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How to Poach an Egg: A Comparison of Techniques
Ah, the poached egg. Warm, runny yolk, cloaked in a thin layer of egg white, spilling softly onto a piece of white toast, with lots of freshly-cracked black pepper. Poached eggs on toast continue to be my go-to breakfast, but even a poached egg lover like myself has to admit that the notion of cleaning out foamy tendrils of egg white from a saucepan often prevents me from enjoying my favorite breakfast. A quick search reveals that many people share this intimidation when it comes to poaching eggs, with tons of techniques all promising foolproof perfect poached eggs. It’s time to put these techniques to the test, and put this poaching business to rest once and for all.
Microwave Poached Eggs
Technique: Fill a mug halfway with water. Crack raw egg into mug. Microwave for a minute and a half, listening carefully. When you hear light “popping” sounds, the egg is done. Drain.
Results:
Notes: While cleanup is a snap, and there is no egg white “flyaway,” this doesn’t even resemble a well-poached egg. In this, the easiest technique we tested, the yolk is hard-cooked, while the white remains runny, which kind of seems like the opposite of what you want. This one went to the dog, and this simply isn’t a technique we can recommend.
“Cup-Drop” Poached Eggs
Technique: Bring a saucepan full of water with a dash of vinegar to a boil. Crack an egg into a small teacup. Drop the egg, cup and all, into the boiling water, and cook for three minutes.
Results:
Notes: This method was needlessly complicated, while not solving any of the problems with poaching eggs. After dropping the cup into the pan, a bunch of the white foamed up and floated away. After the two minutes, you are then faced with the problem of how to get a fragile egg out of a piping hot teacup that is submerged in boiling water. This resulted in a lot of fumbling around with tongs and slotted spoons, and the added juggling time overcooked the egg slightly. After getting it drained, I noticed that the egg had hardly any white left, and the pan was a mess. The verdict? Another failed technique, that adds only the complications of a steaming hot cup to the equation, while reducing none of the problems.
Saran Wrap Poached Eggs
Technique: Line a teacup with plastic wrap. Crack an egg into the cup, and twist the top to seal. Place the plastic wrapped egg bundle into simmering water, and cook for three minutes.
Results:
Notes: This technique also suffers from overcomplication. While it is nice to retain all of the egg white, getting the cooked egg out of its plastic prison and onto your toast can be problematic. As you can see, we weren’t able to do it without breaking the yolk, which makes your presentation suffer. Also, the egg being sealed from the water removes the very faint vinegar flavor from the finished product, which, for me, is an important part of the poached egg experience. This technique works well for anyone overly preoccupied with egg white flyaway, but the extra tools and steps needed don’t make this a worthwhile technique for regular use.
Vortex Poached Eggs
Technique: Crack egg into cup and set aside. Add a dash of vinegar to a saucepan of water, and bring to a boil. When water boils, use a spatula of wooden spoon to swirl the water in a circle, creating a vortex. Calling it a “vortex” makes this sound much, much cooler than it is. When water swirls, slip egg from cup into center of vortex, and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Result:
Notes: This technique resulted in eggs that most closely resemble my notion of poached eggs. The white of the eggs gets fluffy, and a small portion of the white wraps around the yolk, which is not only pretty, but protects the yolk from breaking while you drag it out of the water. There is also the slightest twinge from the vinegar, which I enjoy. This technique is actually the simplest, though it may take a practice egg or two to get the technique down. As you can see, I overcooked mine a little bit, in the example above.
Conclusion:
The oldest techniques are the best. The vortex method of poaching egg requires just a tiny bit of finesse, but results in light, fluffy poached eggs, with yolks ever-so-slightly cooked on the outside, but still perfect for smearing around on the buttered toast. While the swirl may take a little practice, the results are spectacular.
Bonus: The Un-Poached Egg
Technique: Pierce the large end of a raw egg with a pin, to let steam escape. Lower egg into boiling water. Boil for four minutes, then run under cold water to halt cooking. Peel carefully, and place on toast. Cut open, add salt and pepper, and serve.
Result:
Notes: For those who simply can’t abide the Vortex technique, there is a great alternative that achieves some of the same goals of the poached egg on toast: You can soft boil your egg. A properly soft-boiled egg offers a slightly firmer white, but still lots of delicious, runny yolk, with a cooking technique that is vastly simpler and easier to clean up. Try it…you might find you can’t tell the difference!
The vortex method works like a charm—
My eggs always end up somehow being scrambled no matter what the initial goal is- thanks for the advice!
[...] so pretty (and had perfectly runny yolks) thanks to us following advice from a recent entry on Dinnercraft. Dinner from [...]
Wow, what a great review of techniques! i’ve always been afraid to try poaching an egg but i’ll need to try now. runny yolks + toast is one of my all time favorite things to eat.