Any good tips for poaching eggs (in water, not microwave)? I do the whole whirlpool thing now but they come out rubbish. If I’m staying in a b&b or hotel they are always perfectly round with yolk in place.

dash of vinegar in the water can help the albumen bind.

Another tip is to warm the egg a little in its shell before placing open in the water to give it a head start.

Personally Im lazy and just use poach pods.

We use these: poachers

heat oil in pan. crack egg into it. Fry the fecker.

Boil up the water in a pan (with a lid).
When water is boiling, dip egg (in shell) into water for a couple of seconds.
Crack egg into boiling water. Put lid onto pan. Turn off hob (seriously!) and time to required consistency.
(A draining spoon is a useful implement for dipping the egg initially and then for scooping out the poached egg)
8)

Make sure eggs are at room temperature, ie remove from fridge half an hour before using. Do you use a proper poacher?

Edit: poached eggs on toast is one of life’s pleasures. 8)

Good tips so far, the eggs I use are always kept under the hen in the kitchen so at room temp. Will try to heat them a bit before cracking. Didn’t know about those poaching pods!

Cinnamon Girl- I crack the egg into a cup. Boil the water and create a whirlpool with a wooden spoon. I then pour the egg into the whirlpool and simmer for 5-8 mins.

Heston’s method works a treat.

Use very fresh eggs
Strain them first
Put them in (80 degrees) water for 4 minutes

Come out perfect every time

( http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/heston-blumenthal/poached-eggs-recipe )

I use a frying pan witha bout 2 cm of water in it, bring to boil, take off heat crack egg into the water and gently put back over the heat, then I fry it in water using the same technique for fried egg, comes out perfect every time, no need for the swirls or vinegar and all that nonsense.

cling film method in my view

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/sep/16/how-make-perfect-poached-egg

the silicone pods take too long to cook the yolk so the white gets a bit solid

The water has to be just simmering not boiling, spin the water so you have a whirlpool, the vinegar tip can help but I’ve not always found it necessary, crack the egg into a cup or glass, tilt the the glass just in the water and pour out the egg.

Eggs should never go in the fridge there is no need and eggs always cook better when kept out of the fridge.

cinnamon_girl – Member

Edit: poached eggs on toast is one of life’s pleasures. 8)

Too true. I do like a bit of ground pepper on mine too 🙂

Eggs should never go in the fridge there is no need and eggs always cook better when kept out of the fridge.

I agree, can’t understand why people store eggs in the fridge in UK. Why then do fridge manufacturers put egg racks in fridges?!? Always wondered about that one ❓

Oh yes black pepper is essential and a little bit of ketchup but only a small amount don’t want to ruin the eggy goodness.

Poached eggs ‘n’ that

I really never understood this problem.

1. boil water in a kettle & stick a wide pan on the hob.
2. pour the boiling water into the pan making sure the pan is hot enough to bubble the water straight away.
3. splash of vinegar in teh pan.
4. throw in the eggs; the bubbles coming from the bottom of the pan contain the egg.
5. skim of the excess stuff floating at the top whilst checking your eggs .
6. serve – perfect every time; just gotta be quick with the serving if your doing more than 4.

If you are serving more than one or two, cook them one at a time and get them out and in to chilled water to stop the cooking. Then just re-heat all of them when you need them in the same pan of hot water – no mess and all the same.

the secret is fresh eggs…. when we had chickens, the eggs were so fresh that they stayed together perfectly, no water spinning necessary.

Frying pan full of boiling water, break your eggs in (just like you were frying them), let them cook to required runniness, remove with slotted spoon.

Easy 🙂

Dave

poached eggs on toast is one of life’s pleasures

+1. Hmm, i want poached eggs on toast now 😥

I’m feeling hungry now.

just had two, on top of patties made from last nights left over parsnip and bean mash. lush

Poached eggs on toast is only bettered by poached eggs on toasted muffins, with good quality ham and some holondaise sauce 😆

Funnily enough this is what i’ve had for lunch last two days!

Never knew that eggs didn’t need to be kept in the fridge. You learn something new don’t you.

+1 for Heston’s method.

I’d struggled previously to get poached eggs perfect but i’ve been following his guide since I watched the programme and they’ve been flawfless since.

I had great poahed eggs in a Hotel one morning and asked the chef how he did them so well. He used two pans as follows:

1. Pan of boiling water with vinegar to hold the eggs together.
2. Lightly swirl the water if you like
3. When firm enough transfer the eggs to a second pan of boiling water with no vinegar this removes the vinegar taste

By having two pans you can put more vinegar in the water to keep a much better shape.

+1 for fresh eggs.

Gonna try one of these methods.

Never poached an egg (I know), but loathe the taste of vinegar when they’re cooked for me.

Eggs kept in the cupboard – any on the turn go into cakes.

Heston speaks the truth: if your eggs are not absolutely fresh, don’t bother. We keep hens…

No vinegar, no oil, no clingfilm, no swirling. Just crack the egg into a pan of water just off the boil. If it doesn’t work properly it’s because your eggs aren’t fresh – use ’em for scrambled instead.

Boiling water, bit of a swirl, one minute here. Granary bread, bit of tabasco, maybe a shave of parmesan?

FRESH EGGS. Not as in “not on the turn yet”. We are talking less than 5 days from the chicken. Anything over this length of time and the eggs break down naturally and with never hold firm no matter what method you use.

I’ll put my hand up, I’ve just read Delia’s chapter on eggs.

Hmmmmm….. fresh eggs. Just picked these from our hens, omlette this morning though

For poached eggs I’ve used the cling film method for the last 3 years and it can’t be beaten.

Never knew that eggs didn’t need to be kept in the fridge. You learn something new don’t you.

Where do shops keep them?

Of course fresh is better but we don’t all have easy access to them so need the spinny method to get around this.

really fresh eggs

otherwise use an alternative cooking method.

Cling film FTW

I use one of these – feels like cheating but perfect every time…..

3.5mins from when the top of the egg goes opaque. yummy.

COLD EGGS poach best, it keeps the white nice and tight, fresh is a must, at some points in the year the hens don’t lay good eggs and you end up with water whites,I poach around 100-150 a week,If I didn’t put the eggs into the walk in fridge at work the environmental health would cut my balls off for it with a rusty knife. Clingfilm is ok for quail eggs as they can be a pain in the arse, nice if you add some truffle oil to them before you poach, Duck eggs in the water Bath 70 degrees for 1 hour, you could always buy the book Egg by lyndsay and Patrick Mikanowski which is a cracking book. 😆

Whilst eating cheese on toast with worcester sauce reading these posts, I decided poached egg.so two Peking eggs laid yesterday in to just off boiling water,just over a min later on toast and eaten. Yum yum

Cling film. Break the eggs into cling film then twist the top of the cling film and drop the egg into the water. Keep the “open” end of the clingilm out of the water to avoid seepage. Works a treat.

Hmmm, just had 2 slices of bacon, 2 poached eggs on toast for lunch – nice 😆

No need to overthink it; fill pan with water from boilng kettle, don’t let it bubble, a drop of vinegar, no need to whirlpool it, just bung in the eggs…

Clingfilm’s all very well, but what happens when the oil runs out?

Clingfilm’s all very well, but what happens when the oil runs out?

you’re thinking of frying… you don’t use oil with poached eggs 😉