Poached Eggs Redux

[maggiethecat]

I adore poached eggs and I've bought every poached egg enabler for thirty years, including the adorable Eifflesque pierced metal thingie with the long handle, recommended by Julia. Because poached eggs on toast is my go-to lunch, believe me I've tried them all, including my esteemed colleague JAZ's method, available on the NPR website -- find it and read it. Brilliant.

But all these methods pale beside a truc I found online, and, of

course, I can't remember where! I suspect it was from Saveur

It's so easy it makes me weep for all those wasted years sweating about the frizzy whites and discombobulated oviods.

Here it is. Put on a pan of lightly acidulated water and bring it to a lite boil. Crack the egg into a saucer then slip it into the just bubbling water. Turn off the heat right quick, cover the pan and set the timer for four minutes. When you lift the egg into the slotted spoon the frizzy egg whites are minimal and the egg is perfectly -- I mean perfectly -- cooked. The idea is: never let them poach, even for a minute, in actively bubbling water.

A perfect poached egg every, every time, no sweat, no appliances no cooking for the first minute over real heat. I'm stunned.

So, my eG buddies, wanna try it out? I'm interested.

[Snadra]

I stayed with someone who did this and marvelled. They turned out perfectly every time. She didn't even acidulate the water.

[ElsieD]

I am another huge poached egg fan. Is the egg straight out of the fridge or did you let it come to room temperature before putting it in the pan? I'm really keen to try this.

[weinoo]

And I think that method, albeit time-adjusted, is the best way to poach many things, including a whole chicken.

[ambra]

A whole chicken!??? How long?

Maggie, what is perfectly cooked to you? I mean, is all of the white cooked and not so much the yellow?

[Anna N]

A whole chicken!??? How long?

Maggie, what is perfectly cooked to you? I mean, is all of the white cooked and not so much the yellow?

A technique that Danny Kaye taught Jacques Pepin! I have done it and it works perfectly:

click

[bmdaniel]

I tried this for breakfast. Worked surprisingly well (I was nervous when I dumped the eggs in and it looked like they had really spread out, but ended up very nice). I might go 3:30, yolks were pretty viscous.

[ElsieD]

Now that I think about it, in addition to asking about the temperature of the uncooked egg itself, what is the timing if you want to poach more than one egg at a time?

[bmdaniel]

I did two eggs at once and like I said I'd do less time if anything.

[olicollett]

Am I cheating by using the cling film method?

[sahmd]

If I'm not mistaken (I'll check it out when I get home), I learned this method from Cooks Illustrated's Best Recipe cookbook. (great book)

I also like to make hard boiled eggs without actively boiling them - put eggs in cold water, bring just to a boil, cover and remove from the heat. After 10-ish minutes, transfer them to an ice bath - just right every time! (pretty sure I got that from CI as well)

[ElsieD]

If I'm not mistaken (I'll check it out when I get home), I learned this method from Cooks Illustrated's Best Recipe cookbook. (great book)

I also like to make hard boiled eggs without actively boiling them - put eggs in cold water, bring just to a boil, cover and remove from the heat. After 10-ish minutes, transfer them to an ice bath - just right every time! (pretty sure I got that from CI as well)

Yes, that's right. I just found it on CI's web site.

[bmdaniel]

Just looked it up as well - they also mention that for a looser yolk, go 3 minutes.

[Norm Matthews]

I love poached eggs too. I just slip them in 'nervous' not bubbling water until the whites are set. I will try your method today.

[Country]

I tried it for lunch and turning the heat off after adding the egg works fine. But I can get better results by carefully adding the egg from the shell to the water than putting it on a saucer. The saucer spreads the white out on the saucer - and then in the water. If water temp is right, putting the egg directly in water results in a "tighter" result.

[maggiethecat]

I agree that the water needn't be acidulated, but after a lifetime of suspense-filled egg poaching I'm superstitious. I use a cold egg straight from the fridge -- and I realized I'm working my way through a carton of Extra Larges, which would explain why others have found a shorter time is better. Yes, I like the cling film method and still use it on occasion, when I want to add fresh herbs, but I don't think of it as a "real"poached egg.

