Poached Eggs (How to Poach an Egg…Perfectly!)

How to poach an egg… perfect! Here are all the secrets to getting solid whites and a runny yolk effortlessly.

Looking for those elusive poached eggs? We have them. This French technique for boiling an egg can yield the silkiest, most runny egg and perfectly set egg white. But it’s also easy to screw up! You can easily end up with a messy pile of white wine or an overcooked light-colored egg yolk. How do you poach an egg perfectly? Well, we have some tips to help you get it working every time. Here’s what you need to know!

The best poached egg recipe? Use fresh eggs.

Here’s the key to preparing a poached egg recipe. Start with fresh eggs! This technique works best with eggs that you just brought home from the store or that you’ve only had for a few days. Why is that important?

• White spread too much with old eggs. When the egg hits the water, the albumen squirts out. If you use older eggs, the whites will get wild and spread all over the pan.
• The albumen forms better with fresh eggs. This gives a nicer shape. There are a few other tricks people use to try and shape eggs properly, but we’ve found that the age of the egg has the biggest impact on this.

How do you poach an egg

How do you poach an egg? Here’s our master method for poached eggs that look good and taste delicious:

• Bring the water to just below boiling point with 1 dash of white vinegar. Adding vinegar to the water helps the egg white set even faster when it hits the water. They will continue to spread, but it’s a good method of insurance.
• Heat the water to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. Contrary to popular belief, do not boil the water! You want it to be just below a simmer. For best results, use a food thermometer to measure the temperature.
• First, beat the eggs in a bowl. Then slide the eggs into the water. This way you don’t have to worry about shells falling into the water and you can add it gently. You’ll notice the egg white spread out: if you want, you can use a spoon to bring it closer to the yolk.
• Cook for 4 minutes until the whites are cooked and the yolks are still runny. Set a timer and wait, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon.

More notes on the method

There are many other tricks we’ve tried to help the egg white set and form a tight circular shape. Here are some notes on what we learned:

• Some people say to stir the water to create a spinning vortex. In this process, the vortex is a medium to vortex the blanks into a more cohesive shape. We’ve tried it both ways and haven’t noticed a dramatic difference.
• Another method is to place the eggs in a fine mesh strainer. This apparently helps filter out some of the very fine proteins, making the shape more consistent. We tried that and it didn’t work: in fact it stretched the white so much there wasn’t much left. We do not recommend this method!

Another way to make poached eggs

When I was growing up, my parents made poached eggs using a very different method: an egg poacher! Here are the pros and cons of using an egg poacher:

• An egg poacher makes the process easier and less messy. This particular pan has non-stick trays that you can slide your eggs into. It’s a lot easier and does a lot less damage in the water.
• The only drawback? The form is defined and not organic. We love the organic shape of a boiled egg. Egg cups have a defined shape that isn’t as pretty to look at. But both taste great!

Make It A Meal: How To Serve Poached Eggs!

The benefit of poached eggs is that you can serve them with any meal. Whether it’s breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, everything tastes better with an egg on it! Here are some serving ideas:

How do you serve your poached eggs? Let us know in the comments below.

Other ways to cook eggs

Do you want to cook eggs whole? Here are some basic methods of cooking eggs:

PS Did you know you can freeze eggs and scramble them later? Here’s a weird but wonderful cooking trick.

This perfect poached egg recipe is…

Vegetarian, dairy free and gluten free.