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Poached egg on toast.


stef

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A big yes here as well for oven-toasted bread. I threw away my toaster 15 years ago. Barely toasted (a couple or so minutes, roughly) in the oven makes perfect toast.

For me, a lovely, open-crumb durum bread is the absolute best thing for poached and soft-boiled eggs. It's got enough texture and strength to hold the egg, and the flavor is there but just barely and not enough to compete with the egg. It roughly approximates an English muffin in that regard.

Devlin

The Village Bakery

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If you're thinking of a special occasion, one vote here for slicing a good loaf of white bread thickly, pressing a biscuit cutter into it to create a disk, and frying it in duck fat. A crappy photo of the (duck) ham and eggs finale at Christmas last year:

gallery_19804_437_918316.jpg

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Many thanks for some great replies.

My biggest problem is that I live in the Midlands of England a little bit of a culinary desert.

So far the best bread has been a high street generic long life bread, I hate to think whets in it.

I will try some of the suggestions here and keep reporting back.

Hopefully I will have a new bread to try out next weekend.

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Stef - Go to any Supermarket or Polish Deli and try to get a Polish Bloomer. You could kill someone with one those things, but the flavour and hearty texture is the best for poached eggs (And keeping the yolk from spilling all over the place.)

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No one's actually talked about the actual "egg" portion of this thread. Or is that a whole new thread?

If not, I've always wondered how you get the perfect poached egg. I've failed miserably at it, yet it remains my favorite way to eat eggs. I've heard people say you do it in a pan, others say a pot, some say swirl the water into a whirlpool effect before you crack the egg in, others say crack it on a plate then slip it into the simmering, not boiling, water. Still others say to add a tablespoon of vinegar into the water to hold the egg's shape.

It's all so daunting I've given up, and yet it's such a (seemingly) simple dish. But I know it's not just me. Restaurants routinely get the poached egg wrong. To my mind, it should NEVER be hard. The white should be firm, the yolk runny. If they can do it for the Benny, they can do it for a plain poached. In fact, I've taken to asking for my poached eggs that way -- tell the cook to pretend he's making eggs Benny...

Your thoughts on how to make the perfect poached egg? (To hell with the toast; I'll eat it on cake if I can get it right!)

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Stef - Go to any Supermarket or Polish Deli and try to get a Polish Bloomer. You could kill someone with one those things, but the flavour and hearty texture is the best for poached eggs (And keeping the yolk from spilling all over the place.)

I live in Southampton where there is a large Polish population - and a couple of Polish bakeries so i'll have to give it a go.

I love animals.

They are delicious.

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Stef - Go to any Supermarket or Polish Deli and try to get a Polish Bloomer. You could kill someone with one those things, but the flavour and hearty texture is the best for poached eggs (And keeping the yolk from spilling all over the place.)

I live in Southampton where there is a large Polish population - and a couple of Polish bakeries so i'll have to give it a go.

I will be doing the same, I have also located a bakery that might be ideal.

I have to say that I try my best to prevent the yolk running on the plate.

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No one's actually talked about the actual "egg" portion of this thread. Or is that a whole new thread?

If not, I've always wondered how you get the perfect poached egg. I've failed miserably at it, yet it remains my favorite way to eat eggs. I've heard people say you do it in a pan, others say a pot, some say swirl the water into a whirlpool effect before you crack the egg in, others say crack it on a plate then slip it into the simmering, not boiling, water. Still others say to add a tablespoon of vinegar into the water to hold the egg's shape.

It's all so daunting I've given up, and yet it's such a (seemingly) simple dish. But I know it's not just me. Restaurants routinely get the poached egg wrong. To my mind, it should NEVER be hard. The white should be firm, the yolk runny. If they can do it for the Benny, they  can do it for a plain poached. In fact, I've taken to asking for my poached eggs that way -- tell the cook to pretend he's making eggs Benny...

Your thoughts on how to make the perfect poached egg? (To hell with the toast; I'll eat it on cake if I can get it right!)

Ok here is the way I do it and the results are great.

I use a size 20 Creuset pan, whatever that is, pour in a glug of vinegar and bring to the boil.

I crack an egg into a cereal bowl, when the water is boiling I stir the water and pour the egg into the centre of the tiny whirlpool. This keeps the shape of the egg. I then turn down the heat and just have a little prod and a poke with the slotted spoon until it looks done. Clean the cereal bowl and lift the egg out and put it in the bowl. The reason is that there is always some water in the crevices of the egg and by using the bowl it ensures that there is no water to soak into the bread.

On the buttered toast, break the yolk, add a little fresh cracked pepper and light fluffy salt.

Perfect.

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Your thoughts on how to make the perfect poached egg?

Once in the vortex school of poaching, I switched to the radical new clingfilm method after reading this. Not only does it work perfectly, you can par-cook a whole batch in one pot then revive them when needed.

This is the revolution, people. This is the future. Of eggs.

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The cling film (aka plastic wrap) method looks intriguing. One question, though: doesn't the wrap become unraveled the minute you drop your little package into the water, thus allowing the egg to escape creating the dreaded egg soup mess? Or do you tie off the plastic?

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If you look in the eCGI section of the forums there's a whole thread dedicated to how to poach eggs. All the techniques that have been discussed in this thread are included as was a couple of others. One of the more interesting ones is to par boil the eggs for about 20 seconds prior to poaching them.

Also according to the eCGI thread one of the most critical factors to getting well formed poached eggs is their freshens, the fresher the better.

If you're using to cling wrap technique vinegar in the water isn't required since the water never touches the egg. In the other techniques the vinegar helps coagulate the white of the egg.

I've learned that artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

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Just a small point I add vinegar to the water how do you do that with the cling film?

Well I had to try this method of poaching eggs and I want to say that I don't believe vinegar is needed when the egg is enveloped within the plastic wrap. It is normally used only to help in coagulation of the white.

What is needed, in my opinion, is that the plastic wrap first be smeared with a little butter to prevent the egg from adhering to the plastic. I tied mine with a silicone tie (like this) and it held for the duration of the cooking. It is not easy to determine the level of doneness of the egg, however. I was eventually able to get an egg with a properly set white and a nice runny yoke. My concern is whether the plastic is really food safe when used in this manner. I intend to try the method again this time using the film of butter first. I also think you need a steady simmer rather than a rolling boil.

Edited to add link to silicone ties

Edited by Anna N (log)

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I've seen techniques where the egg is very briefly poached in vinegared water, then quickly switched to pure water once the egg has coagulated to prevent o much vinegar taint....But I like the taste of vinegar in my eggs! probably how I was brought up with them - my Mum who was a master at poaching eggs used quite a lot of what I guess what malt vinegar (i doubt we had any other kind). If there hasn't been any vinegar involved they just don't seem like poached eggs to me.

I love animals.

They are delicious.

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I've seen techniques where the egg is very briefly poached in vinegared water, then quickly switched to pure water once the egg has coagulated to prevent o much vinegar taint....But I like the taste of vinegar in my eggs! probably how I was brought up with them - my Mum who was a master at poaching eggs used quite a lot of what I guess what malt vinegar (i doubt we had any other kind). If there hasn't been any vinegar involved they just don't seem like poached eggs to me.

I'm with you on this one, I was brought up on the same and I tend to add lots of Sarsons.

Went to Asda yesterday and bought the Clarence Court Old Cotswold Legbar eggs.

Breakfast this morning was fantastic, stuck to the traditional method having decided that clingfilm might not be by cup of tea.

Can it get any better

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