I can cook eggs any which way and make them perfectly. It's one cooking thing I can do really, really well. That being said I could never poach an egg. They always fell apart and never really got that beautiful, perfect pocket of egg white surrounding a yummy runny yolk.
I had seen techniques of using a large pot of water and stirring the water to make a vortex and then just dumping the egg in. Well hot damn, that works AWESOME! After all these years of never getting a good poached egg, it was really just that simple. Here's a few tips I've learned over the last few weeks trying to perfect it.
1) Fresh eggs really do make a difference, the fresher the better. The whites really hold together.
2) Lots of salt in the water, water just barely boiling. This is the key, the temperature of the water and why the salt helps to raise the boiling point slightly. I always tried to poach eggs on a high simmer, that's not enough heat to get the whites to "set". The hotter the water the better
3) Get a gentle swirl going, just enough without a vortex
4) Drop the egg in and don't touch it
5) Use a slotted spoon to take out after about 3 minutes, whites should be fully set, place on paper towel and handle to remove excess water. Do not let sit on paper towel or whites will stick. Oh, and handle gently.
Done properly the whites are not runny and the yolk is perfectly oozy yummy. The taste is out of this world and unlike any other method of preparing an egg.
You will wind up with a perfect "pillow" of a poached egg.
Serve over toast and sausage, or anything for that matter.
The biggest lesson learned is water temperature. If it's not right at boiling or boiling the whole process won't take and the whites run everywhere and the egg takes forever to cook. I've got it now where I can drop 2-3 eggs in and cook them all at the same time.
I had seen techniques of using a large pot of water and stirring the water to make a vortex and then just dumping the egg in. Well hot damn, that works AWESOME! After all these years of never getting a good poached egg, it was really just that simple. Here's a few tips I've learned over the last few weeks trying to perfect it.
1) Fresh eggs really do make a difference, the fresher the better. The whites really hold together.
2) Lots of salt in the water, water just barely boiling. This is the key, the temperature of the water and why the salt helps to raise the boiling point slightly. I always tried to poach eggs on a high simmer, that's not enough heat to get the whites to "set". The hotter the water the better
3) Get a gentle swirl going, just enough without a vortex
4) Drop the egg in and don't touch it
5) Use a slotted spoon to take out after about 3 minutes, whites should be fully set, place on paper towel and handle to remove excess water. Do not let sit on paper towel or whites will stick. Oh, and handle gently.
Done properly the whites are not runny and the yolk is perfectly oozy yummy. The taste is out of this world and unlike any other method of preparing an egg.
You will wind up with a perfect "pillow" of a poached egg.
Serve over toast and sausage, or anything for that matter.
The biggest lesson learned is water temperature. If it's not right at boiling or boiling the whole process won't take and the whites run everywhere and the egg takes forever to cook. I've got it now where I can drop 2-3 eggs in and cook them all at the same time.