What is the secret to making perfectly poached eggs?

Question

Please let me know so that I can try your suggestions.

Answer 1

Without an Egg Poacher the next best thing is a Tbls of vinegar into about 2 in of water in a slowly simmer pan or pot. The vinegar helps coagulate the albumine of the egg and keeps everything tight. With a slotted spoon you can gently cradle the egg in the water and give it a bit of a jiggle to see at what stage the egg is cooked, less jiggle, more cooked, 2-3 minutes

Answer 2

Poached eggs are my fave. I have a little egg poacher to use on the stove, but there are units available that will poach them to whatever softness you desire....otherwise, check below....

Poached Egg Tips:

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Always use fresh eggs. If you can't see the difference between the "thick" white and the "thin" white, the yolks will probably break in the pan. Always deliver the eggs to the pan with a custard cup or large spoon. Avoid cracking directly into the pan. When using a non-stick skillet cook in no more than an inch of water. If you don't have a non-stick pan, poach in a deep saucepan containing at least 3 inches of water. Always acidulate the poaching liquid with either vinegar or lemon juice (1 tsp per each cup of water). Bring liquid to a boil, add eggs, then remove from heat and cover. How long you ask? It depends on how many eggs. I like my yolks barely runny so I'll cook 4 eggs for 7 to 8 minutes depending on there size. Since more eggs will absorb more heat from the water, they will take longer to cook, so for large batches always include an extra "test" egg. Always remove eggs with a slotted spoon. Poached eggs can be refrigerated in ice water for up to 8 hours, then reheated in hot water. Do not re-boil.


Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Yield: Yield: 1 serving
User Rating:5 Stars

Episode#: EA1C13
Copyright © 2006 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

Answer 3

First: Lose the big pot of water. Instead, retrieve a medium-sized skillet (10-inch diameter) that has a lid. If your skillet doesn't have a matching lid, try on some of your other lids -- one of them is bound to do the job. If not, you can cover the skillet with a baking sheet or large dinner plate. All right, go to the sink and fill the skillet with about 3 inches of water -- that's all. Put the skillet on high heat. Cover it to speed up the heating time. Meanwhile, for 4 eggs, crack one each into four small cups or bowls. You can use coffee cups, little Asian tea cups, custard cups or the little poaching cups that from the poaching set you will no longer be using.

Second: Put all cups of eggs on a plate, and have them convenient to the stove. When the water in the skillet boils, remove the cover. Add one tablespoon of plain vinegar to the water, and some salt. Vinegar helps the egg to hold its shape. Without it, the eggs will become skeins of protein tangling up in the water. When the salt goes in, it will actually raise the temperature of the water. Watch the bubbles. I happen to like the vinegar taste on the finished egg. If you don't, put the finished poached eggs in a bowl of water. This stops the cooking and washes away the vinegar. If you like the vinegar, try a splash of herbal, apple cider, or sherry vinegar.

Third: Lower the lip of each egg-cup 1/2-inch below the surface of the water. Let the eggs flow out. Immediately return the lid to the pan and turn off the heat. Set a timer for exactly three minutes for medium-firm yolks. Adjust the time up or down for runnier or firmer yolks. While the eggs cook, you have the time to make four pieces of toast, set the table, wash the empty cups, and put the buttered toast on plates. When the timer goes off, remove the cover. Ah! Lift each perfectly poached egg from the water with a slotted spoon, but hold it over the skillet briefly to let any water clinging to the egg drain off. Gently lay an egg on each piece of toast. And there you have it. Perfect poached eggs actually cooked in residual heat and not in the literal sense of the term, poached at all.

Answer 4

The true secret is vinegar. Yep, you read right, vinegar. Adding vinegar to the water keeps the albumen (the white part of the egg) from spreading out in the water. This is how you keep your poached eggs nice and compact without resorting to any special egg poaching molds.

Fill the bottom of a skillet with water and add a splash of vinegar. Warm until it is just at the boiling point. Crack the eggs into the water. Cover and let cook until the white is done but the yolk remains runny.

