The egg poacher or plastic wrap?
Hmmmm, I am unsure about that one. We had a egg poacher when I was growing up and it had 3 'divots' for the eggs. It had that old 'brown' non stick coating that got scraped off from using a knife to scrape around the egg edges. That was the first way we learned how you don't use metal with non-stick surfaces. Now they are making the silicone forms for you to drop into hot water. Those puppies are NINE bucks for only two! Then they have the plastic containers for the microwave....can you say EXPLOSION?
Trust me when you try this way you will be not only amazed but wondering what took so long for this information to get around?
I found this trick on Dutch Girl Cooking. Kay has many great recipes yet she's limited a few times since she lives in the Netherlands...but she writes often keeping her American friends in mind.
The poaching set up:
Have a small dish and line with plastic wrap. Spray with non-stick spray or brush with vegetable oil.
Crack egg in dish and gather around plastic wrap edges.
Clip around gathers ends. Don't worry about whether or not there is air or not. You can get these clips in a bag from Amazon. I have also seen them at BBB but they aren't sold online.
Gather your chicks on a plate until the water comes to a boil.
Gently place them in the boiling water. Roll them a bit with tongs. Don't obsess about this....they will roll right back. Set timer for 2 minutes. These were large eggs and 2 min was perfect for a 'runny' center.
When the are done, use your tongs to place them on a dishtowel. Keep them close together to keep them hot while you prep your plates for the eggs.
Open the clips and gently take out your eggs. There will be a nice rounded side and a 'not so nice' side. Put the rounded side up.
Here I am using a Arnold's with some bacon slices for a little Eggs Benedict Twist....no english muffin or canadian bacon...but this works!
Of course you have to have the hollandaise! Scroll down to the bottom of this post for another incredibly EASY way to make hollandaise!
Oh, a thing of beauty!
No Fuss Poached Egg
from Dutch Girl Cooking
Egg(s)
*Plastic Wrap for each egg
**Clip(s)
Oil or non-stick spray
Bring enough water to a boil to fully immerse the egg and drop it into the water. Flip it over every minute or so and cook it for about 3 minutes, depending on the size of the egg. My egg was fairly large so I had to boil it for 3 and a half minutes. (I had large eggs and they were perfect @ 2 minutes)
*You can use a ziploc bag if you want but if you poach alot....this could get costly and your egg will be oblong. Shapes are only a concern when you consider what you are putting it on. My mexican dish the oblong was fine....on a round muffin for egg benedict the plastic wrap would fare better. Whatever works for you!
**If you don't have these clips, you can certainly use butcher's twine. The plastic coated 'twisties' may melt ....dunno
Insanely Easy Hollandaise Sauce
3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
dash hot pepper
1/2 cup butter
Add egg yolks, lemon juice, pepper sauce to blender. Blend about 5 seconds.
Melt butter in microwave until very hot and bubbly. With blender running with egg yolk mixture, pour in bubbling butter in a steady steam. (This is when you turn and remove that little clear knob on the blender top; to keep the mixture from splattering when you add while blending.) Blend until thickened about 30 seconds. Serve immediately!
Great breakfast! I love this cool way to poach eggs! So glad I didn't buy those stupid silicone egg poachers. Thanks Kay!
OMG, this is one of the most controversial posts I've ever written. Half of the comments are rejected from the rudeness!.... so unnecessary.
Be aware of my career.....I am a F.A.C.S. teacher....so I've poached many eggs. This is a suggestion for it to be 'easier' for those who many have difficulty. Am I not allowed to provide alternatives to people? Is comprehension of reading difficult these days?
I am thrilled you that many of you are the master of poached eggs. Realize that so am I. I have to teach to all different levels of cooks in my job....same here. Exactly, what do you accomplish by telling me "Poaching eggs isn't hard" you might as well add YOU IDIOT at the end of your comment.
Those who opt to be "Negatively Anonymous"....you will not be posted.
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28 comments:
Incredible - well done on this tip!!
Your little bowls are the cutest things ever! Also, I am trying this tomorrow with my breakfast. I have fought with the whole spinning water, vinegar stuff for years. ^_^ Innovative; very innovative.
Thank you for this tip. Ill have to try it out. Now I am craving these!
Wow I never knew you could cook eggs that way.... I don't think I'd be too crazy about the "runny" centers though....
You've tried it! It works like a charm, doesn't it? I've been making them like this ever since I found out.
