timing soft-boiled eggs

I went back to boiling, hot start. Brought water to a boil, this took nearly 9 minutes. Had the eggs inserted and the water boiling again by 9:30. Online advice was to simmer for 4 minutes if your eggs are room temp, 5-7 minutes if chilled, which mine were. I took one out at 4 minutes and 2 more at 5. Whites were partially set, yolk runny, for all 3. If you want firmer whites, probably 6+ minutes. Total cooking time 15+ minutes.

I think I now know why I always had soft-boiled less often than fried or scrambled. It takes longer!

One advice for room-temp eggs was to put them in warm water for 5 minutes. 'warm' was not specified. If we go with just room temp, or maybe from-the-tap hot, that soak could happen while you boil the water, bringing cooking time down to 13-14 minutes.

Cold-start soft-boiled eggs can be faster: put the eggs in, bring water to boil, let simmer or sit for as little as a minute. 10-11 minutes.

I didn't time the full steaming process, but if we go with 3 minutes to bring a smaller amount of water to boil, then 3+6 = 9. Boiling some water just now, probably more than enough to last 6 minutes, took 2.5 minutes.

(gas stove)