How to poach the perfect egg!

water in pan JUST bubbling, break egg in, time for one minute, heat OFF, leave TEN mins, remove egg with slotted spoon rest on kitchen paper to drain then serve

I can hardly cook anything at all but my one success is poached eggs! I crack them into a bowl, put a small amount of water on the boil and add salt then when the water is boiling I gently ease the eggs in. I keep the water boiling but make sure it doesn't boil over and remove the eggs once the whites look like they are firm.

Poachies for me too.

Poaching eggs is one of my niche skills! Nothing faffy, just a half-filled saucepan of very gently simmering water, crack egg in, couple of minutes, take it out with slotted spoon, check white by pressing with a knife to make sure it's firm, and drain off any excess water. Don’t like adding vinegar as can taste it in egg.

And so you should, Riverwalk! Plenty of basking deserved. Your microwave method is the best and totally faff free - never again will I mess about with pans of water, whirlpools etc. not to mention revolting washing up afterwards dealing with white scum. Can't thank you enough!

I heat the water in a pot, add a drop of vinegar, use a whisk to make the water 'swirl'. Have the egg in a little dish and drop the egg in quickly while the water us swirling around. Once ready lift out with spoon into kitchen roll to drain off water

Riverwalk I think your method is eggsellent and I will definitely be poaching it ?

Hi . I tried this today. Dish of tinned tomatoes , smoked paprika, salt , pepper and brown sugar.. half teaspoon ....
.,topped with your poached eggs done in cling film . Lovely . Not perfect but then I need to practise. Thank you for your idea

Bring salted water to the boil and stir so that there is a whirlpool. Crack the egg and drop into the whirlpool, Poach until white is set. To stop them cooking further put some cold water into the pan, keeps the eggs warm without them overcooking. Remove with a slotted spoon.

I am going to have a bash at the microwave method which I have found fairly satisfactory to date but with more water as Riverwalk described. How do I drain the water off so the toast doesn't go soggy and the yolk doesn't break?

Try 'Poachies'. Eggcellent! Follow the instructions. Available from Amazon, or any good hardware shop.

Grannynannywanny

Riverwalk I think your method is eggsellent and I will definitely be poaching it ?

I'm eggstatic at that news! ?

JackyB

I am going to have a bash at the microwave method which I have found fairly satisfactory to date but with more water as Riverwalk described. How do I drain the water off so the toast doesn't go soggy and the yolk doesn't break?

I use a large slotted spoon and gently tip the egg onto that, then sit it on a piece of kitchen paper to soak up any remaining water. The surrounding white should be firm enough to prevent the yoke from breaking.

This is all very exciting x

Eggciting x

If you are going to try poaching in a microwave, put the end of a sharp knife into the yolk to break the skin. Otherwise it’ll explode and makes an awful mess. I know from experience!

We had poached eggs for breakfast this morning. Usually I do them in a poacher but today it was in a saucepan.

Interesting life isn’t it.

I've always done them in a small pan of water, with a walnut of butter or marg in. When the water is boiling, take the pan off the heat and break egg directly into the water. turn down heat and put pan back on stove. Increase heat gently until it is roiling and then keep an eye on it. I like mine soft-ish so (although I've never actually timed it) I cook mine for as long as it takes to take the toast from the grill, butter it and replace it in the grill to keep hot. Then use slotted spoon to gently lift the egg from the pan and check visually. plonk on toast and eat.