Did you make a second one? It sounds good.

Lee

Which is why I use a top of the stove egg poacher. I would go crazy trying to poach them in water. This way I always know how they're going to turn out and the pan without the insert can be used for other things. Just sayin'....

It was wonderful...done to perfection...didn't make a second one....it was just for me and didn't matter if the egg was centered properly or if it had a tail of white.

Thinking now, I didn't bother to get out and use the usual 1 qt sauce pan....I had a 2 qt one on the counter that I had washed from last night....so I used that.
Perhaps the secret lies in a smaller pan.....thinking I might have to try that again....just to see.

Don't like an "egg poacher"....with those little cups you butter. I feel about an egg poached the "proper way" sort of how I feel about a fried egg and a spatula.....don't need one.....just flip the egg. The other morning, I flipped a slice of French toast.....felt so smart!!

^^and so you should! I am flipping impaired, spatula is mandatory or everything ends up on the stove top or floor.

I got an egg poacher at a garage sale that sets on top of a pot, had to find a pot for it to fit in. Those eggs are so much better than fried or scrambled or any other style of egg. I don't know why it is, but poached, to me, is much tastier! YUM! I could never spin one around in water...I tried that ONE TIME back when I first started cooking and said "never again!"

Try 4 times.....maybe you will catch on....so much easier than dirtying another "thing"....and having to store another single use utensil.
And the one I was given had 4 little "cups" to hold the eggs....so for one...I would be getting out 4 little cups?...nah....easier to just drop it into the water!

It's possible to repair the egg if you are paying attention and do it soon enough, before the egg entirely sets up. Just gently fold the streamers back toward the center of the egg.

Jim

Eh, I don't care how they look when I'm eating them myself, so I just plop them into salted water. No vinegar for me, just salt and water and an egg. I have a little electric thing that belonged to Dad, shaped like a chicken. White ceramic and you plug it in, has three little places to drop the egg. I've never used it.

I prefer mine over easy but cannot flip an egg. I do not want the yolk set or broken, I want it runny and intact and although I've tried dozens of times over the sink, I've only managed to ruin dozens of eggs. It's not that hard to wash a spatula, thankfully. Can't flip a pancake either, and I just get vegetables all over the stove when I try that "shake the pan and flip the vegetables" thing.

I think maybe I just don't care enough....

Annie

Ours always come out messy. Makes cleanup a chore. I have a microwave poacher I like to use. Easy to make and easy to clean.

All the talk about eggs last week, I ended up having eggs Friday for dinner, Saturday for breakfast, and Sunday for brunch. If I coulda had poached, I would've.

If your eggs come out so messy that you have trouble cleaning the pan.....you have a serious poaching disability!!
Even the messiest egg I have done doesn't get stuck to the pan!!

No one here is ever going to believe me about microwaving an egg for 24 seconds and enjoying the egg, sans butter, salt, or vinegar, right from the little ramekin. Or on toast or a muffin. Can't get any better. Or easier. Or prettier. No fuss, no muss, no gadgets or pans of boiling water.

And I have never ever had one explode, so don't tell me any horror stories. Hub and I each have one or two nearly every morning. Yum.

I like eggs a lot of different ways but never found an attraction to poached for some reason. Don't really dislike them but there's more effort and I guess I just don't see much difference between poaching and other preparation methods although an egg cooked in bacon grease is hard to beat!

I am old and have never had a poached egg. I've eaten
with others, in diners, and looked at their poached eggs
and thought they looked raw, and undercooked. I like my
egg with a runny yolk and a solid white. I'll prolly
go to my grave, never having had a poached egg, ehhh.

I wonder if some whose poached eggs are a real mess are using rapidly boiling water. The water has to be calm, just barely simmering.

Jim

Posted by sherrmann "No one here is ever going to believe me about microwaving an egg for 24 seconds and enjoying the egg, sans butter, salt, or vinegar, right from the little ramekin. Or on toast or a muffin. Can't get any better. Or easier. Or prettier. No fuss, no muss, no gadgets or pans of boiling water. ----"

I am totally with you. I have seen all the videos of "perfect" poached eggs, including those by famous chefs. I just don't get it.

This is my egghead approach of poaching eggs:

1. I don't use vinegar.
2. I don't stir the water
3. And I don't want to waste any egg white.
4. I want my poached eggs done exactly the way I like, EVERY TIME, regardless of how big, how old, or how cold the eggs are.

The basic property of egg white and egg yolk and the thermodynamics of water are simple, and the desired end result can be predictable and repeatable.

1. Crack eggs into small plastic cups. Season the eggs if you prefer.
2. In a large pot bring water to rapid boil.
3. Place cups with eggs in boiling pot on a rack to steam the eggs. Do not boil the cups in water.
4. In a minute the egg white will be firm and the yolks are still runny.
5. Remove the cups, and turn off the fire.
6. Gently pour the eggs into the hot water. The egg white will not spread all over because it has been cooked firm.
7. Select from the egg chart the degree of runny-ness you like the yolks, add cold water to the boiling water and use a thermometer to check the temperature. I use my sous vide cooker to keep temperature to within one degree F.
8. As long as you keep the temperature constant, your eggs cannot be overcooked.

dcarch
{{gwi:1549953}}

Thanks for the good info, dc. I am learning a lot about cooking to temperature from this and your posts on sous vide. Even when I don't follow your methods precisely, it gives me a better understanding of what is happening as I cook.

Jim

Dcarch, you have given me the inspiration to 'try' a
poached egg. What is that on top of the poached eggs
in your pictures . . . crumbled bacon???

I'm in the camp of just salted, simmering water too. I haven't found that vinegar makes a dang bit of difference in the egg white spreading out. Occasionally I cook them in silicone prep bowls, but usually I don't care enough about the looks to jump through any extra hoops.

lbpod, yes, that's powdered bacon.

Jessica, that's what I have observed also. All the videos on youtube using vinegar, the egg white spreads just the same.

dcarch