HOW TO POACH AN EGG

Poached eggs are a beautiful thing. The whites are just firm enough on the outside to contain an oozy, golden yolk in a round little egg package. And with a few tips, you too can learn how to poach an egg perfectly every time!

Poaching eggs couldn’t be easier. It’s also a great low-calorie way to prepare eggs—you don’t need to use added fat to cook them, as you would with scrambled or fried eggs.

INGREDIENTS

Eggs: Two eggs per serving so you can make as many servings as you want

Salt: Adding salt to the water created more white wispies. Salt increases the density of the water which makes more of the egg white float and splay out. In other words, a not-so-pretty poached egg but adding salt is not necessary.

Vinegar: Some are initially dead set against adding vinegar to their water as they didn’t want their eggs to taste like vinegar. As it turns out, you have to add quite a bit of vinegar to have any vinegar taste transfer to the egg. Adding one tablespoon of light-colored vinegar didn’t flavor the egg but it did help to keep the egg white together but it is optional.

METHODS OF COOKING POACHED EGG

• Swirling a Vortex: We’ve all heard that the best method for poached eggs is to drop them in a swirling vortex of water, right? Well, this is true. This does help to create a more spherical shape as the egg white wraps around itself. But here’s the reality. If you’re only cooking one poached egg — go for it. If you’re cooking more than one poached egg — don’t fret about the vortex. Your egg(s) may not be quite as spherical, but you can cook several simultaneously and they’ll still taste darn great. You can do this for one egg and not more than one.
• Fine Mesh Sieve: This is the one tip that consistently produced the BEST poached egg. When you crack an egg you’ll notice that there’s a firmer white and a more liquidy white. Well, that liquidy white is what creates all those white wispies.

When you crack an egg you’ll notice that there’s a firmer white and a more liquidy white. Well, that liquidy white is what creates all those white wispies. So add the egg to a fine-mesh sieve/strainer and the thinner, more liquid white is removed, leaving only the firmer white which will envelop the yolk. Go for this.

• Deep Pot of Water: After trying both a regular pot of water (4-inches deep) and a sauté pan filled with water (2-inched deep), the deeper pot produced a more classical spherical or teardrop shape.

The is because as the egg falls in the water, the yolk sinks first, and the white trails behind. You can still make poached eggs in a more shallow pot, but the shape will be flatter — similar to a fried egg.

Egg poacher: This is the easiest method of poaching an egg with the use of an egg poacher

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the water: Fill a saucepan with several inches of water. Heat the water on high until it reaches a boil and then lower the heat until the water is at a bare simmer (just a few bubbles coming up now and then).
2. Crack an egg into a small bowl and gently slip it into the water:

Working with the eggs one at a time, crack the egg into a small bowl or cup. Place the bowl close to the surface of the hot water and gently slip the egg into the water. If you want, use a spoon to push some of the egg whites closer to their yolks, to help them hold together. Add all of the eggs you are poaching to the pan, in the same way, keeping some distance between them.

3. Turn off heat, cover pan, set timer for 4 minutes: Turn off the heat and cover the pan. Set a timer for 4 minutes (or count out loud to 60, four times). At this point, the egg whites should be completely cooked, while the egg yolks are still runny.

Note that the timing depends on the size of the eggs, the number of eggs in the pot, and if you are cooking at altitude, so adjust accordingly. If you are at altitude, want firmer egg yolks, or are poaching more than 4 eggs at once, you may need to cook them longer. If you try 4 minutes and the eggs are too cooked, reduce the time.

4 . Remove eggs with a slotted spoon: Gently lift the poached eggs out of the pan with a slotted spoon and place them on a plate to serve and you can also add seasonings of your choice.

USING A FINE MESH SIEVE

One way to help your poached egg whites stay together is to remove some of the thin wispy egg whites before you add your eggs to the hot water. An easy way to do this is with a fine-mesh sieve.

1. Strain thin whites with a fine-mesh sieve:

Place the raw egg into a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. The very thin egg whites will drain out through the sieve.

2. Gently add to hot water: Then gently put the raw egg into your pot of simmering hot water.
3. Turn off heat, cover pot, for a few minutes, Notice how there fewer were fewer stray egg whites with this method? Turn off the heat and cover the pot (or just lower the heat to low), and cook for 4 minutes until the whites are cooked through. (You may need to add more time if cooking at altitude or poaching more than 4 eggs at once.)

Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon.

USING AN EGG POACHER

If you don’t want to futz around with trying to keep the eggs from spreading or bump ing into each other, the easiest way to make poached eggs is with an egg_poacher.

The poacher in the eggs, not truly poaching them, but if what you want is an egg with a cooked white and runny yolk, this is an easy way to do it.

To use an egg poaching pan, remove the cups from the pan that you intend to use.

Fill the pan with only 1/2-inch of water and bring it to a low boil. Put a drop or so of olive oil in each of the egg cups you are using and spread around. (The cups are stick-free, but the oil helps.)

Crack the eggs into the egg cups, one egg per cup. Place the egg-filled cup back in the slot for it in the pan.

Fill the pan with only 1/2-inch of water and bring it to a low boil. Put a drop or so of oil in each of the egg cups you are using ar spread around. (The cups are stick-free, but the oil helps.)

Crack the eggs into the egg cups, one egg per cup. Place the egg-filled cup back in the slot for it in the pan.

Cover the pan and cook for 4 minutes.

Remove from heat and carefully lift the egg cups out of the pan. Slide the cooked eggs out of the cups onto serving plates or bowls.