My favourite Saturday morning breakfast is a soft poached egg on whole wheat toast with a bit of wild rocket out of my garden and a pinch of Maldon salt. When you cut into that egg and the yellow slowly ooze onto the bread … it is like early morning sunshine on my plate! What I want to share with you today is not a specific recipe on how to poach the perfect egg but a few interesting facts and tips that might help you along the way. I am sure you will know most of them but one or two of these pointers are quite interesting.
1. The fresher the egg, the easier the poach – fresh eggs hold together better when slipped into the simmering water.
2. To test to see whether an egg is fresh – put the egg into a bowl of water. A very fresh egg will immediately sink to the bottom and lie flat on its side – an old egg will float.
3. The eggs must preferably be room temperature.
4. Remember to add a bit of vinegar to the simmering water – it helps hold the egg together.
5. The water must be simmering not boiling.
6. Now, my best tip is to slowly submerse the whole egg with shell and all in the hot simmering water for 10 seconds before you break it. This ensures the whites on the outside of the egg hold together better during poaching.
7. Before breaking the egg into your simmering pot of water, use a spoon and give the water a stir so that it forms a little bit of a whirlpool…the centrifugal motion will pull the egg together when you slide it into the water.
8. When you break the egg break it into a saucer or cup first – be careful not to break the yolk and then simply slide the egg off the saucer or cup into the centre of the whirling water.
9. How long to poach the egg? Here’s a quirky snippet I read…when you put your bread in to toast put your egg in to poach…when your toast pops out of the toaster…your poached egg should be ready to be removed from the pot. Otherwise poach it for 3-5 minutes until cooked.
10. When done scoop out with slotted spoon or spatula onto a paper towel to dry excess water from the now poached egg.
It’s quick but fabulous when poached to perfection… decadent and yummy all at the same time!
Don’t forget too that a poached egg on top of a rocket + bacon salad makes for a wonderful salad option just ever so slightly out of the ordinary.
thanks for popping in doreen
Hi Anel
Agree with Madeline. I also read the article on poaching eggs in Glad Wrap and find it much easier. The poached eggs also look quite decorative. Finding FRESH eggs is quite a task.
Thank you for all the fab recipes.
Doreen
Xxx
Thank you so much for this Madeline! 🙂 Great idea x
Hi there
I have found an even easier way to poach eggs, but it is someone else’s idea I got from a magazine! Put a sheet of Gladwrap in a cup or a muffin pan, spray with Spray and Cook and tie with a piece of string at the top. Boil enough water in a pot and add the eggs in Gladwrap once boiling. You also poach it for the same time as indicated above and you can turn it over. Once done, remove from po, tcut open, slip onto smoked salmon/trout on toast and enjoy!
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I just, tonight, poached my first eggs, and ATE my first poached egg! Tips and tricks (like yours) helped me not screw it up too much – thanks!
http://wp.me/p1d1MQ-eP
Thanks Pierre!
These tips are fantastic Anel. So many people love poached egg, but shy away from it because of the belief that it is difficult to make. This will go a long way to put more poached eggs on deserving breakfast plates on Sunday mornings. Tip no 6 is new to me, and may well be the one step I have been missing all along – This is a wonderful, practical post! Thanks.