The Independent Woman and The Poached Egg

[OrangeFlowersAreLovely]

Lived on my own for 16 years. Happily single. Own house. Own car. Own money. Own mind.

You come to my house... I'll cook you anything. Roast dinner, curry, spaghetti bolognaise, chilli, omelette. Anything you want.

For the life of me I cannot do a poached egg. I've asked other people, I've watched endless videos on YouTube, I've googled it. Yesterday I asked a B&B owner who gave me new advice... I got hopeful. Today I've wasted four eggs before 8.30am.

I fucking give up.

The sieving helps if they are a bit older. Then bring water to a very gentle simmer in a shallow (eg omelette) pan, tip the egg in from a ramekin or cup, put a lid on, turn the heat off and wait. Swirling and vinegar never worked for me but this does.

The freshness of the egg is all - the more of the amniotic fluid the albumen has absorbed, the messier the poached egg gets. In a fresh egg the albumen is almost jelly-like in its firmness, so holds together beautifully.

I have XXL eggs (around 80g) and they take 3m20s in just-off-the-boil water.

The sieve (or slotted spoon or tea strainer) method mentioned by a PP can definitely help.

I was you OP until I tried these.

Works a treat. My mother had one of these 100 years ago!

Just give in and use an egg poaching pan!

I can't believe people are making such a meal of this (pun intended)!

Just buy a bloody pan that does the job for you! You really can't have enough going on in your lives if you've got time for all this hand-flapping and faffing.

As PP said, hot but not boiling water. Any bubbles will separate the egg and you end up with eggy water

I REFUSE to give in! I already still torture myself for giving into sat navs and not finding my own way, the clever twats.

Honestly, they always look like ghost testicles to me. Save yourself the trouble and have some lovely fluffy buttery scramble instead 😁

(microwave...... 🤫)

I second Lady’s use of sieve after watching *Emmy MadeinJapan’s yt video.

Emmy follows the sieve action by putting the raw eggs in a vinegar solution which sort of sears the outside of the egg so it is in a sealed skin before even being lowered into the hot water.

I rarely bother with poached eggs, unless I’m having a real notion of them, so am never going to perfect them through practice, this is a ‘meproof’ if not foolproof method

Still more washing up than boiled eggs so I’m not making poached more, just less frustratedly

*I still mentally add the end in despite her name change, like JenLuvsReviews

Emmy has a great ‘hard times’ series too & I may, or may definitely, have saved grass clippings over the summer to make my own hay, just so I could try out the hay box cooking.

I only learned last year but this is my fool-proof method..

Boil kettle and fill pan a third to half..

Have hob on lowest setting.. gentle break egg into water... no swirl.. leave on lowest heat for 2.5 minutes... perfect!

Boiled eggs are really nice, and you can get a pretty egg cup.

Delia's method. Works every time. It looks like it's not going to work but don't panic, have faith.

www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/eggs/how-to-poach-an-egg

You can poach eggs in a microwave oven, in a ramekin with water and a little vinegar

I KNOW THIS!!

I got a tip years ago and it really works!
My kids always ask for mummy's perfect eggs!

No vinegar. No swirling.

Slotted spoon is helpful

Pan with 8cm ish of nearly boiling water

Gently lower an egg IN ITS SHELL into the water count 5 seconds Lift egg out

Crack egg shell into small crack

Gently and slowly let the egg fall out of the shell into the water. As slow as you can while not burning your fingers

Turn the pan to low wait 2-3 minutes

It's perfect!

Putting the egg in whilst it's still in its shell starts the outer coagulation it also drops the water temp by a few degrees.

Putting the egg slowly from the shell into the water helps it keep a nice shape

Good luck!!

Try my way please!! 😃

A sous vide also works and make lovely poached eggs.

I'm a TERRIBLE cook, dh actually does all the cooking but this I can do- I think people talking about swirls and vinegar are over complicating matters.

I dont swirl, just fill frying pan with water, and put eggs in when simmering.

www.lakeland.co.uk/12116/poachpod-silicone-egg-poaching-pods-pack-of-2

I have had these for years, great results but only recently realised that you don't need to loosen them with a knife then lift them out with a spoon...you just turn them upside down and pop them out, they sit like little domes on your toast!

My daughter makes perfect poached eggs.

I don’t.

This was yesterday’s attempt.

Why has my photo posted so many times 🙄

This! Absolutely this. I can't poach eggs either 🤷🏻‍♀️

I cheat. I have a plastic pod thing with a lid, that you put in the microwave on a low setting and it produces a perfect poached egg every time. Life’s too short to faff about with vinegar and saucepans when there’s a more reliable method!