How To Poach a Farm Fresh Egg

Poaching eggs has always been one of those things that scared me. Is the water spinning fast enough? Is it too fast? Is the water hot enough? How long do I leave it? Do I stir the water more with the egg in there?

Well, I've done a bunch of eggs, and I've finally figured it out. So now I'm here to tell you what I've learned. I truly believe if you follow these steps, you'll get the perfect, round, yummy poached egg every time.

Tip 1: We're all told to salt water before boiling it, but in this case, salt tends to make the egg white stringy. Crazy thing, you need to use a light brown vinegar instead. The acid in the vinegar helps to hold the egg white in shape. 1 tbsp of a light brown vinegar in 4 cups of water is plenty, and it won't flavor the egg.

Tip 2: You definitely need to use deeper water. A sauce pan/pot that holds 1 qt of water is perfect. The egg needs to be able to completely submerge with inches of water above it.

Tip 3: Have you ever noticed eggs have a watery egg white, and a thicker egg white? The watery white is what whisps in the water. If you use a fine sieve, you can separate the watery egg white without breaking the egg.

Tip 4: Put your egg in a small cup, bowl, or ramekin to pour it more easily, a fluidly into the water.

Tip 5: Last thing, swirling the water is only helpful if you are poaching 1 egg at a time. If you are cooking multiple eggs, swirling the water makes the eggs collide and may break.

Ok, so now you need the steps right?

1. Set your sieve over a cup/bowl big enough to hold the watery egg white for the eggs you will be cooking.
2. Break egg over sieve. Gently shake sieve to get the softer white separated and pour egg into your small cup, bowl, or ramekin. Repeat for all eggs, using a different cup to hold each egg.
3. Bring at least 4 cups of water to boil in a deep pot. (You can do steps 1 and 2 while water is heating if you feel confident in your separations)
4. Turn water to low (or off), and add your vinegar. If you are only doing 1 egg, this is where you stir. You only need enough swirl that the "vortex" goes about half the depth of the pot when you pour the egg in.
5. Gently pour 1 egg at a time right over the surface of the water. It doesn't have to be super slow. You just don't want to make the water plop.
6. Let the eggs cook 3-4 minutes. I only do 3 minutes, but you might want a slightly firmer yolk than I like.
7. Use a slotted spoon, or similar utensil to lift your egg out of the water.

Place it on your dish and enjoy the golden goodness of a perfectly poached farm fresh egg!

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