Poached eggs - a disaster

onlinemonkey

waffleman wrote: »

Out of interest how do you use yours?

I use 1 cal butter flavour spray on the pods before puttin the eggs in

Usually 5 minutes simmerin with the lid on the pot cooks them through and keeps the yoke soft (not runny)

Pretty much the same except I use butter and 4 mins with the lid on.

RasTa

Microwaving eggs should be illegal.

Diamond Doll

RasTa wrote: »

Microwaving eggs should be illegal.

I have the little pods for microwave poached eggs and I've given up on them, they just don't turn out right. Sure they're edible, but they're not like real poached eggs.

Scrambled eggs in the microwave, however, are fantastic! Just as nice (if not nicer) than scrambled eggs done on the hob.

RasTa

This little piggy wrote: »

I have the little pods for microwave poached eggs and I've given up on them, they just don't turn out right. Sure they're edible, but they're not like real poached eggs.

Scrambled eggs in the microwave, however, are fantastic! Just as nice (if not nicer) than scrambled eggs done on the hob.

Nope, do it this way and do a taste comparison. No milk ever needed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUP7U5vTMM0

dibkins

Why is "no butter" a selling point? Weird.

Dial Hard

Water brought to a boil then reduced to a bare simmer. I do use vinegar, mostly cause I like the slight sharpness it adds.

Freshest eggs you can get your hands on, and at room temperature. Don't even attempt to poach an egg that's even remotely chilled.

Crack egg into a ladle or shallow teacup and slip gently into the water. Then don't touch it again til you're taking it out to eat. I generally find that even if the white initially looks like it's going everywhere, it will "regroup" if you don't touch it.

I don't "get" those microwave poachers. If the naked egg wasn't fully immersed in water, then it's not poached, sorry.

Gerry Stafford

Mostly agree with Kylith above. A fry pan is perfect. The size of the pan should be determined by the number of eggs you want to cook. Important It must be deep enough to allow the water cover the eggs. Otherwise you have to spoon the water over the eggs and this a pain in the ass.

Re boiling the water in a kettlevand then transferring to the pan. Why not boil the water in the pan. Simpler & safer

Important. Have the eggs at room temperature.

Bring water to the boil then lower the heat. If it is activly boiling you will just disperse the whites.

Drop the eggs into the hot water. Leave till cooked.

For cooked white and soft yolk 4 minutes will do it. Adjust for your own preference. Over six minutes will result in bullets.

Lift out with a slotted spoon in the order you put them in. I.e. first in first out.
They will continue to cook in their own heat so eat right away

Diamond Doll

Gerry Stafford wrote: »

Re boiling the water in a kettlevand then transferring to the pan. Why not boil the water in the pan. Simpler & safer

Is it not waaaay more energy-efficient to boil it in the kettle?

hidinginthebush

hidinginthebush wrote: »

- Get a ramekin dish / small teacup
- Line with cling film, with a bit extra hanging out over the side
- Plop egg in
- Tie the edges of the cling film up so the egg is now in a neat little parcel
- Drop into simmmering water for about 4 mins (it takes longer cooking them this way)

Easy peasy, no mess, you can do a good few eggs at a time and there's none of that fluting around of swirling water, adding the right amount of vinegar, slotted spoons etc.

Learned this on boards a few years ago. Perfect eggs every time.

Gerry Stafford

Re more energy efficient to heat the water in a kettle

Depends
If you have an electric kettle and you measure the exact amount of water and especially if your stove top is gas then the kettle is probably more efficient.

If your kettle heats on the hob, be it gas or electric, the direct heating in the pan will likely be more efficient since
a/ You will be heating only the exact amount of water you need
b/ You will be heating a single container, the pan, as opposed to 2 the kettle and the pan.

Busi_Girl08

Poached eggs certainly have an interesting texture and flavour after being scraped off the inside of your microwave

Dial Hard

Gerry Stafford wrote: »

Re boiling the water in a kettlevand then transferring to the pan. Why not boil the water in the pan. Simpler & safer

It's way quicker to boil the kettle and certainly no more dangerous.

This little piggy wrote: »

Is it not waaaay more energy-efficient to boil it in the kettle?

For pretty much everything bar induction, yes.

Gerry Stafford wrote: »

Re more energy efficient to heat the water in a kettle

Depends
If you have an electric kettle and you measure the exact amount of water and especially if your stove top is gas then the kettle is probably more efficient.

If your kettle heats on the hob, be it gas or electric, the direct heating in the pan will likely be more efficient since
a/ You will be heating only the exact amount of water you need
b/ You will be heating a single container, the pan, as opposed to 2 the kettle and the pan.

I don't know anyone who doesn't have an electric kettle. Genuinely. Also, I only ever boil the amount of water I need, whether it's for a cup of tea, a pot of spuds or a couple of poached eggs. And lastly, the boiled water heats the pan if you use the kettle, not the energy from the stove.

No offence, but you seem to be needlessly over-thinking and over-complicating what's really a very simple process.

hidinginthebush

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Learned this on boards a few years ago. Perfect eggs every time.

Big time! When I learned how to do it I think I had poached eggs for breakfast for two weeks straight.

katydid

murphyebass wrote: »

I can never understand why poaching an egg is made out to be a science.

Put egg in simmering water.

Leave for a few minutes depending on how well done you like it.

Take out and eat.

.

BECAUSE IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT FOR EVERYBODY!!:mad:

shamrock2004

Thanks boardsies. Some interesting tips. In fact I had actually watched jamie oliver's video on youtube and he said you don't need vinegar, nor a vortex. I think the problem may be that the water wasn't hot enough. I'll use boild water from the kettle next time. Also re the freshest eggs, I bought the largest free range eggs I could find which were well in date but next time I'll root around the back of the shelf thanks again everyone!

