after spending my whole adult life trying to poach eggs that are edible......thank you 'the hairy bikers'.
shallow pan of boiling water
drop of viniger in water
place uncracked eggs in water for 20 seconds
remove eggs and stir water
crack egg into the swirling simmering water
egg gathers in center and hey presto...... 
the key is warming the uncracked eggs in the water 1st. causing then to jellify a bit.
omnomnomnom........ 
Ton if that works you will get a big snog 
Mmmmmm hungry, now where are the tattie scones?
haven't tried the whole 'egg in first' technique
does stirring the water first work for more than 1 egg? i find i get a swirling tangled mess of egg, a bit like the animated sequence in The Wall where the flowers are making love!
Never had any problems with the Poach pan myself
Just make sure to coat the plastic cups with a
small amount of butter first.
What are Tattie scones?
Is this a Northen thing!
pete, 1 egg at a time.
and i have just scoffed 3 eggs on 3 slices of granary toast...
Tattie or Potatoe Scons are sublime
Mashed potato and butter with a drop of salt, add plain flour to make it into a dough.
Cut up into sections, shape into a ball then roll them out about half inch thick, put on a griddle or dry frying pan to cook
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Ton,
I love an egg and gave up frying em years ago. You really dont need all that vinigar and swirling malarcky.
Put an Inch of waterin a frying pan, heat it until bubbles form on the base.
Gently drop in an egg or two, fresher the better(old ones spread).
Turn the heat down or even off, remove after a few minutes and eat however you like.
Give it a go its dead easy, just like frying with water not oil.
Ian
Thanks for that montylikesbeer
How long do you cook each side for?
i'll give it a go later
Looks like naan bread
Irish Potato Bread - What I miss most about home
Ingredients
450g (1lb) potatoes
30g (1oz) butter
1 level tsp salt
100g (3.5oz) plain flour
Method
Peel the potatoes, cut them into small pieces, and put them in a pan of boiling water. After about twenty minutes, or as soon as they are soft, drain them and mash them up so no big lumps remain.
While still warm2, mix in the butter and salt.
Start working the flour in. You may not need it all, depending on the texture of the potatoes. Just add enough to make a good, stiff dough.
Roll the dough out to form a circle about 1cm thick, and cut into triangular quarters.
Cook on a hot, dry frying pan3 which has been sprinkled with flour to prevent sticking. No oil or fat is needed; the purpose is just to cook the dough, not to fry it.
Turn the bread occasionally; it is ready when both sides are golden brown.
i find the frying pan gives me a flat egg, rather than a round egg. i use a small milkpan with about 2 inches of water, and when they're done put them in a colander for a minute or so i don't get any puddles or soggy bread
ton, just tried the egg in whole technique. it works! nomomom nom nom
Gents - the answer is here, and it involves clingfilm:
http://www.b3ta.com/features/howtopoachanegg/
thoroughly recommended
What a faff! i've got two of those plastic egg poaching cups that work a treat, as long as you don't put them in the microwave for too long at a time.
Break egg(s) into cup & put in m/wave, cover with kitchen tissue, cook on high for about 20 seconds then turn them & give them a wee shake, reduce the cooking time as they look 'more done'. All in all takes about 77.75 seconds. You might have to experiment with the timings depending on your m/wave's power.
My method.
Crack egg into a tea cup.
Tip egg gently from cup into a deep pan of boiling water.
Remove with slotted spoon and shake off excess water.
The slow drop into deep water wraps the white around the yolk.
Nom nom and further noms.
You don't need any vinegar or swirling manoeuvres.
The secret is to use very fresh eggs.
I have tried every trick in the book to perfect my technique.
Having cooked and consumed a poached egg virtually every day for more years than I care to remember -
I know about this.
Getting the right consistency,now that is the art and joy.
I do like a poached egg.
I've been reading this and salivating because I've never managed it myself despite reading every book going. Mate of mine swears it's a larger qty of the vinegar that's the key point but I hate vinegar so that ruins it.
Until now: clingfilm = genius
Just need now to optimise the cooking time. Between 2.5 and 3 mins I'd say. I can see my cholesterol level going up over the next few days......
Fair play Ton - I've tried to poach eggs for years with varying results! That 20sec trick is excellent!