Answer 5

What's the best way to poach an egg? They have a reputation for being more difficult than they really are, what with being surrounded by the twin mystiques of brunch and Hollandaise. In fact, poached eggs are the easiest to make -- provided you ignore classical techniques that use too much water kept at too high a temperature.

If you've tried to poach eggs in a vat of simmering water, you've seen the whites turn into balls of string and the yolks left to cook nearly alone. The eggs may have sunk or turned gray. It may disappoint you to learn that if you've poached eggs in little cups in simmering water in a pan on top of the stove, you actually haven't poached them all, but steamed them.

It doesn't have to be like this if you try the following easy poaching method. The method uses much less water than the big-pot procedure, and the water is kept at a temperature below a simmer. I promise you, it is foolproof and makes poaching eggs a joy.

First: Lose the big pot of water. Instead, retrieve a medium-sized skillet (10-inch diameter) that has a lid. If your skillet doesn't have a matching lid, try on some of your other lids -- one of them is bound to do the job. If not, you can cover the skillet with a baking sheet or large dinner plate. All right, go to the sink and fill the skillet with about 3 inches of water -- that's all. Put the skillet on high heat. Cover it to speed up the heating time. Meanwhile, for 4 eggs, crack one each into four small cups or bowls. You can use coffee cups, little Asian tea cups, custard cups or the little poaching cups that from the poaching set you will no longer be using.

Second: Put all cups of eggs on a plate, and have them convenient to the stove. When the water in the skillet boils, remove the cover. Add one tablespoon of plain vinegar to the water, and some salt. Vinegar helps the egg to hold its shape. Without it, the eggs will become skeins of protein tangling up in the water. When the salt goes in, it will actually raise the temperature of the water. Watch the bubbles. I happen to like the vinegar taste on the finished egg. If you don't, put the finished poached eggs in a bowl of water. This stops the cooking and washes away the vinegar. If you like the vinegar, try a splash of herbal, apple cider, or sherry vinegar.

Third: Lower the lip of each egg-cup 1/2-inch below the surface of the water. Let the eggs flow out. Immediately return the lid to the pan and turn off the heat. Set a timer for exactly three minutes for medium-firm yolks. Adjust the time up or down for runnier or firmer yolks. While the eggs cook, you have the time to make four pieces of toast, set the table, wash the empty cups, and put the buttered toast on plates. When the timer goes off, remove the cover. Ah! Lift each perfectly poached egg from the water with a slotted spoon, but hold it over the skillet briefly to let any water clinging to the egg drain off. Gently lay an egg on each piece of toast. And there you have it. Perfect poached eggs actually cooked in residual heat and not in the literal sense of the term, poached at all.

Poaching Eggs in Advance
The question always arises that if poached eggs are such great brunch food, how can they be served to a gathering at home? It's very easy, but requires about ten minutes of planning. Decide how many eggs you'll need. Each person should get two. For a party of six, 12 eggs may be poached, as above, in two skillets, with 6 in each -- all cooking at the same time. As they become done, put them in a big bowl of cold water. Refrigerate them, uncovered, up to three days. When the party is ready to eat, heat a Dutch oven full of water until it boils. Drop the eggs in -- again using the slotted spoon -- and simmer them about 30 seconds, just to warm through.

Answer 6

use an egg poacher, it is a small form you would then set into hot water, failing that, use a slotted spoon dip the raw egg in the shell into boiling water for 20 to 30 seconds, then crack the egg and ease egg into the liquid you are poaching it in, this prevents the egg being poached from looking like a map of the united states...lol, hope this helps you.

Answer 7

I have an egg poacher. Boil the water, crack eggs into the poaching cups. Cover and remove from heat. Allow to cook for 2.5 to 3 minutes (depending on how soft you like them). Remove eggs from poaching cups. Sprinkle with a dash of paprika. Serve over toast points.

Answer 8

Poached eggs are cooked with a small amount of water on med low heat

Answer 9

use a frying pan (shallow pan) fill 2 thirds with water, bring water to boil, then turn heat right down, crack egg in gently and leave for 2 mins (longer if u want it totally hard), spoon out carefully with slotted spoon.

Answer 10

Steve G provided the answer without unnecessary verbage.