So, a few other tips! This works best if your egg isn’t super cold. Take it out of the fridge first and let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes if you can. You can poach an egg right out of the fridge, but you might want to leave it in the water for an extra minute or two. Also, don’t let the water get too hot – I usually let it come to a boil and turn it down a bit before dropping the egg in. Also, any kind of white vinegar will work; I usually use sushi vinegar, because that’s always in the fridge. Tonight, I put my poached egg on top of a salad of greens, blue cheese crumbles, and some grilled mushrooms and onions, and it was delicious! Seriously, I cleaned my plate. Even I was surprised at me.
I love poached eggs. I have actually been making them a long time, long before I knew how to do it properly. I’m actually pretty good at making eggs benedict, but Niles isn’t a fan of eggs, and it’s a pretty labor-intensive dish to make for oneself, so I haven’t done that in a long while. Plus, I can’t bear to waste anything, so since the hollandaise only uses egg yolks, and I’m left with a bunch of egg whites, making myself eggs benedict also means I’m probably going to end up making meringue cookies. Not the worst fate in the world, but it does kind of double the work load.
Having never been able to successfully poach an egg, I thank you for this. You should make more instructional comics. I don’t know how to pick a beer to pair with eggs.
I feel like I should have drawn the little rainbow star and “The More You Know” at the top of this one. :D
Ah, so delicious. Thank you. <3
How timely! I’ve recently developed a love of eggs benedict and have spent time wondering how to actually poach an egg. But a vortex? I never would have guessed!
Speaking of poached eggs and eggs benedict, have you tried the benedicts at the Lucky Platter up in Evanston? They use corn bread instead of English muffins and they’re just… they just… I mean, the whole menu is good, particularly their cinnamon glazed bacon, but… *runs off to make weekend brunch plans*
I just love reading this! It makes me sorry that I’m not hungry right now! Your salad recipe sounds SOOOOOOOO good. Maybe tonight for dinner!!!
Julia Child had a philosophy about eating very good recipes, slowing down and enjoying every bite…then you don’t need to overeat to enjoy good food. I think you’ve been channeling her!!! haha
@NomadiCat – I’ve never been to Lucky Platter but that sounds incredible! Owen & Engine makes a benedict with crumpets instead of English muffins, the texture is amazing. I adore a good crabcake benedict though, those are by far my favorites :D
@terrie (Terrie’s my mom you guys!) I was thinking about how long it was taking to make that salad last night, to poach the egg, grill the mushrooms and garlic and onions, chop up the greens, crumble the blue cheese – and then I looked at the clock and realized it had taken less than 15 minutes! Slowing down doesn’t even take that long. :) But then, I regularly make sushi for myself, and preparing that takes 10 times longer than eating it.
Is it normal to get a bunch of white frothy stuff collecting at the top of the pan or am I doing it wrong? :/ All of my vortexes seem so flimsy, but when I try to step them up the water starts splashing out of the pot. Finally, with your three minute cooking time, do you typically get runnier yolks or firmer yolks?
@Jamie: I do tend to get the white frothy stuff sometimes, but I get a lot less of it if I turn the heat down. You don’t want the water to be too hot, go for more of a simmer than a rolling boil. Also, yeah, 3 minutes will give you a runnier yolk, especially if you’re working with an egg straight out of the fridge instead of one that’s more room temperature. Don’t get discouraged! It will probably take a little while to master. I can’t tell you how many eggs I destroyed in my quest to get better at poaching.