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I had never poached an egg until today.
Evidently it’s a tricky thing to do, and was even last month’s Daring Cooks‘ challenge.
One of my friends (okay, you guessed it: Jill) poached an egg for the first time the other day and was successful! She read a few fussy tutorials, then ended up following the simple instructions from the guy in the video at the end of this wikihow post.
I thought I’d give it a go today, and it worked! Well, mostly.
Basically here is what you do:
1. Boil some water in a saucepan.
2. Turn the heat down a little until the water is no longer boiling.
3. Add some salt and a little bit of vinegar.
4. Stir the water to create a gentle whirlpool.
5. Crack the egg into the center of the pan. [Edit: or you can crack it into a small dish and then drop the egg into the center of the pan, which is what I did.] Turn down the heat a little more (you don’t want it to start boiling again) and cook the egg for 90 seconds.
6. With a slotted spoon, lift the egg out of the water and let drain. Enjoy on toast or whatever you like!
When I said this mostly worked for me, this is what I meant – the egg looked poached, but then when I cut into it a little bit, it wasn’t quite cooked all the way through. Most likely I turned the heat down too low and didn’t let it cook long enough for that temperature. Putting it back in the water seemed like a scary idea since it was cut, so I put it in the microwave (on the toast) for about 20 seconds. It worked!
If you’ve never poached an egg, I recommend watching that video. Thanks, Jill (and that dude)! :)
bake me away! 
Sebastian does the most awesome poached egg… and they are so perfect.. I think that is because he eats a lot of soba noodles in soup, with a poached egg. I learned by allowing the water to slightly boil, give a whisk, and while the water is turning drop the egg in?
Poaching an egg is something I want to try. Thanks for the tips!
Yum! When I poach eggs, I cheat. I crack the egg into a buttered glass cup and then put it in a shallow pan of boiling water. I love poached eggs on toast, but I haven’t found a gluten free bread worthy of it.
P.S.- (chanting) MA-CA-RONS! MA-CA-RONS! ;)
And I crack the egg open into a bowl, because I don’t trust myself to crack it perfectly into the water. The instant I try that, I’m pretty sure I’ll break the yoke and end up with egg drop soup or something.
I haven’t poached an egg before either–the process always seemed too overwhelming to me :) I must admit that my favorite way to eat an egg is fried! I love the browned outside and the “dippy” inside for toast-dipping.
Like others, I have never poached an egg. Is there any reason I’d do this over, say, a simple over-easy? ^_^
Bailey – I want to try topping soup with egg sometime! And yeah, I stirred the water just before adding the egg.
Liz – You should! Let me know how it goes if/when you do.
Katie – ooo, that’s a nice trick! And haha!! I totally need to get on those soon so I can bring some to Florida. eeee!
Jill – Yes! I did that also for the same reason. Maybe I should add that to the post.
Kylie – I usually just scramble (and occasionally hardboil) eggs because that’s my favorite way. Didn’t used to like fried so much, but now I’m craving one!
Mary – haha, and I’ve never cooked one over-easy, so I don’t know!
Great job on this Jessica! Your poached egg looks magnifique! The only other tip I have for you is this: Crack the egg into a small bowl first, then gently tip it into the water. That way, if – god forbid – the yolk breaks, you won’t have a big mess in the pot. Also, it helps the egg be more gently introduced to the water. I’m no expert, but that seemed to work well for me. Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks, Georgia! Yeah, I actually did do that (didn’t trust myself!), but don’t know why I didn’t include it in my post. It’s definitely a good idea, so I’ll update this.