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How Long Does it Take to Boil an Egg?

You might be wondering why I ask this question. What on earth does this have to do with costs?

Delia Smith suggests 6-7 minutes for hard boiled. Jamie Oliver feels anywhere between 7 ½ minutes and 10 minutes

I was raised on runny hardboiled egg and soldiers…strictly speaking not hard boiled…and my Mother’s opinion was, it took 4 minutes.

Obviously I could go on and quote a plethora of celebrity chefs but my point is this – if you’re boiling an egg to eat, then you’re looking at around 10 minutes.

However, what if I told you that they are all wrong. The answer is, in fact, somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes at an absolute minimum, and possibly significantly longer?

What, you cry? If I boil an egg that long it’ll be like chewing on a tyre! Well, you’re wrong and I’ll tell you why.

Step 1 – You must decide you want a boiled egg.

Step 2 – You must find an egg which, unless you own chickens, means a trip to a shop and an outlay of cash. No doubt you will check several boxes of eggs to find one that seems less broken or marked with feathers; or you may debate the virtues of organic or free range. You will then join a queue of people to pay (or perhaps you’re a hardy soul who braves the self-checkout)…You must then, of course, return to the place where said egg will be boiled.

Step 3 – You must locate a pan and fill it with water, and bring this to the boil (According to the experts).

Step 4 – Take the egg and boil in the pan for, say we prefer Delia, 7 minutes.

Step 5 – You then need to run the egg under cold water and peel – peeling is one of those irritating tasks they need to invent a tool for.

Step 6 – Serve the egg.

So I ask again, how long does it really take to boil an egg? Even allowing for the overlap of tasks (I accept you’re unlikely to go to the shop to buy a single egg) the true time required far exceeds 7 minutes. You’ll spend that waiting for the water to boil.

So, let’s put this question into a costs context. How long does it take to draft Part 35 questions in an Erb’s Palsy claim?

Think about it. Because I can guarantee that it is likely to be significantly longer than you may, at first glance, think. Step outside the document; who is involved, who must read these; approve them, discuss them, advise on them; answer them; acknowledge them, pay for them etc etc etc.

You may still be wondering what the point of this is. Well, it is this sort of question you need to address in any Budget you prepare; and it is precisely this sort of question the judiciary wrestle with up and down the country.

Your budget must reflect the true work needed to do the job, and you need someone who has knowledge of this to not only ensure this is the case, but to persuade the Court that it takes a damn sight longer than 30 minutes to arrange and prepare for a Conference with 8 experts, counsel and a client.

It takes longer than that to boil an egg!