Egg Poaching Knowhow

Oh boy, do you ever know how to cheer me up! Not that I really felt like I was in need of cheering, but you know, last night when I wrote my Nothing-in-particular post I was feeling kind of flat I guess. A weeny bit of the Winter Blahs had set in, no doubt about it. I love that I can use my blog as a little place to jot down my rambling thoughts, it's a very therapeutic thing to do you know. Yesterday it allowed me to pull together a certain number of slightly unsettling feelings to do with my parenting, my slightly below par energy levels, my pondering on whether this house is still right for us. Turns out that for now, yes, all is mighty fine. We are floating/hibernating/resting and that's absolutely ok. Our house is possibly a tad too small for us, but it's absolutely ok cos we love it so.

I was tickled, like reeeeeeally chuffed with your response to my egg poaching skills, thank you, thank you!!! I included the eggy image yesterday simply because it had been on my mind and also followed on so neatly from the gorgeous pics of the Bridal Crown narcissus. Sort of a colour-coded train of thought.

Seeing as many of you asked, I thought I would share J's method.

You need a pan with a lid :: J uses our deep sided frying pan as it's easier to crack the eggs directly into the water when you use a shallow pan. But I've successfully poached in an ordinary saucepan by cracking the egg into a small plastic bowl first, then gently sliding the egg from the bowl into the water.

Boil the kettle, then add the hot water to the pan, you only need about an inch of water, just enough to cover the egg. Then add 2tbs of white vinegar to the water (that's the important bit. The vinegar is Completely Essential). Allow the water to come up to the boil, it should just be starting to bubble, but not at a rolling boil. Now put your egg in, as explained above, you can either crack it directly into the water, or slide it in from a bowl.

The addition of the vinegar is nothing short of miraculous. If you've ever tried to poach an egg without vinegar (and I have) you will know what a disaster it is. I don't know the science behind it, but I do know that the vinegar magically makes the egg white behave itself and stops it from going all chaotic and naughty in the water. Instead of flailing about going all stringy, it sits in a sweet little plump package, all neat and perfect and marvelous looking. What a good egg! Clever vinegar!

Right...as soon as the egg's in the water and looking good, turn the heat off, clamp on the pan lid and time it for 5 minutes. Just five.

In that five minutes, you can pootle a little in the kitchen. Unload the dishwasher, admire your crockery, dance to music. Oh, and get your toasty egg-bed ready too. Cos a beautifully poached egg does need a suitable bed to sit on, and the bed needs to be ready and waiting so that the egg can come straight out the pan when it's done. Timing is everything here.

After five minutes your egg should be poached to perfection. Beautifully creamy cooked white, with a scrummy, softly runny yolk. Lift it immediately out of the water with a slotted spoon and drain it well so that it doesn't make the toast all soggy.

Place the egg ceremoniously on it's bed :: in the case of this morning's breakfast it was a toasted English muffin spread with butter and topped with slivers of smoked salmon. Absolutely delicious, devoured with gusto and appreciation. Simple eating, you can't beat it.

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Comments

[Nina]

Thank you so much for inspiring me to try my egg poaching skills with your foolproof instructions. I didn't think it would be so easy and have been putting off trying for many years.

Now that I have finally poached my first eggs, I just can't get enough of them. :-)

Thank you so much for these instructions! They work perfectly. :-)

[Kelly]

Hi Lucy! As often as I use your delightful instructions to make a yummy poached egg for breakfast or lunch or a snack or just because they are perfect, I wanted to be sure to pop in and say a terribly overdue "a million thanks!" You are ace!

[Hannelore Farrell]

Hi Lucy, I just saw your article in Simply Crochet and before I looked at anything else I had to buy it! later that evening I actually ordered a one year subscription!I loved your article and hope you will continue to be in it on a regular basis. Just love your blog and sharing your daily life with us. Keep up the good work!

[dumbledad]

Great post - I was amazed first time I tried poaching the proper way instead of using a poacher that it was not impossible! One thing I do disagree on though is the vinegar. Egg whites get more-and-more wayward the older an egg gets, so if you use very fresh eggs you do not need the vinegar.

