How do I make good looking poached eggs?

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I find creating the vortex and dropping the egg in the center of it works for me. Remove from heat, cover, and wait about 4-5 minutes if you want a runny yolk. Also, if doing more than one, to lower the custard cup into the water and cook it in the cup. Some people use rings or cupcake liners. If your white is breaking up, it could be the eggs are not fresh. Eggs in stores can be 1 week to almost 52 weeks old, at least here in Ontario. Because of the egg marketing board, eggs can sit in a warehouse for almost 12 months before they hit the supermarket shelf. Although, usually, the 12 month-old eggs are sent to be turned into powdered eggs. If the eggs are from a USDA-inspected location, the carton must contain a packed date and the expiry date cannot be more than 45 days later than the packed date. However, eggs are not necessarily packed the same day they are laid. To determine if you have old eggs, take your eggs out of the fridge, put them in a pitcher of water. Do the whole carton to determine which eggs in the carton are the freshest eggs. Any that float are older than 1 week and the white will not adhere to the yolk as tightly as it would with eggs that are less than one week old (any that do not float or remain partially suspended are fresher than the eggs that rise to the top). This is the nature of eggs and not much you can do about it if you don't have access to fresh eggs.
 
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One of my favorite ways to poach eggs is slow poaching , leave the eggs in the shell and keep the water at 145 F the entire time. The internal temp of the egg will stay at the perfect temp as I like them and will not overcook. Depending on how done you like the yolk and white , you can adjust the temp of the water to match.
 
I'm pretty sure the definition of poached eggs requires them to be out of the shell. Otherwise with the shell they're soft boiled.
 
Greg Who Cooks said:
I'm pretty sure the definition of poached eggs requires them to be out of the shell. Otherwise with the shell they're soft boiled.

Yeah I would say your right , well the way that these come out are very similar to a poached egg and are really easy to get just right , I like the whites to be a little runny on mine. The recipite that I use is called slow poached but I guess it is really just very soft boiled, the eggs basically cook in a warm water bath.
 
redfish_33 said:
I wish I had a dollar for every egg that I have ruined trying to get the perfect poached egg lol.

As long as you ate it, it didn't go to waste. It may have gone to waist. (hee hee).
 
chopper said:
As long as you ate it, it didn't go to waste. It may have gone to waist. (hee hee).

Well I spent a entire weekend trying to perfect poaching eggs, I tried alot of different recipites. Its a good thing that eggs are cheap lol. There are actually alot of good recipites out there but alot of it is trial and error.
 
Other than I've heard the vortex method works for some people, I can't offer much. I've cooked a lot of things but eggs in any form other than hard boiled or scrambled hard are a no go for me.
 
I have two rings with a handle that sticks out of the water. I gently drop the egg into the ring and let sit in hot water. Perfect circle of poached egg. I don't know where I got the rings. I have had them for more than thirty years. Using a tuna can with both ends cut out will give you the same effect. Just use tongs when lifting can out of the water. :yum:
 
Well I spent a entire weekend trying to perfect poaching eggs, I tried alot of different recipites. Its a good thing that eggs are cheap lol. There are actually alot of good recipites out there but alot of it is trial and error.
If the whites are separating from the yolk, the eggs are old. Go to your local farmer's market or ? where you can get farm-fresh eggs and try again.
 
I have two rings with a handle that sticks out of the water. I gently drop the egg into the ring and let sit in hot water. Perfect circle of poached egg. I don't know where I got the rings. I have had them for more than thirty years. Using a tuna can with both ends cut out will give you the same effect. Just use tongs when lifting can out of the water. :yum:
I've used the tuna can method--I also used biscuit cutters, but with fresh eggs, the vortex method works well. Except, I've got 2 burners going with greens and grains, so opt to use the microwave egg poacher because I only have 2 hands and keeping an eye on three pots is a challenge first thing in the morning.:LOL:
 
Restaurants use the microwave to cook poached eggs most of the time.

Fill a soup-sized bowl w/ water and add a splash of vinegar. Break an egg into a separate bowl. Gently lower the lip of the bowl with the egg into the water and release the egg. Cover the bowl with a plate & microwave about 1 to 2 min, depending on how you like them. It will take a couple tries to get the timing down right.

Quick, utterly painless and they come out perfectly every time once you get the timing down for your microwave.
 
Restaurants use the microwave to cook poached eggs most of the time.

Fill a soup-sized bowl w/ water and add a splash of vinegar. Break an egg into a separate bowl. Gently lower the lip of the bowl with the egg into the water and release the egg. Cover the bowl with a plate & microwave about 1 to 2 min, depending on how you like them. It will take a couple tries to get the timing down right.

Quick, utterly painless and they come out perfectly every time once you get the timing down for your microwave.

I will try that this weekend.
 
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