Poached Eggs

[DancingLady]

I have never been successful at poaching eggs. I've tried the advice a few people have given me but I always end up with so much white in the water I feel I have to drink the water to avoid throwing away healthy food I paid for! It tastes terrible to drink it though. Anybody have a secret I maybe don't know yet?

 

[Caribbean girl]

I have always heard about poached eggs, but I have never tried them before. I tend to go with either fried eggs, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, or omelette. I must have tasted poached egg on 1 occasion and that is when I was visiting another country on holiday; the hotel was serving poached eggs. So, since I have never even done them, I don't know what the secret would be in getting them to come out just right.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

My understanding is that you need to get the boiling water swirling really well just before the egg is put into it, so have the egg pre cracked in a small bowl and stir the boiling water really well and very quickly before dropping the egg into the centre and so stirring just before your put the egg in.

 

[DancingLady]

Oh, thank you, I actually have not heard that idea before. I will give it a try and see if that is the secret I have been missing.

 

[Ella]

I have hit and miss days with poached eggs. As well as the above tips, pour in the egg close to the water and the fresher the egg the better to concentrate the egg in one place. I also then cover the pan for a few minutes. A smaller pan is also better for poaching so the whites don't spread.

 

[Jade]

I've seen many different techniques of this on tv and on YouTube but I think the most effective one is swirling the water in the pot prior to dropping in your eggs. I think this is mainly for minimizing the amount of whites forming small white branches and instead you'll have a more perfect ball. Also I've heard it's good to put in some vinegar in the water but I'm not really sure what that's for.

 

[lizzief79]

Just a few tips are as follows:
1. Put a few drops of vinegar in the water.
2. Swirl the water in the pan around with a spoon first as this helps to 'collect' all the whites together.
3. Don't boil the water- just simmer it.
4. Instead of cracking the egg directly into the water, crack it into a cup first. Then, lower the cup to the top of the water and gently slide the egg in. This tends to keep the white together.

 

[sorrowscall]

The easy way to do this is to simmer the water instead of boiling it and toss in the egg while the water is swirling about quickly. A good idea beforehand is to go ahead and pour the unwhisked egg into something like a bowl or cup when you crack it. That way, the pot of simmering water won't get any eggshells you'll need to pick out later in it.

 

[OhioTom76]

The egg whites floating around in the water are mainly due to the eggs themselves being a bit old. The older eggs get, the more the egg whites separate into both thicker egg whites and runnier egg whites. When you poach older eggs, the runnier parts of the egg white tend to stay in the pan. Honestly though, the last thing that would cross my mind would be to drink the pan of water I cooked them in - considering how inexpensive eggs are and also because it just sounds really unpleasant.

I suppose you could just instead pour the water through a strainer and scrape the remaining egg whites out on to a plate, to eat with the poached eggs. But an easier route would probably be to just invest in an egg poaching pan, like this one:

http://www.target.com/p/farberware-...&kpid=594774&gclid=CL2tms_j28ICFRBo7Aod5BkAuQ

You may even find these at your local thrift store for just a buck or two. There are cups for each egg, and the eggs basically steam in the pan (you add water to the bottom). You can basically get a "poached" egg but with all the egg whites intact.

There are microwave dishes that claim to poach eggs too, but I would not recommend those as they don't work very well - they cook inconsistently, and worse yet, the eggs often explode during the cooking time. It's very difficult to get a "poached" egg in the microwave. It's either underdone in them middle, or way over cooked and rubbery. There are also some silicone cups on the market which you are supposed to float in a pan of simmering water to make poached eggs, but those don't work well either - the eggs take forever to cook, cook unevenly, and stick to the silicone.