The answer is pretty much not at all. Because the eggs cook in water that's not actually boiling, some people prefer the term hard-cooked eggs to hard-boiled eggs. 3. Let the eggs stand in the hot water for 14-17 minutes. How long you let the eggs stay in the water depends on how big the eggs are and how hard you want them cooked. To cook small eggs to medium, let them stand for 14 minutes. To cook extra-large eggs to medium, let them stand for 17 minutes. (We're talking about chicken eggs here. You're on your own with ostrich eggs.) 4. Drain eggs and put in a bowl filled with ice water.