Everyone has their own little way of making poached eggs.
They all suck, and they are all way too hard.
This is the easy way, and the eggs will be perfect every time.
I love Poached Eggs. They are one of my favourite meals for breakfast. But I couldn’t cook them to save my life. So for ages I frequented a local cafe for Sunday Breakfast, simply because they did the most amazing Poached Eggs.
After many months of pleading, the Head Chef finally took me into his kitchen to show me how to cook Poached Eggs.
There are three things that you must get right for this to work:
- The eggs must be FRESH, and I mean F..R..E..S..H.. 1 or 2 days old only. Fresh eggs retain their “egg shape” when cooking. Older eggs will spread-out.
- The water must be only just bubbling, ever so slightly
- You must use vinegar. Really
So….
- Get your saucepan of water on the boil, then reduce the temperature until it is just bubbling gently. Too many bubbles means that the egg will break up, not enough bubbles and the water isn’t quite hot enough.
- Add 1/3rd of a cup of white vinegar,
- Gently break the egg into the water. Release the egg as close to the water as you can – this will help stop it from spreading out.
- Give the water one gentle stir with a spoon – this is to help prevent the egg from sticking to the base.
- Cook for 2-3minutes.
- Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and allow all the water to drain away before you put it onto Toast.
PICTURE COURTESY OF THE WWW
CHECK OUT MORE OF MY ADVENTURES IN COOKING…
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- PERFECT POACHED EGGS
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- WATERMELON? … WHO KNEW IT COULD TASTE THIS GOOD?
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- JUMBLE SALES!
- I MADE SANGRIA
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CHECK OUT MORE OF MY ADVENTURES IN COOKING…
Arcadia Tempest
Oh…. I am going to ask every egg from now on “Now how old are you?”
And “would you like to be dressed up in vinegar?”
I love the egg that doth have just the perfect runway for my toast and butter!
BYRON:
Shop-bought eggs will work, but they will flatten-out and not retain their “egg shape”
You really can’t taste the vinegar.
Tracey Mac
Thanks Byron, it looks delish, and I’m twice as hungry now!!
Will let you know how it goes :)))
BYRON:
hooray for excitementieness!
drec
Do you make your own Hollandaise Sauce?
BYRON:
oh god no, I freaking HATE hollandaise sauce!
photosbytony
One way to keep the egg from spreading out is to put the egg in a ladle and lower the ladle into the water carefully letting the water into the ladle to set the eggs without filling the ladle up and then releasing the egg into the saucepan. tony
BYRON:
That method also works.
photosbytony
Try this with leftover risotto. Form the risotto into cakes, like a crabcake and fry til crispy on both sides and warm throughout then top with a poached egg. You can add just a small amount of flour to the risotta if you like and/or coat with bread crumbs or panko for a crustier cake. Top with whatever suits your taste like Bruschetta or salsa or a fruit Pico de gallo. Sometimes I grill pineapple and make a Pico out of it, all good! tony
BYRON:
That sounds very good Tony.
Shame I don’t ever cook risotto, but I know someone who does and I will recommend it to them!
jules572
I’ll be right over and we can enjoy our favourite anytime meal together…YUMMY!…Jules
Is it fresh?
You can tell if an egg is fresh by taking it for a swim. Carefully place eggs in a bowl full of water. Fresh eggs will sink down and lie on their sides at the bottom of the bowl. Semi-fresh eggs will stand on end and bob in the pool. Old eggs will float and should be discarded. Why? It all depends on the size of the air cell inside the shell of the egg. The older an egg is the larger that air pocket will be, giving the egg a built-in life jacket!
BYRON:
I can tell they are fresh because I go and collect them each day from our chook-pen.
Corri Gryting ...
Byron….do you do mail order? Everything you post looks delicious.
I’m going to have to try eggs this way, and also the pork recipe you posted.
Both look great.
Thanks jules for letting us know how to ID check eggs for age compliance. I think it is one of many things I used to know and have forgotten. I still remember how to candle eggs, but that’s another story.
