It's not always easy making soft-, medium- or hard-boiled eggs. You have to boil the water and time it just right to get them right.

A product called the "Egg Genie" promises perfect eggs in just minutes. But would it crack under the pressure of our "As Seen on TV" test?

The Egg Genie claims it can help you make soft-, medium- and hard-boiled eggs using steam.

It's a pretty simple concept: you just take the top off, take the egg tray out, and fill an aluminum hot plate with water. The manufacturer recommends using distilled water so you don't discolor the eggs. A measuring cup tells you the amount of water to use, whether you're going to be hard-boiling one egg or seven eggs.

So, we're going to do four soft-boiled eggs. You get your eggs and stick the pointy end with a pin to pierce a hole in the top of the egg so the steam can get in and cook the egg.

Then you put the top on. Now, there's no on-off switch with the Egg Genie so you have to plug it in. So, you have to remember to unplug it when you're done cooking. You basically just plug it in and let it cook.

A buzzing sound indicates that our soft-boiled eggs are done, so we unplug the Egg Genie and then let the whole container cool off for a little bit. It took approximately six minutes to cook the soft-boiled eggs.

The eggs turn out just like soft-boiled eggs. There's a little bit of a skin on the outside of the yolk, but the Egg Genie did a pretty good job.

Next we made some hard-boiled eggs. We got a pretty nice-looking hard-boiled egg sixteen minutes later. It's not rubbery; cooked just perfectly.

And if you like poached eggs, there's a special tray that you put on top the Egg Genie.

The poached eggs didn't turn out quite as well as the soft- and hard-boiled eggs. They look like poached eggs, but there is somewhat of an issue getting them out of the tray without them falling apart.

So, what's the verdict on the Egg Genie? I thought it did a real nice job with soft-boiled eggs and hard-boiled eggs. The poached eggs, not so much. Now, if it takes you fifteen, sixteen minutes to make hard-boiled eggs the old fashioned way, the Egg Genie might be for you. But it does cook hard-boiled eggs and soft-boiled eggs the way it says it will. And while it's not sheer genius, I will give the Egg Genie the thumbs up.

You can cook up to seven eggs at a time in the Egg Genie.

I paid $20 for mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond in Mishawaka. They're also on the Internet.

Just click on the link below for the Egg Genie's web site.