How to Poach an Egg

Happy Easter Yesterday!

I was planning to post this recipe yesterday but our favorite neighbors invited us to join them for the Easter brunch (all day event, as a rule, especially with the weather like that), so my posting plans fell through.

Now here I am with the recipe/theory of how to cook a perfect poached egg.

By many, poached eggs are considered sort of a “restauranty” dish – elegant, delicate, exquisite, and a way too complicated to make at home. I agree with that poaching is truly elegant way to serve eggs, but disagree that the only way to enjoy them is to go out. Egg poaching is not just easy, it’s very easy. If you follow several simple rules, you can have poached eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner, on a toast, in a soup or on top of steak or salad.

There are many unnecessary things some people do when poaching eggs that can make other people think that egg poaching is next to rocket science. Adding vinegar to poaching liquid*, swirling it into a whirlpool, using silicone cups, even microwaving – though all of these techniques have some underlying reasoning, most of them are redundant and some of them can even badly affect flavor, texture or shape of an egg.

For instance, adding a bit of vinegar to poaching liquid helps egg whites coagulate faster and, therefore, better hold their shape. However, for me and many others vinegar is all they can smell and taste in eggs poached this way. In my list there are several good tricks how to make perfect poached eggs and vinegar is not one of them.

Two of the most significant factors affecting poaching are a grade of an egg and its freshness. In American stores we usually have two egg grades, grade AA and more common grade A. We need grade AA.  When being fried or poached, eggs of grade AA turn out much more compact and keep their shape better than other grades because their whites are thicker and firmer.

Freshness also contributes to thickness of an egg white. The fresher the egg, the firmer and thicker it is and the better it keeps its shape. As eggs age in refrigerator, their whites become thinner and thinner and eventually grade AA eggs will be indistinguishable from those of grade A.

So, rule #1 in egg poaching is to shoot for very fresh grade AA eggs.

Rule #2 is that eggs should be cold, which means that you should take them from the refrigerator only after the poaching water is ready. Cold eggs are thicker than those at room temperature and stay more compact when placed in hot water.

Rule #3 is that there should be almost no movement in poaching liquid during the whole process of cooking unless, of course, you use an egg for a Rorschach test. Boiling or even light simmering of poaching liquid will inevitably deform an egg and may disperse its albumen all over the pot in little pieces, especially if it happens in the beginning of cooking before eggs get set. Bring poaching liquid to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium low and wait until all the vigorous bubbling activity subsides to small bubbles traveling upwards. The surface of the poaching liquid should be quiet when you add an egg.

Rule #4 is to place eggs in poaching liquid very gently so they hold their compact rounded shape.  Never break eggs directly into liquid because this will very likely deform them. Instead, break them first into small bowls or ramekins and only then put them into poaching liquid. Also, if you happen (or, better say mishappen) to break a yolk, you will see it before the egg is in poaching liquid.

If you’re cooking several eggs at a time, break them into separate ramekins, one egg per a ramekin. To put an egg into poaching liquid, bring the ramekin with an egg very close to the surface so when you turn it over it rims get submerged and the egg slides smoothly into the liquid.

To avoid eggs sticking to the bottom of a pot there is rule #5 is: use a non-stick pot or, if using stainless or other, fill it with liquid at least 3 inches high. I personally prefer the former.

Some people swear by the technique of swirling poaching liquid into a vortex and releasing an egg right into its center. Theoretically, this should help keep an egg compact and even all around. In my experience, this step is unnecessary. If you start with a good egg (that is, very fresh grade AA), its shape will not be improved by swirling of poaching liquid – whether you do you or not you will get an even and beautiful egg, of course, that the liquid never comes to a vigorous boil. On the other hand, if your egg is old and thin and runny, the vortex may create numerous sleeves of egg whites that will spread out all over the poaching liquid.

You can, however, use a soft silicone spatula to gently push the spreading egg white back to the center when the egg has just started to set. This can help create more rounded shape.

I like my eggs with runny yolks, so right after I put an egg into the poaching liquid and cover the pot with a lid I set a timer for 3 minutes for a Large egg or 3.5 for an Extra Large. If you cook more than one egg at a time, you may have to cook them longer since the more eggs you add, the colder poaching liquid becomes and the longer it takes for it to regain a proper poaching temperature.

Never overcrowd your poaching liquid. It will take a long time for it to regain its temperature on a low heat and this will badly affect eggs texture. Basically, the more eggs you poach at one time, the bigger pot you should take and the more liquid you should use. Ideally, I would give each egg about 3 cups of liquid.

When you egg is done, carefully take it out with a slotted spoon and put right in the spoon on a paper towel to absorb the excess liquid. With kitchen scissors or knife trim the egg edges, if needed, and then slide the egg onto a plate. If the egg got slightly stuck to the bottom of the pot (it happens sometimes to no non-stick pots), use a plastic spatula to gently release it.

If you have to poach lots of eggs at a time, start it a bit in advance, do it in batches, transfer poached eggs into a bowl filled with very cold water and keep them there until needed. Right before serving, briefly reheat the eggs in hot liquid.

Overall, don’t be disappointed if you don’t get a perfect poached egg at the first attempt. This is one of those simple things that may take some time to adjust to, but once you get how it works, it will become as easy and automatic for you as boiling a kettle.

* I’ve been using poaching liquid instead of poaching water because eggs can be poached in other liquids as well – for instance, broth, court bouillon, wine and many others.