Another tip that I learned is to put a few drops of water into a small bowl, then crack an egg into it, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and microwave 30seconds at a time. Takes about 1min or so total
Plastic wrap should not be heated in this way as it releases toxins and oestrogens into your food and will (in time) make you very, very sick.
Excellent tip! I've avoided poached eggs for all the reasons you mentioned above, but these sound so easy!
Thank you for sharing the tip & the great photos. ;o}
About the TOXINS thing...mr/ms Anonymous....do you THINK I am eating these everyday for every meal. Everything in moderation....alcohol, use of butter and that include my toxins from cooking in plastic!
you can purchase types of plastic wrap that were designed for high levels of heat. that might be worth a try.
My sister has an omelet party when they go camping. She brings all the fixings for an omelet - green onion, bacon bits, mushrooms, cheese. She gives everyone a ziplock baggie and two eggs. You add your extra ingredients plus 2 tablespoons of water and mash the bag a bit and seal, and then boil in a big tub of water for about 6-7 minutes. It's not the most attractive omelet you'll ever see but it's delicious and lots of fun.
oh! I have those cat dishes too! adorable, aren't they?
Thank you for all the pictures! It makes me think I can actually poach an egg!
Oh, man! I really wanted this to work but when I tried it this morning I got an overcooked white with a slimy center and undercooked yolk. I probably did something wrong but for now I'll stick with the old-school Julia Child vinegar-water-vortex method, but I do think this would be a snap for camping as Kathleen mentioned.
I love poached eggs too, I eat them every weekend and cook them the traditional way - a splash of vinegar into 2inches of water just before adding the egg, cook over low heat, don't drop the egg from a great height - too easy. The reason for the ease is because I buy my eggs direct from the farmer at farmers markets, so when I get them they are only a couple of days old. That's REALLY fresh!
As an egg ages it loses its albumin - the proteins that bind it. You need this for the egg to bind perfectly and for easy poaching and also for making Hollandaise the traditional way. Sadly most eggs bought from the supermarket can be up to six weeks old and by that stage, the egg is a shadow of its former self, with the nutritional content also depleted.
I think it's sad that we now have to compensate with new cooking techniques to trade off for the lack of quality provided - in exchange for convenience - by supermarkets, but if you're worried about the chemicals in plastic wrap there are now silicon poaching pods/cups which have been tested as being safe.
Here's a photo of our traditionally poached eggs this morning: http://twitpic.com/7yueg
That's pretty cool. I have another way of making poached eggs: I take a tune can (tuna already eaten, of course) and spray it with non-stick spray. Crack the egg into the can, and place it in a pan with just enough boiling water to come up the sides halfway. Cover the top and the eggs will poach perfectly. One hint: don't do what I did and walk away. The stench of exploded egg is horrible.
this is amazing! thank you for this. i didnt have a clip like this, so i used a bobby pin, and it still worked really well!
I like this because of the fact that store baught eggs are possibly weeks old and so they DON'T hold together. They may still taste the same, cooked in the traditional method, but if I make eggs for guests, I think that these will make fore a much nicer presentation.
I do think that if you are going to do this you should use a heat safe plastic wrap. You don't need to be eating these once a day to a few times a week to get sick, diffrent people have diffent tollerances to toxic chemicles.
Still, it's a brilliant idea and I intend to make use of it.
Thank you so much for sharing this option. I love poached eggs and hate vinegar. you are epic!
Wow, did you really have that many rude comments? Over something so silly as poaching eggs, that seems ridiculous!
I too know how to poach an egg...but it can get messy if you don't use an egg poacher. So your new method gives a really "pretty" poached egg!
Thanks for the great tip!
Laura
Chef Michel Richard of the fantastic restaurant Central in Washington DC poaches eggs this way.
What a great tip! I was feeling to lazy to fail at poached eggs this morning, and found you on pinterest. Your method worked perfectly! Thanks again.
What a great tip! I was not ready for another poached egg failure this morning, so I checked out pinterest and found your tip. I must say it worked perfectly and the eggs came out just as I hoped! Thanks for posting an easy alternative.
What a great tip! I was not ready to deal with yet another poached egg failure this morning and found your tip on pinterest. I must say that it worked perfectly and the eggs came out just as I'd hoped they would. Thanks for sharing an easy alternative to poaching eggs!
Thank you i have only recently started eating poached eggs and this has made my poached egg world so much more enjoyable!!!
What a great idea, I hate poaching eggs so will give this a try.Thanks,
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