poached eggs

markos79

hello, im looking for some advice on how to cook poached eggs properly,everytime i try they turn to slush!!

thanks in advance.:D

gogglebok

Try boiling the water in a shallow pan, and add a little vinegar before you lob the eggs in. If your eggs break up too much, crack them onto a saucer first and slide them in off that.

Caoimhín

Stir the water gently and then slide the egg in from a cup.

Ponster

If you can face the washing up, you need 1 pan with stirred boiling water and a few drops of vinegar into which you slide the egg from a cup/saucer. Once cooked, take out with a slotted spoon and drop into another saucepan of boiling water just to remove the taste of vinegar.

rockbeer

Use fresh eggs and don't keep them in the fridge. It's almost impossible to poach a cold egg properly.

Mr Magnolia

Also, don't allow the water to boil while the eggs are in. A deep pan of water is also preferable.

Caoimhín

On a Sunday morning, I love my poached eggs with maple smoked bacon, toast with butter, fresh coffee and the Sunday Tribune.

Sparks

Take some cling film, place over a teacup, push down to create a pouch, crack egg into this, twist top together, put package into lightly boiling water, cook.

olaola

Vinegar... sminegar.

All you need is a pot of water and some fresh eggs*. Boil up the water - take it off the boil and crack the egg in. When it's in the pot, give it a good aul wiggle so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Back on the heat & cook for 2 mins.

I've cooked 20 or more in one go for large groups, every egg comes put perfectly.

*(saying that I cooked eggs with BB of 01/05 this morning and they were perfect)

The Sweeper

+1 for the cling film idea.

Minder

The cling film idea sounds great. No need for vinegar. A deep pan is useful (as already said), stir the boiling water with a whisk and pour the egg into the centre of the swirling water - this helps to keep the white together as it sinks through the water.

Ponster

This morning I used the clingfilm method to make eggs benidect for the wife's breakfast.

The result was a perfectly rounded, perfectly cooked egg. I'll use this method from now on.

I would say that it takes a little longer to cook compared to the just dropping into water. My first effort was binned as was still undercooked after 3 minutes. 4 to 5 turned out to be ideal.

noby

The people advocating a good fresh egg are spot on. No faffing about with vinegar, cling film whisks etc. Crack the egg gently into the water.

Sparks

The thing about the cling film and the vinegar and all the other stuff is that it isn't to poach the egg any better, but to have it keep it's shape (the vinegar sets the albumen faster, the whisking is supposed to set up a vortex that folds the albumen filaments back on the egg). I mentioned the cling film method because it's the most fool-proof method I know of for someone who's only learning - as the person gets more experienced, they might try the other methods as well (but personally, I find the cling-flim works really well if I want a nicely shaped egg). Using a good fresh egg is just going to make the poached egg taste better, it won't really make it keep its shape any better (or at least I've never found it works for that).

Ponster

noby wrote: »

The people advocating a good fresh egg are spot on. No faffing about with vinegar, cling film whisks etc. Crack the egg gently into the water.

That's a must but every professional chef learns to make poached eggs with vinegar. It's almost impossible to keep the entire egg white connected to the yolk while stirring if you don't use a 'method' to poach.

rockbeer

Sparks wrote: »

Using a good fresh egg is just going to make the poached egg taste better, it won't really make it keep its shape any better (or at least I've never found it works for that).

It certainly improves the taste but I think it helps the shape too. I find the white gets really thin as eggs age. You can really notice it when you fry them, the white spreads all over the pan. Perhaps it doesn't make any difference to the shape with the cling film method, but it certainly does if you're just dropping them straight in the water - the older the egg, the more white spreads out and tries to detach itself from the yoke.

olaola

rockbeer wrote: »

It certainly improves the taste but I think it helps the shape too. I find the white gets really thin as eggs age. You can really notice it when you fry them, the white spreads all over the pan. Perhaps it doesn't make any difference to the shape with the cling film method, but it certainly does if you're just dropping them straight in the water - the older the egg, the more white spreads out and tries to detach itself from the yoke.

I've noticed this too - the shape of fresher eggs are much more 'together'.
I would only let a seasoned poacher cook an older one!

xzanti

I do mine in the microwave, just boil water, pour into a bowl or jug, just enough water to cover the top of the egg, add a drop of olive oil, this stops the eggs exploding (I don't know how) pinch of salt and put them on for a bout 2.5 minutes depending on your wattage and bobs your uncle...

WindSock

My boyfriend lashes in milk with the vinegar, does this make a difference?

Caoimhín

WindSock wrote: »

My boyfriend lashes in milk with the vinegar, does this make a difference?

Na, hes just mad.

Sparks

WindSock wrote: »

My boyfriend lashes in milk with the vinegar, does this make a difference?

Is he sober when he does this?

WindSock

He said it's what his Mum does. Must be a wierd family tradition in NZ or something

Ponster

WindSock wrote: »

My boyfriend lashes in milk with the vinegar, does this make a difference?

Nope, but there's no need to use both. Some people poach their eggs in milk (i.e. no water) and some others say that a drop of milk has the same effect as vinegar.

I found this great site here which has photos of someone testing 4 different methods with images of each result !

And these people who believe that cooking the egg in clingfilm isn't poaching as such but a different method (sous vide) which I must admit is probably correct but I couldn't give a fig.

Nothingcompares

i break the egg into one of these (doesn't have the handle).

WindSock

Seen that site before, that's when I first heard of using cling film
So far the vinegar and milk trick seems to be working out, but I may try the cling film next time we are cooking poached 'iggs'

noby

Then, maybe the time after that you could try the 'using fresh eggs' method. Seriously, pick up some fresh free-range eggs, and give it a go.

The Sweeper

Noby I have access to fresh eggs every day. Yes the white of a fresh egg is much more compact and will keep its shape better, but I still find when breaking them into agitated water - either from boiling or stirring - some of the white goes stringing off into threads.

I'd rather drop them into water just off the boil and let them sit and cook in that, but even with that I find the cling film process works the best.

noby

I do myself, MAJD. Water doesn't need to be agitated; don't stir, and take off the heat when adding the egg. Don't drop from a height, obviously. You may get one or two stringy bits, but not enough to warrant extra measures, and the rest of the egg will form a nice rounded shape naturally.

It bemuses me sometimes when people (not necessarily on this thread, but people I've spoken with too) have all these tricks to cooking the perfect (battery) egg, when you could ditch most of the tricks if you just got yourself a decent egg to begin with.

alie

The way i was taught was to heat water to almost boiling point , take off the heat and stir water rapidly , lower the egg gentley into the pot, you may find breaking the egg into a container first easier. Then leave egg to swirl around, dont poke at it. Take the pot off the flame and let the egg set . Perfect little fluffy clouds every time.

markos79

thanks for all your replies i tried the cling film method and it worked a treat but im gonna try it other ways to see which method makes the tasteyest eggies!!

Mr Magnolia

The clingfilm method just seems to leave the egg lacking something for me, maybe the texture's a little different. I'll be sticking with the 'traditional' method on this one I reckon.