3 Minute Timer
A free online 3 minute countdown, pre-set and ready — press Start.
What Is the 3 Minute Timer For?
Three minutes is the kitchen's precision number: the classic soft-boiled egg, the standard instant-noodle steep and the upper limit for green tea all live here, and all three punish guessing. An egg at two minutes is runny chaos and at four it is nearly set — the difference between breakfast and disappointment is one honest minute on either side of this countdown.
Best Uses for a 3 Minute Timer
- Soft-boiled eggs — three minutes in boiling water gives the classic runny-yolk 'three-minute egg'.
- Instant noodles — the near-universal packet instruction: pour, cover, wait three minutes.
- Green tea — most green teas steep for 2–3 minutes; past that, bitterness takes over.
Worked Example
A cook who has ruined a month of breakfasts starts the timer the second the egg hits boiling water — not when the water returns to the boil, not 'about when it looks ready'. At the alarm the egg goes straight into cold water. The result, for the first time all month, is the same egg twice in a row: set white, yolk like warm custard. Repeatability, not talent, was the missing ingredient — 180 seconds, measured the same way every day.
3 Minute Timer Facts at a Glance
- A 3 minute timer is 180 seconds — 20 of them make an hour.
- The 'three-minute egg' is such a standard that egg timers were historically built as three-minute hourglasses.
How long should green tea steep?
Most green teas are best at 2–3 minutes in water around 75–80°C; longer steeping extracts more bitter compounds and the cup turns harsh. This timer's three minutes is the safe upper edge — start the countdown when the water goes on the leaves, and pour at the alarm.
Is a 3-minute egg fully cooked?
The white is just set and the yolk is fully runny — that is the point of a three-minute egg, traditionally eaten from the shell with a spoon. If you want a jammy, half-set yolk instead, step up to the 5 or 7 minute timer; for firm yolks, 10–12 minutes.
Can I run two timers at once, for eggs and tea?
Each page runs one countdown, but you can open this timer in two browser tabs — one for the eggs, one for the tea — and each counts independently with its own alarm.
How many seconds is a 3 minute timer?
180 seconds. Halfway through, the display reads 01:30 — a useful checkpoint if you are turning or stirring at the midpoint.