How To Cook A Poached Egg – The Best Method
super easy
Making poached eggs still intimidates a lot of cooks, even fairly accomplished ones. When done right, they are light and delicious, when done wrong; you get a saucepan of warm water and bits of half cooked egg floating in it. Anyone that’s used an egg poacher will tell you that they’re…ok, they just don’t quite give you the same light, fluffiness that doing them in a saucepan gives you.
So, is there a fool-proof method for cooking a poached egg? Well, this is the one I always use, and I’d say it leads to perfect poached eggs about 95% of the time.
Tips:
Make sure that the eggs you are using are fresh.
The fresher they are, the less likely they are to fall apart as you cook them. To test the freshness of your eggs, use the float test.
Put one egg in a bowl of water which is deeper than the height of the egg. If the egg sinks, it’s fine. If the egg floats, it has gone bad. Due to the porous nature of eggshells, the egg’s contents decrease as moisture is lost over time and an air enters the shell. The egg will float if there is an air pocket inside the egg, indicating it is no longer fresh.
Pour out your eggs before cooking
It is much harder to try and crack the eggs directly into the pan. It is much easier to first crack each egg into a cup or glass and then pour them into the water once it is swirling and boiling.
The water needs to be REALLY swirling
This is the stage most people mess up at, the water needs to be REALLY swirling, do it as fast as you able to without risking splashing hot water. The egg will stay together while cooking because of the way the water is moving. The motion of the water wraps the egg white around itself and stops it spreading out.
Add vinegar to the water
Adding vinegar or lemon juice to the water helps to denature the egg whites and make them set faster. This will help the poached eggs hold their shape during and after cooking.
Ingredients
Adjust Servings
Eggs | |
Vinegar | |
Salt |
Implements:
Slotted spoon | |
Cup |