Poached eggs are among the best ways to have eggs. It is cooked without any butter or oil, usually has herbs for flavour and is a filling meal or snack. Our love for Eggs Benedict also fueled the need to learn how to poach eggs at home. Till recently, we would only eat poached eggs in restaurants. But we finally figured out how to make it on our own!
I struggled to get the perfectly poached eggs for a while and tried a lot of tricks and hacks. But none would result in a 100% success rate. Some days it would work and on other days it would lead to a total disaster! Either the yolk would loose shape or the whites would spread out and separate or the yolk would get cooked and come out more like boiled eggs.
After a lot of tests and fails I finally got to a formula that works for me Every Single Time! Mind you, this is not “Masterchef Style“, but it will definitely get you poached eggs!
I fully understand the joy of poaching eggs to perfection and in a way mastering it. So I’m here to share my tips for perfectly poached eggs 🙂
Tips To Get Perfectly Poached Eggs
1. Fresh Eggs
Firstly and most importantly, the eggs have to be very fresh.
Test it by drowning the egg in a bowl or glass of water. If it sinks horizontally, it is fresh. Any other direction is not going to get you poached eggs.
2. Cracking It
Unless you are an expert, I would suggest cracking the egg in a saucer/bowl first and then tipping it into water. This way you can guide the egg.
3. Water Temperature
This is key to getting poached eggs versus boiled eggs. The water should be at a simmering boil. Else the eggs will cook to fast and turn into boiled eggs of sorts.
Also at high heat the whites start spreading around instead of staying together around the yolk.
4. Vessel Size
The smaller the vessel used to poach eggs, lesser the chances of the whites spreading all out.
Guide the egg into a smaller bowl placed inside the vessel. I keep a heatproof glass bowl or a steel bowl in the vessel filled with water and pour the egg into it so that it takes a shape and helps in keeping the whites from spreading all out.
5. Timing
Time your poaching. In my experience 3-4 mins works out perfectly given the right temperature.
6. Removing the Egg
Carefully tip the small bowl in which you poached the egg on to a slotted spoon. This way the water will drain out while the egg slide onto the spoon. You won’t end up mistakenly slicing through the egg when trying to remove it.
Finally, Patience is key! Do not mess with the heat or the whites once you have dropped the egg in.
Now that you have the tips to poach eggs perfectly, try out my recipe EGGS BENEDICT WITH A TWIST
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