Online kitchen timer with alarm
Cooking almost always means juggling three times at once: the rice, the fish and the vegetables. Your phone's timer only handles one.
Here you can run several countdowns at the same time, name each one and get an alarm when it's done. It works right in the page, with nothing to install.
Common times
- 10:00Timer
Your first tap on “start” is also the permission your browser needs to play sound. While a countdown is running your screen stays on, so the alarm can ring on time.
Times worth knowing
Eggs lowered into boiling water: 4 minutes for soft-boiled, 6 for jammy, 8 for a soft-set yolk and 10–11 for hard-boiled. Moving them straight into ice water stops the green ring around the yolk.
Dried pasta: 8 to 12 minutes depending on the shape, and always one minute less than the package says if it's going to finish cooking in the pan with the sauce.
Short-grain rice: 18 minutes. Long-grain white rice: 12–14. Brown rice: 35–40. Brown lentils: 30 minutes. Soaked chickpeas: 90 minutes in a regular pot, 20 in a pressure cooker.
Making sure you hear the alarm
Browsers only let a page play sound after you've interacted with it, so your first tap on “start” is also the permission for the alarm to ring. It's a browser protection against sites that start making noise on their own, and it can't be skipped.
When time is up, the alarm beeps like a classic kitchen timer and repeats until you stop it (or for one minute if nobody's around). On phones that support it, it also vibrates, and the tab title flashes in case you're on another tab.
While a countdown is running, the page keeps your screen from turning off wherever the browser allows it, so the alarm rings on time. The countdown is calculated from the real clock, so it stays accurate even if the browser slows down the tab.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Does it keep counting if I lock my phone?
The time is calculated against the real clock, so when you come back you'll see the correct time. What can't be guaranteed is the sound with the screen off: mobile browsers suspend audio in background tabs. That's why the timer keeps the screen on while it runs.
Can I set more than one timer?
Yes, as many as you want, each with its own name. That's exactly why this tool exists.
Why can't I hear the alarm on my iPhone?
Check that the volume is up. The page asks Safari to play the alarm even in silent mode, but some older iOS versions don't allow it; in that case you'll still see the alarm on screen.
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