In search of the perfect poached egg

Back at Thanksgiving I was down at Sarah’s grandmother’s place and the morning after our feast her grandmother cooked up one hell of a breakfast – toast, bacon, ham, fried tomatoes, and the absolute best poached eggs I’ve ever had. Since then I’ve been craving them again and again and finally, a couple weekends ago, I enlisted Sarah to help me try to master the poached egg.

In the past, every time I’d tried to poach an egg it was… well, bad. The whites would explode and separate into strands and the yoke would be soggy.

Gross.

This time we bought better eggs,

had them at room temp and made sure our water was simmering. The results were good, very good, but still nothing on her grandmothers…

The few tips I’ve been given on “How to Poach an Egg”:

1.   I’ve always been one to spend an extra couple bucks for good eggs and they really make a difference here. Buy the good ones.

2.  Make sure your water is simmering, not just hot, and I found a sauce pan easier to work with.

3. Use room temperature eggs.

4.  When the water is simmering add a T or 2 of vinegar, just plain old white works fine.

5.  Crack your egg into a dish and then gently lower it into the simmering water.

6.  For a slightly runny yolk, somewhere around 3 or 4 mins is good I think. A firmer yolk 5 or 6 mins.

7. Remove with a slotted spoon, if you wish dry with a paper towel. Season with s + p. Done.

Top off a breakfast sandwich…

Or make some weird breakfast with leftovers,

Or whatever else you can think of.

Good luck