- 1
Ingredients
- 1 or more eggs
- White vinegar
- Water
Preparation
Step 1
For a long time we avoided poached eggs out of a misplaced impression that they were extra-difficult or tricky. But they are not! A perfect poached egg is quick, simple, and foolproof. Here's how we make poached eggs now.
Bring a small saucepan 3/4-full of water to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to low and bring the water back down to a low simmer. There should just be a few bubbles hitting the surface.
Add about a tablespoon of white vinegar to the water.
Slowly lower the cup into the barely simmering water, and tip the egg out into the water.
Keep an eye on the water's heat; make sure it doesn't come back up to a rolling boil.
After 4 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the egg with the slotted spoon. Place it on the plate lined with a paper towel and gently blot it dry.
Additional Notes:
• We find that the vinegar is really essential in helping cook the egg reliably and neatly; it helps coagulate the egg white quickly, so everything stay in place! If you have no vinegar, then the juice of about half a lemon will also do the trick, but it isn't quite as reliable as vinegar.
Faith Durand is the executive editor of The Kitchn and the author of Bakeless Sweets: Pudding, Panna Cotta, Fluff, Icebox Cake, and More No-Bake Desserts. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.
@cosita---a poached egg has a different flavor, just as a hard-boiled egg tastes differently from a scrambled egg. It's one of my favorite ways to eat eggs.
i have tried this over and over, with varying degrees of water temp, vinegar, cups, no cups, etc... and the only way i can make a decent poached egg is with the WestBend Egg Cooker. (it also makes perfect hardcooked eggs, every time.) this is a mandatory device in our home!
I love the fact that you've done away with the pan of boiling, swirling water/vortex method which, while very dramatic, doesn't really work in my experience. This gentle simmer approach is perfect. Nice video, guys!
I'm not crazy about the taste of vinegar with my poached egg, even though it's very faint. I drop a couple of cookie cutters in simmering water and pour the eggs into those. Works like a charm. Mason jar lids also work pretty well, but they're harder to clean.
Instead of using a measuring cup, I use the small tin can Tuna (Chicken of the Sea, etc.) comes in and put that in the pan. I then crack the egg into that tin can and add vinegar.
I poached my eggs this way, except I turn the heat off once the eggs are in the pan, cover the pan and set a timer for 5 minutes. Perfect every time.
i have actually read on a different food blog site that a great way to poach eggs to bring a pot of water to a rolling boiling, then spray microwave safe plastic wrap with cooking spray, put the egg in the plastic wrap and tie a knot to close (which i never do, i have plastic bag snap thingies i use) and drop it in the water for a 3 or so minutes or until desired doneness...
That was great! Turned out perfect, before I was boiling the water way to high.
that the vinegar gives poached eggs-- it feels, I don't know, kind of weird on my teeth. Bizarre, yes. But I just ordered a cool tool that I hope will make poaching eggs easier: the Poach Pod!
I'm not so sure about the safety of plastic wrap in near boiling water; ditto for previously used tuna cans, which are actually aluminum not tin. But hey, to each his own.
Poached eggs and toast are my daily breakfast. I skip the vinegar and just use fresh eggs. Old eggs have "looser" whites which tend to drift around. If I'm feeling fancy on the weekend I add a little wine, instead. I agree about salting the water before adding the eggs, too.
My tip for winning the second half: don't use a saucepan. Instead use a frying pan filled almost to the top. Simmer the water and slide the egg in. It can't drop away into a foamy pot and a wide pan makes it easy to poach 4 eggs together.
This is my favorite way to eat eggs... and I hadn't realize until now that so many people have problems making them. I think I never even read how to make them, I did them by intuition. Anyway, I salt the water and don't use vinegar. I don't let them cook for so long, but I use the water hotter so that' why...
A great tip my boyfriend suggested yesterday - using a small hand mixer to create the "swirly vortex thing" (why yes, that
The point the person made about using a frying pan is valid - you don't want to drop the egg into a depth of water where it has more room to spread and make a mess. However, you can achieve the same effect in your sauté pan by just reducing the level of water.
Also, a great trick I learned from a chef is that poached eggs can be made in advance, kept on the plate with the paper towel (use non-linty, brown variety) and then reheated by gently dropping them back into a bowl of hot water for a minute. The yolks will remain runny, and this way you can serve a lot of people without the timing being too stressful.
1. Boil water in saucepan.
2. Spray inside of standard half-spherical ladle (mine is the generic IKEA metal one) with olive oil spray, add egg into ladle.
4. Allow a little boiling water to flow into the top of the ladle above the egg, helping the top to cook faster.
but it's so much easier. To compensate for the lack of bacony goodness... I added a slice over the toast and sprinkled a little fresh parmesan to boot. My only regret is that I didn't make more :)
I love poached eggs! They are so simple to make, and I like that they are easy to throw on top of a salad or bed of lentils. I prefer these to cooking eggs in fat, as I think you get more of the essence of the egg with the soft, creamy yolk all wrapped in the white's cushiony blanket of fluffiness.
Gordon Ramsay suggests stirring the water and using an ice bath afterward to prevent overcooking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbAQgJF3d7E
Love this, guys! Looking forward to more in the series. The trick of breaking the egg into a measuring spoon (or ladle as another reader suggested) should make all the difference in avoiding my typical poached egg fiascos.
@beanz1115 Microwave-safe or not, I'd be hesitant to cook plastic wrap in boiling water.
A regular in my house is vegetable stir-fry on rice with a poached egg on top. The egg breaks and the yolk goes down through the veggies to the rice. It also adds some protein without adding meat to the dish.
I love poached eggs! When I was growing up my Mom always made them in milk and then we would pour the poached egg with milk over toast.
Bring the water to a simmer (with white vinegar and salt), crack one or two eggs into a bowl, stir the water with a spoon, and drop the eggs in. Put a lid on, turn off the heat, and set a timer for about 4 minutes (depending on how well-done you like your eggs). Perfect every time.
I saw this on the Hairy Dieters (When Hairy Bakers/Bikers from the UK did a diet show). They put the eggs, still in the shell, into the boiling water for several seconds before cracking the eggs into the water. It worked so well when I tried it. Now this is how I do it all the time.