It may seem daunting if you haven’t tried it before, but the truth is once you know how to poach an egg perfectly, brunch is your world to conquer. Poached Egg on toast, on salads, in Eggs Benedict…
There are so many possibilities for eating high on the hog once you know how to poach an egg perfectly! Poached eggs make me joyful.
I love the perfectly set whites (no hint of snottiness, thankyouverymuch) and a thin rim of set yolk with a pool of liquid yolk waiting to burst forth when the fork or knife hits it.
It really isn’t that difficult, it’s just a matter of de-coding what simple steps help you deliver a tightly formed egg white around a perfect egg yolk.
The Trick to How to Poach an Egg Perfectly
There’s a weird trick that I use to make perfect poached eggs that I’ve been using since working in a restaurant. It doesn’t make it into many tutorials, and I’m not sure why.
Perhaps it sounds a little fussy or unnecessary? I assure you it helps!
I have tried it with this step and without it and prefer my results every time with this funky little trick.
You lower the room-temperature eggs IN THEIR SHELLS into boiling water for 10 seconds before cracking each into a ramekin. You can see in the picture above that the whites have started setting. This helps keep them together when they’re added to the boiling water.
There’s a teensy bit of a tail on one of those eggs, but you can see that -by and large- they’ve held together quite well. That makes them prettier on whichever dish you intend to put them.
Pretty food makes everyone happy. It’s so nice to look at a pretty plate before dropping your face into it like a heathen.
How to Poach an Egg
I mentioned it in passing above, but I’m going to explain myself a little better here. You should bring your eggs to room temperature for a half hour or so before dunking them (in shells) into the boiling water then poaching them.
There is sound science behind this. Instead of spending the first seconds in the drink warming up, you spend that crucial time helping the whites hold together which aids in the final appearance of the egg.
This is probably obvious, but I’m going to say it anyway. Please wash your egg shells thoroughly before dunking them into the boiling water.
This way you don’t have to have two separate pots of water boiling (one for the eggs-in-shell, one for the proper poaching). This is especially crucial if you keep backyard chickens like we do.
Yes. Crack each egg into a ramekin before you lower it into the water.
Yes. Swirl the water VIGOROUSLY (create a vortex, for cryin’ out loud) before lowering the ramekin near the water and tipping the egg into the twistah.
If you’re boiling more than one egg, stick the spoon you used to swirl the water in to about 1/3 of the depth and give it another twist or two before each additional egg is lowered.
Use a slotted spoon or a fish spatula to transfer the finished eggs to a clean plate. You can use kitchen shears or a paring knife to trim any little rogue tails or egg white bits. I won’t tell.
How to Poach Eggs Perfectly
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 2 quarts water in a soup pot
- 2 teaspoons white wine or rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- fresh eggs
Instructions
- Bring the pot of water to a boil. Use a slotted spoon, pasta drainer, or steaming basket to lower the number of eggs you wish to poach into the water in their shells. After 10 seconds, lift the eggs back out of the water and drain them. Crack each egg into its own small dish or bowl. Add the vinegar and water to the pot of boiling water, drop the heat under it to low, and when it has steam rising from the top but is not boiling, put a spoon in and stir it as vigorously as you can without spilling water over the edges in a circular motion until you’ve formed a vortex of water. Quickly lower one of the bowls close to the surface of the water and pour the egg into the vortex. Repeat this with up to two eggs. The water should still be spinning somewhat as the last egg is added. Set the timer for 3 minutes for set whites and very runny yolks, 3 1/2 minutes for set whites and thickened yolks, and 4 minutes for set whites and almost set yolks. Use a slotted spoon to lift the finished eggs to a plate to await being served.
- Serve on toast, salad, polenta, or Eggs Benedict.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Reader's Thoughts...
AU Peter B. says
should the ramekin be room temp dry prior to adding the egg, or would it benefit from being warm water wet or even smeared with a dab of butter or both?
Rebecca says
Hi Peter- I don’t find it is necessary to add butter or water because you’re just using the ramekin to transfer the egg to the water. I am generally using dry ramekins for the first round, then wet from being used for the first round on the second round. 🙂
Dick says
I’m not sure that these qualify as poached eggs or just soft boiled eggs. However they are the most delicious way I ate them. You can carefully lower your eggs into boiling water in the shell for 3 minutes or put them in cold tap water and let them boil which takes about 6 minutes. Then dump the boiling water and add the ice bath. The whites are mostly solid and the yolks are nice and runny, just thickened up a little bit. I use a tablespoon to scoop the eggs out of the shell. I do add a little salt to the water before boiling. I’m not sure it helps but I do it anyway
John Court says
And the salt is for……?
Rebecca says
It’s for flavour! And I wouldn’t leave it out unless you like bland food. 🙂
pamela says
The Mister said I had one of my best days ever today. I looked confused, so he elaborated: “You got the taxes done and we are getting a humongous refund, and you made spectacular Eggs Benny. You should be very satisfied.”
So. Here I am, thanking you for contributing to what has been deemed one of my best days ever.
Rebecca says
You’re extra welcome! You can send the check to…
Marie says
Brilliance is the act of applying the knowledge one’s learned. A brilliant act makes one feel stupid, slapping their forehead and saying, “Of course! I should have known that! How did I not know that?” Such a simple process, and yet with ten years in three kitchens no one once showed me that trick. I’ve never even seen it! All the crazy pastries I used to make and yet I couldn’t poach a damned egg to save my life. Way to think inside the egg – Sherlock would be so proud!
Rebecca says
That is one of the best comments ever, Marie! Thank you!!
Bri | Bites of Bri says
I love a good benedict and this will make them so much prettier. When you don’t do the egg in shell trick those poached eggs are UGLY!!! Thanks so much for sharing this 🙂
Holly @ The Very Hungry Blonde says
I love making poached eggs! I remember learning how to make them in my very first Home Ec class in highschool!
Virginia says
Oh good! I’m sub par at making poached eggs. I’m going to bookmark this for the next time I try!
Sippitysup says
I’ve done the ramekin trick and will try the pre-cook idea soon. GREG
Rie says
I was just asking one friend about poaching eggs!!! Will pass this info onto another friend!!!
Margaret says
Thanks for sharing this! You make it look so easy:) I love eggs but have never poached them. It’s a fear of doing it wrong thing, I guess, lol. Now I will have to do this and impress my family:)
Millie | Add A Little says
Now thats what I call yolk porn at its finest!
Carol at Wild Goose Tea says
We won’t go into how old I am. Sigh. I cook a lot. I love egg dishes. But I realize I really and truly didn’t have a clue how to properly poach an egg. I love love love eggs. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rebecca says
You’re very welcome, Carol! It never ceases to amaze me how many “normal, everyday” things I learn to do every year. You’d think once we hit a certain age, we’d have it accomplished, but I guess the opposite of that is sort of the point of it all, isn’t it? We have to keep having something ‘basic’ to learn or we’re finished!
Jacque Herron says
Thank you. I’ve always wondered how my favorite Sunday brunch restaurant gets such fat poached eggs….hmmm! Just when I think I know it all….
april says
I’ve bookmarked this to try again; I love poached eggs but I’m terrible at making them myself. I actually broke down and bought the little cups that go in the water even though it’s more steamed than poached at that point. I’m not sure I’m capable of poaching.
On a separate note – have you done soft boiled eggs? These also sound right up my alley but I don’t exactly know what to do or how to eat them so I haven’t tried.