I've recently resorted to these bad boys from Lakeland
^^ like wot he said.A gentle insertion is the other key to eggstreme pleasure.
Cling film method for me
Put a sheet of clingfilm loosely over a small bowl, push into the bowl so it lines it.
Break egg into the cling film and gather the top together (maybe give a bit of twist) to create a bag with the egg inside.
When all the eggs are done (I've just done 5 for the family) drop into boiling water for 4 mins.
Remove and unwrap what is now a perfect poached egg. Pour water out of sausepan and but back in cupboard 'cos it's spotlessly clean
..... oh yeah, using eggs your own chicken laid the day beore is extra-nice 
I've got some of those egg poacher things up there ^^ and they work but I prefer the egg 'ball' that the clingfilm method creates - looks fantastic on top of a smoked haddock risotto.
Oh yeah..... using eggs your own chickens laid the day before is extra-nice
You can do them in the microwave.
Boil water in kettle.
Put water in bowl.
Swirl if you want (doesn't make big difference).
Put in egg (or more than 1 - they stay separate)
Max microwave for 2-4 mins - experiment with this, depending on taste.
Ideal at work for lunchtime poached eggs on toast.
We should have a "poach-off".
Everybody report back here in 24 hours with a photo of your efforts.
The winner will be crowned "King of the Poachers"
I never see the difficulty in Poaching eggs. Here's what we do, and they never seem to fail.
Use a frying pan with a lid.
Fill it 3/4 full of water, and bring it to the boil.
turn the hob down to the lowest simmer.
Crack the eggs, gently, into the simmering water and replace the lid.
leave for approximately 2 - 3 minutes (have a check occasionally)
et voila!
edit: I've just seen starsteven's post and concur, but find a lid works real well.
Nb. A lid works real well for frying eggs too, with a little butter. I hate the taste of eggs fried in oil. 
OK, here we go...... 3 stage process:
1) 
^ that's pooperdom up there
2) 
^ clingfilm
3) 
^ 1 x daughters breakfast (repeat 4 times)
what do I win?
Are you supposed to take the eggs out of the hen before poaching?
just fry it. x1000 nicer.
fry it, fry it...................my body is a temple.......
Me too;
EDIT: just needs some dodgy photoshopping..
Upgrade ur poached egg and turn it into Eggs Benedict : )
Hell yeah!!
Calorific!!
just drop the buggers in simmering water. what are you lot on about
numnumnum
just drop the buggers in simmering water. what are you lot on about
Pretty much - yes
Stirring the water to form a whirlpool effect first gives a more compact egg
I think half the trouble people are having is because they keep their eggs in the fridge 
Large Spherical Objects Uplink! 
I've tried all methods out-of-the-fridge, in-the-fridge, eggs fresh from the hen's butt, old eggs etc etc and I have to say that Ton's IS the method
Tattie scones: cook each side for about three minutes or until golden brown, simples..............
to all you weirdo's................wtf has tattie scones got to do with poaching eggs............
I don't get why poaching eggs is hard.
Bring the water to a boil. Turn it down to a low simmer, put an egg gently in. Take the egg out with a slotted spoon 2 minutes 45 seconds later. Don't mess with it until you take it out.
If you are cack handed, or doing a load of them, then put them in gently using the corner of a tupperware box or something, but just to do a single poached egg in a pan isn't complicated, and doesn't need clingfilm or special gubbins from lakeland or vinegar or anything, just a pan and some water. The only really useful gubbins is a timer (or a digital watch), so you can be consistent with how long they go in for.
Doing two or more just use a bigger (wider) pan, and put them in at different sides. Good people can do tons in a single pan (I've only ever done 2 or 3 though, I don't know how hard it is then).
Joe
joemarshall
some people are brain surgeons, others are demolition men......
Eggs - Done.
How do you lot do your roast potatoes?
par boil, drain water from pan, replace lid and shake like ****.
smoking olice oil in a tray, and tip fluffed up spuds into the tray.
stir round so to coat em all. into red hot oven for 30 ins.....
ding dong....
Same here, but I add rosemary and garlic (except tonight because I forgot to buy the garlic).
This topic has been closed to new replies.
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