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Poached Eggs?

Eggspert
Eggspert Posts: 142
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Who loves poached eggs? Well, I do and would like some help on the best recipe for them. Finally I have learned to boil eggs and now I am trying to get to the next level. This is a serious request and would love to learn the best method. I envision myself eating some this weekend while, watching the sunrise with ya'lls help. Any help would be appreciated.

Comments

  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    I either cook them in those little 3/4 section poachers w/butter in the cup, or bring water to a boil and add 1 Tbs vinegar. Take egg from shell and place in large spoon and slowly drop into water. Pot is a pain to clean after, therefore prefer the cups.


    http://www.nextag.com/egg-poacher/products-html
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    Do you mean on the BGE? If so then you'll consider me a cheater! LOL - I too love poached eggs and use a heavy duty 4 egg poaching pan made by Calphalon. 3 min 20 seconds on medium heat on the stove and I churn out perfect eggs time after time. I've used cheaper poachers over the years but this baby was worth the money.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    I used to just pour a cracked egg into a pan with maybe half an inch of simmering water. The results were not so good.

    Then learned to use a deeper pot. And not crack the egg into the water directly, but pour it from a cup. Stir the water till there is a smallwhirl pool, and place the egg into that. If you can get the egg into the center of the pool, AND (an important and) the egg is pretty fresh, the white will whip around the intact yolk, and the whole thing can be scooped out a few minutes later.

    Older eggs will tend to fall apart, and make poached scrambled eggs.
  • Ripnem
    Ripnem Posts: 5,511
    That sounds pretty darn cool.
  • Judy Mayberry
    Judy Mayberry Posts: 2,015
    I have a problem with most of those multi-cup egg poachers--they are deep with a small width and the egg white cooks really thick. The only egg poacher I do like is a very small pan with a handle and cover, and an insert for a single egg that's more gently curved.

    But just as good is the pot of boiling water with vinegar, using the whirlpool technique. Those are the traditional poached eggs. Remember to pat it onto a paper towel to dry it before you [put it on a piece of toast.

    Judy
    Judy in San Diego
  • Gator Bait
    Gator Bait Posts: 5,244
    gdenby, I agree with your technique. The only thing I might add is the splash of vinegar, depending on how much water you have, a tablespoon or two. Using a cup and swirling the water helps a lot. Water wants to be just shy of boilingand a good 3" deep. I have done 10 eggs at a time in a large electric skillet this way and they all were perfect and done at the same time. I'm not going to say it was easy, it was a challenge, I had to hustle and try to keep track of which egg went in first and which was last. I had all my eggs lined up in small cups and it took me a matter of seconds to get them all in the water and about the same amount of time to fish them all out. The toast was waiting on the plates already to go. I served 2 eggs each to 5 people simultaneously. The thermostat on the skillet was a big help in maintaining the water temperature, that many eggs cooled off the water and I didn't have to worry about it as the thermostat brought it back up automatically.

    Gator
  • James MB
    James MB Posts: 359
    As others have said - fresh eggs, plenty of water, just shy of boiling, not too many at once. Don't use those egg poaching pans they make the white like rubber.
    One thing that can be helpful - bring the water to a boil and then take it off the heat put the eggs in and put a lid on. That way you the eggs are cooked by the water not the bottom of the pan. Make sure you have enough water to retain the heat. If you are doing just one or two eggs then the swirl helps keep them together.
    I don't know if the vinegar really helps but it doesn't hinder (unless you have to run around looking for it) If you get a chance it seems better to use eggs that aren't straight from the fridge.