BYRON:
Mail-Order Poached Eggs?
I don’t think they will be very hot by the time they arrive.
Ross Robinson
I remember reading an article a few years ago where someone tried three or four different ways of poaching eggs. One was to break the eggs into some cling film, tie it up and then put that in the water. I tried it and it was so fiddly and time-consuming it was ridiculous. Your method sounds much better.
BYRON:
This is how it is done in restaurants. It is quick and very easy.
Tim Geraghty-...
Then add the Hollandaise sauce and smoked salmon and you ready to go.
BYRON replied
“oh god no, I freaking HATE hollandaise sauce!”
Your freaking mad!!! :-)
BYRON:
Smoke salmon is ok, I would just use a bit of Egg Mayonaise instead of Hollandaise… I freaking hate Hollandaise.
Mel Brackstone...
I’ve used the vinegar in the water thing for ages, have also started using the microwave (Shock horror!!) In a dessert bowl that’s microwave safe, add around a cup of water, and a couple of tablespoons of vinegar, drop the egg in, and place in microwave….mine usually take around 1min 50 at full power….your mileage will vary….much less clean up, and fast :) I’m even up to cooking 4 eggs at a time, in two bowls!
BYRON:
I have never had much luck with cooking eggs ina microwave.
Using my method I can cook the outside of the egg while the inside is still lovely and runny.
Tracey Mac
Dear Byron
I just ate the most perfect delish poached eggs on toast, thank you so much!!! :))
BYRON:
It worked?
Holy shit, I was justmaking the whole thing up!
No seriously, its for real.
So did you use FRESH eggs? How did it look, how long did you cook them for?
huh, huh, huh?
Mel Brackstone...
I always get the insides all lovely and runny…..but when you’re getting close to having them done you need to work it in series of a couple of seconds to get the white done, but not blast the yolk….just takes a bit of practise :)
BYRON:
Yeah, I am not much good with a microwave.
Tracey Mac
I took them out of the fridge last night, they were 1 day old yesterday, you said 2 days was ok…I did exactly what you said here, but had 3, and they took 4 minutes to cook and lifted out perfectly, and the taste was just superb. I was a bit skeptical at first as most poached eggs are really bland, but these were really yummy Byron, so I KNOW you didn’t make it up!!
I did add cracked pepper and a little sea salt and had them on fresh sour dough bread…
Yum Yum Yummmm….I think you should start a recipe book, and I want first dibs on an order!! :)))
BYRON:
you can use eggs of any age really, but the 1-3 day old eggs seem to work the best.
Sour-dough bread? yum
I am sooo glad this worked perfectly for you.
Tracey Mac
Sorry, I meant to say, I took them out of the fridge so that they would be room temp this morning, and had them on Fresh sour dough bread toasted…
:)
photosbytony
Byron I actually enjoy the cakes more than the actual risotto. Sometimes whip up a small batch of risotto just to have it the next day or two as cakes. The crispyness of the cakes and the cheesy creaminess goes so well with a poached egg. I use a lot of parmesan in my risotto. If you recommend it to a friend invite yourself over for breakfast, they can sautee the cakes and you can do the poached eggs. Sounds like a great morning. :) tony
TextureoftheSin
Poached is my favourite way of having eggs :)
BYRON:
uh huh, aint they awesome?
rjcolby
I’ve never had poached eggs. I will now.
Dick
BYRON:
they’r yum. cooked on the outside, warm and gooey on the inside.
rjcolby
Ah yes, that was good. Easy to do easier to eat…
Never would had expected to find poached eggs on Redbubble… Quite a place.
Thanks,
Dick
BYRON:
Yep, once you get this trick to work, you will have the best poached eggs every time.
Mari Sterling ...
Yum! One of my favs also. Lucky me to have a neighbor who shares their fresh chicken eggs with us. Will definitely try this.
BYRON:
You’re gonna love this Mari.
I mean REALLY … this is just so easy and perfect.