[Antje]

ohhhh, I found this yesterday in your archive and needed to give poached eggs a try today in the morning. It was so delicious! Mmmmmhmmmm! Thanks a lot! I'd never thought that I would have my very own egg benedict made by myself on a thursday morning! I'm still happy & smiling - Thank you so much!

Greetings
Antje

[Bethany]

bethanyboo.typepad.com

Please look at my miniblog i'm just starting out xx

[Rebekah]

Thank you, thank you! I am a fairly new reader and you've inspired me to teach myself crochet (I'm a knitter). In fact, I've found a ton of inspiration in your blog. I've never poached eggs before, but I made these this morning and they were perfect!!

[anna spanjaard]

Hello,
I am looking for the pattern for the colorfull crochet cushion you hold in your hand on your profile picture, can you help me? thanks! Anna from the Netherlands

[Cath]

Breakfast this morning.... tea set laid out on yellow cloth, sunlight on wooden floor, poached eggs on marmite toast topped with crisp bacon, laughter, marmalade on toast to finish off, togetherness around the table.

Thank you for the inspiration.

[Diane]

I tried your poached eggs last weekend. They were perfect! Thanks for sharing!

[rfaye]

Okay, I must try this. And I absolutely love your blog!

[dana]

just caught up on my blog reading (at work, no less!!) and came across this post. THANKS for revealing the vinegar secret. My father always was in charge of eggs and then died and took all his perfect eggy secrets with him. I go through stages of trying to make them "his way" and they never measure up. I think this may be the secret since mine spread allover the pan as well.
So, a very yummy thanks to you and J.

[NeetieBee]

I've tried many methods of poaching eggs-PoachPods,Delia Smith etc-but your way has worked the best for me.Thanks for sharing,will now always use this way and am 'hooked'(Geddit?) to your lovely blog too,I find it inspiring and interesting.

[Claire N]

THANK YOU so much for this! for years I have been jealous of people that can poach eggs this way and have tried several times, diligently following you tube videos and always ended up with eggs that look like jelly fish. Tired your instructions and the perfect poached eggs! Even had to take a photo. And since reading this in the week have got through a whole box of eggs already forcing my BF to eat them for breakfast, lunch and even a post-pub snack last night! Thank you for all the cosy inspiration and colour x

[Sally]

Hi Lucy. Thanks to you and J for this 'tutorial'!I have tried many ways of getting the perfect poached egg, but this really works. Tried it out at lunch time today - yum, yum!
Sally x - Portsmouth.

[Paul]

Your wonderful pictures just FORCED me to make this for Breakfast! Thank you it was marvelous! I haven't had poached eggs in ages it tasted wonderful!

[Sue from Perth Western Australia]

I've been using vinegar for years, but I now realise with insufficient water. The eggs would turn out OK but not look like cafe eggs. I recently bought a small deep sided frypan and have a lid that fits it well, so gave your recipe a go and the eggs were PERFECT! Thank you +++ for the poaching tips and a thoroughly enjoyable blog!

[Catherine]

I tried this for the first time this morning and it worked! Thanks so much for the instructions!

[amies]

absolutely delicious! cooked to perfection!
Thank you will be cooking them again very soon!

[Amanda]

Never made a poached egg in my life - always been put off by other people's disasters - but this really worked! Thank you so much for the tips and thank you also for the lovely crochet and bringing so much colour into the world. x

[Louise]

This is one of my favorite meals. I also crack the egg into a cup first.. I then create a whirlpool in the pan and so when I gently pour the egg in the egg white curls around its self.. I also serve it with salmon and spinach leaves and cracked pepper. Yummy

[Cornelle]

Hi Lucy, the day I read this post I went home for lunch and made the poached eggs just the way you said. It worked like a charm. I am disproportionately happy about this! Thanks, Cornelle

[JJ]

I made this for my lunch today and it was soooooo good. I have never made a poached egg before, only soft boiled, it's much better poached if I say so myself. Thank you to J for sharIng his recipe. Looking forward to seeing the happy flower pattern :-)

[cathleen]

Thank you, sweet Lucy. Made these this morning! So happy I can finally make poached eggs. The vinegar did it! I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks after all!

[Rachael]

That egg looks divine!! Just had Omelette myself!!