[lesliec]

I've been using something like this methoud since I got my lovely induction hob just on a year ago.

Step 1: start heating water on maximum (simply because it's going to boil sooner that way)

Step 2: break my egg into a small glass dish (a saucer should work just fine)

Step 3: when the water is boiling vigorously, set up a nice whirlpool by stirring with a slotted (or any) spoon. Slip the egg into the middle of the vortex - the idea is to use the swil to keep everything together - and immediately drop the heat to level 3 (you'll need to experiment to find the right level for your equipment, but 3 for me keeps things at no more than a slight simmer). Simultaneously (using your third hand if necessary!) start a timer for three minutes

Step 4: about a minute into the three minutes start the toaster. Again, the timing of this will vary depending on your equipment

Step 5: as soon as the timer beeps, turn off the heat, carefully scoop out the egg and place it lovingly on a piece of toast. Embrace with salt to taste.

Works every time - nice runny yolk, not much mess with the white, no acid needed in the water. I haven't tried more than one egg at a time, but my feeling is that two wouldn't need more than another 30 seconds added to the three minutes - dependent partly on how much water you're using (more = less drop in temp when the eggs go in).

[OliverB]

I love poached eggs, but hardly ever make them. My kids like only scrambled eggs so far, my wife would prefer over easy (which I never make, breaks my heart to hide that nice yellow ball of wonderfulness! She has to do that herself) and my real favorite is not quite hard boiled, where the yolk is still runny on the inside, but hardened on it's outside.

But when I do poach them, I bring water to a just barely simmer, I add some vinegar since I like the flavor, some salt too. Make the vortex, drop one in, when done take out, put in warm water in very low oven, make next one until as many as I need are done. I never tried the plastic wrap method, I'm afraid to get the egg molded with folds from the wrap, which I'd not like.

Man, I could really use a poached egg to go on my Knödel tonght, would go great with my Bavarian Pork Roast.

But I've been standing in the kitchen for hours making Lebkuchen already, I think I'll pass. (There's some just as right as possible Sauerkraut waiting though!)

[Norm Matthews]

It worked for me. I always put the egg in an old fashioned pyrex glass custard bowl, lower the bowl in the water and let a little in, then carefully slip the egg out and then with a spatula, turn the white over the top of the egg. This time I just slipped it in when the water was starting to bubble, took it off the heat and covered it for 4 minutes. It worked just fine but I think it cooks quicker if the heat stays on and the water simmers slightly. The whirlpool method works but isn't practical for me because I usually poach two or three eggs at a time.

[Dianabanana]

I just tried this for lunch and it was brilliant. The eggs were laid not an hour ago so still pretty warm despite the winter weather. I like the yolks thickish, so I went for four minutes anyway and they came out picture perfect. There are going to be a lot more poached eggs on the menu henceforth!

[Ashen]

great method.. I have used a few times now , and the results are spot on.. I had to reduce time the first try because I used a room temp egg , but quickly figured out the 4 mins was for a straight from fridge egg.

Now I have to start perfecting , making a hollandaise sauce while half asleep, so I can roll out of bed and do eggs benni. I have a couple of months til asparagus season to play around.

[Anna N]

Finally got around to try this. Two perfectly poached eggs and these were from supermarket eggs that have been in my fridge for some weeks. Thank you, Maggie

[Dianabanana]

My mom has had a poached egg for breakfast every day for as long as I can remember. After trying this, she e-mailed me her report: "I can't believe people go through all these machinations to poach eggs when a perfect poached egg is so easy!" She likes the doneness at four minutes (straight from the fridge, I suspect).

[SobaAddict70]

A whole chicken!??? How long?

Maggie, what is perfectly cooked to you? I mean, is all of the white cooked and not so much the yellow?

In the past, when I've done it, it's typically been for a little over an hour.

Chicken is perfectly cooked, inside and out. The best part is the poaching liquid.

Maggie, I'll have to try that method, like maybe this weekend. I may have pix depending on how things turn out.

[SobaAddict70]

FYI, I usually do the whirlpool method but I've never poached eggs by turning the heat off. That's what caught my attention.