I’m sure you’ve seen those fancy pans that advertise the perfect poached eggs. And, I know what you’re thinking. Only fancy people know how to poach an egg, right?
Wrong – YOU can poach an egg too!
Not that you’re not fancy, but I’m just saying that poaching eggs is for everyone – the common man and for royalty. So, let’s get with it shall we?
And the best part? You don’t need a special pan or even special skills to poach eggs at home. Save your cabinet space for useful things like waffle irons and your 101 cookie cutter set. As long as you have a big pot and a slotted spoon, you can poach an egg!
Before we get too far into this post, I should be honest with y’all and admit that I don’t like poached eggs. I’m weird about eggs. I’ll eat them boiled or scrambled, but that’s about as risky as I’m going to get. But Barry loves a good poached egg, so on special occasions I make them just for him.
To make these lovely little beauties, all you need eggs (DUH!), water, salt, pepper, and white vinegar. That’s it. If you’ve never tried to poach an egg before, you may wonder about the vinegar. White vinegar is for making the egg whites coagulate better. Huh? You heard me. I know it’s true because I looked it up on the internet, and everything on the internet is true. 😉
Your secret Stacy tip for easy poached eggs?
I crack my eggs into small bowls before I add them to the water. I assure you…I don’t do this part so that I have more dishes to wash. And yes, I could crack them straight into the water. But I don’t have a good history of being able to crack eggs without getting the shell in whatever I’m making. It also lets me get the eggs very close to the water without burning my hand while trying to break an egg.
What about you? Have you ever tried to poach an egg? If not, maybe today’s your day to get fancy! 😉
Easy Poached Eggs
5 quarts boiling water
6-8 eggs
1 tablespoon vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
- Bring water to a rolling boil. Add 1 tablespoon vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
- Using a big mixing spoon, start stirring the water. Stir liberally, until the water is swirling.
- Crack eggs, one at a time, into a small bowl. Note: You can crack your eggs directly into the water, I just don’t always have success with this method.
- Carefully and gently pour each egg into the boiling water.
- Cook for 3-5 minutes, depending on how runny you like your egg yolks to be.
- Remove from the boiling water with a slotted spoon.
- If you’re not going to eat your eggs right away then you can set them aside, but keep the water simmering. Just before serving, plop the poached eggs back into the water for about 30 seconds – 1 minute to warm them back up.
- You can cook multiple eggs at once, just be sure the water is still swirling before you add in each egg.
I can’t eat runny eggs, so I’m right with ya on the boiled or scrambled