Day Lewin

Veteran egg-poacher here, decades of experience and have taught many.

The MOST critical thing is freshness of eggs, if you try one and it flies around in strings, don't use any more from that batch, they're stale.
Bring water to boiling - full boiling - then turn off the heat
Slip in a fresh-enough egg (clings together in a plump cushion, not flying round in strings) into still, very-hot water.
(The only reason to use vinegar is that it slightly hardens egg whites. If the egg is fresh, you shouldn't need it.)
Wait a good four or five minutes, lift out with slotted spoon, place on buttered toast.
Bliss!

PS I do sometimes use those rings that are like pastry cutters: it keeps a dubious egg hanging together. Not the finest method though.

katydid

katemarch wrote: »

Veteran egg-poacher here, decades of experience and have taught many.

The MOST critical thing is freshness of eggs, if you try one and it flies around in strings, don't use any more from that batch, they're stale.
Bring water to boiling - full boiling - then turn off the heat
Slip in a fresh-enough egg (clings together in a plump cushion, not flying round in strings) into still, very-hot water.
(The only reason to use vinegar is that it slightly hardens egg whites. If the egg is fresh, you shouldn't need it.)
Wait a good four or five minutes, lift out with slotted spoon, place on buttered toast.
Bliss!

PS I do sometimes use those rings that are like pastry cutters: it keeps a dubious egg hanging together. Not the finest method though.

I'm going to be brave and try it tomorrow morning with an egg fresh from the chicken coop. If it doesn't work, I'll scream!

shamrock2004

katemarch wrote: »

Veteran egg-poacher here, decades of experience and have taught many.

The MOST critical thing is freshness of eggs, if you try one and it flies around in strings, don't use any more from that batch, they're stale.
Bring water to boiling - full boiling - then turn off the heat
Slip in a fresh-enough egg (clings together in a plump cushion, not flying round in strings) into still, very-hot water.
(The only reason to use vinegar is that it slightly hardens egg whites. If the egg is fresh, you shouldn't need it.)
Wait a good four or five minutes, lift out with slotted spoon, place on buttered toast.
Bliss!

PS I do sometimes use those rings that are like pastry cutters: it keeps a dubious egg hanging together. Not the finest method though.

Where can I find the freshest eggs?

Day Lewin

Sorry, I can't tell. You might go by the Best-before date on them but I haven't found this reliable. If I try to poach an egg out of a box, and it goes into shreds, or flattens out, I'd fry the rest.

They don't need to be new-laid-this-very-day, fresh: just - maybe within this week.

Also, if it's not firm after four/five minutes in that water, you could cautiously turn the heat on again: but no swirling roiling boiling water, just a bare simmer will do.

fred funk }{

It's all about the freshness of the eggs folks. Fresh egg whites should have the consistency of thick glue and naturally stay together once cracked into the pan. The other methods are necessary if the egg isn't fresh.

MissFlitworth

What I don't get about the fresh egg thing, and I'm not for a minute doubting it's the answer to my speghetti woes, is that I most often eat poached eggs out and I don't think my local cafe/hotels I've stayed in have a hotline to a farmer for <1 week old eggs but they seem to manage poaching eggs perfectly all the time. Although they definitely use vinegar.

Possibly I just have cursed witch hands though and no egg will be poached by me unless in a little paper bag.

fred funk }{

MissFlitworth wrote: »

What I don't get about the fresh egg thing, and I'm not for a minute doubting it's the answer to my speghetti woes, is that I most often eat poached eggs out and I don't think my local cafe/hotels I've stayed in have a hotline to a farmer for <1 week old eggs but they seem to manage poaching eggs perfectly all the time. Although they definitely use vinegar.

Possibly I just have cursed witch hands though and no egg will be poached by me unless in a little paper bag.

Don't think you need a hotline to the local farmer to get them fresh. Applegreen service stations used to have really fresh eggs not so long ago, they were lovely, really fresh.

Hesh's Umpire

It's all about the freshness of the eggs - I'm lucky enough to have a few chooks down the garden.
I would recommend that the water is not actually boiling - somewhere around 85 degrees works well.
Oh, and no vinegar, save that for chips!
Slotted spoon, brown toast and real butter. I'm starving now!

Mystery Egg

Cafes and hotels are quite likely to always have very fresh eggs because of the volume that they cook every day - they'll be constantly restocking, unlike us householders, who restock once a week.

Shenshen

MissFlitworth wrote: »

What I don't get about the fresh egg thing, and I'm not for a minute doubting it's the answer to my speghetti woes, is that I most often eat poached eggs out and I don't think my local cafe/hotels I've stayed in have a hotline to a farmer for <1 week old eggs but they seem to manage poaching eggs perfectly all the time. Although they definitely use vinegar.

Possibly I just have cursed witch hands though and no egg will be poached by me unless in a little paper bag.

I suspect a hotel or cafe would go through a lot of eggs in one day, so chances are they'll be getting fresh ones every day or every other day?

Tree

Also, sieving off the old whites as suggested above would work. The eggwhite is laid down in layers of thick and thin white, and the thick white degrades and thins over time, so just ditch it.

the beer revolu

Am I the only one who actually likes the slight taste of vinegar (white wine vinegar) on a poached egg?

Dial Hard

the beer revolu wrote: »

Am I the only one who actually likes the slight taste of vinegar (white wine vinegar) on a poached egg?

Nope, I said in my post that I add vinegar mostly for the taste.

faceman

I'm currently trying the sieve followed by eggs in a cling film trick. Will report back...

challengemaster

the beer revolu wrote: »

Am I the only one who actually likes the slight taste of vinegar (white wine vinegar) on a poached egg?

Its all the same once you cover the egg in hollandaise anyway