the measuring cup’s markings are very difficult to make out (see picture), especially when actually trying to fill it up with water.Once the water is all evaporated from the cooker a buzzer will go off. It is kind of a weird noise that almost sounds like cicadas at night, rather than a beeping noise like I was expecting, but since it’s not excessively loud it’s not a terrible noise like some egg cookers I’ve seen (see video). While it isn’t too loud it also isn’t so quiet that you don’t hear it. You may not be able to hear it from the other side of the house, but I was able to hear it just fine from a couple of rooms away, though it took me a minute to realize what the noise actually was.Once it begins actually cooking the eggs, the entire cooker gets very hot, so if you’re going to touch it while it’s going make sure you use oven mitts (I wanted to move it so that the steam wasn’t going up onto the bottom of my cabinetry).The manual said that with a full 7 eggs it may take around 18 minutes to cook, which is about right. I did 7 eggs twice and each time took about 17 minutes.After they cook, you have to take the top off and grab the handles with oven mitts, and place the eggs into cold water to cool down. Unless you grab a very wide pot of cold water, there’s no easy way to actually set them into the cold water, so when I used a smaller plastic bowl I had to gently roll the eggs off of the little rack, which made me a bit nervous but it worked out okay.