POACHED EGGS | how to poach an egg (perfectly)

- Hello guys, welcome back. You loved my video on how to make the perfect soft-boiled egg, so I thought it made sense to follow that video with today's video on how to make the perfect

poach

ed egg. Now this is the funny thing when it comes to

poach

ed

eggs

and I find that most people love to order them for breakfast when they are in restaurants but rarely make them at home. And if you ask why, I think most would say that it's hard to get that perfect round, spherical egg shape in your poached egg, without getting a lot of crazy white threads everywhere.

Well, over the past few weeks, which you may have seen on my Instagram stories, I have tried every egg poaching method there is. From adding salt to the water or not adding salt, to adding vinegar or not adding vinegar, spinning a vortex pattern in the pot, using a fine mesh strainer to remove some of that loose egg white, and using fresh new

eggs

. eggs versus old eggs and even changing the depth of water in the pot from a very deep pot of water to a shallow pan. And needless to say, I've definitely learned a few things in this process, so in today's video I'm excited to share with you all the tips on what works best to get the perfect poached egg, so let's dive in.

For water depth, I would recommend a pot with at least three or four inches of water. If you use a shallow pan with just an inch or two, you'll end up with a flatter poached egg, which may be shaped more like a fried egg. Then, heat the pot of water over high heat and bring it to a boil. While we wait for the water to boil we will prepare the eggs. Now, the most important factor when it comes to a perfect poached egg is to have the freshest eggs possible. And ideally that means you would buy them that morning.

Fresh eggs will have firmer whites and will maintain more of that spherical shape that we are looking for. Eggs that have been in the refrigerator for a week or more, like this one, will have more of that looser liquid white and that's what causes all those white threads. But since I know that running to the market before breakfast may not be feasible for most, here's what you can do to ensure poached eggs success. And you should do this no matter what age your eggs are. Simply crack the eggs into a fine mesh strainer, shake them a little, and remove the liquid egg white.

And as you can see in this egg that I just bought this morning, there is a lot less loose egg white than in the previous example. Once all the loose egg white has been strained out, transfer the egg to a small bowl or ramekin as this will make it much easier to pour the egg into our pot of water. And repeat this process for as many eggs as you plan to cook. (upbeat music) Now, just like we do when making hard-boiled and soft-boiled eggs, if you plan on making these poached eggs for meal prep or ahead of time, prepare an ice water bath as this will stop the cooking process. cooking eggs.

Alright, at this point our water should be boiling, so now reduce the heat to low. You just want some slight bubbles on the bottom, if any, but no bubbles breaking the surface. Many people say that salt is added to the water when poaching eggs, but I found that this actually created more white strands and the egg white spread completely, so the reason this happens is because the salt changes the density of the egg. water. Definitely don't add salt to the water, but so you can see what happens with your own eyes, here's an attempt at poaching an egg in salt water, and you can see that it doesn't hold its shape very well.

When it comes to vinegar, it is true that vinegar helps coagulate and hold the egg white together. I was against this method at first as I didn't want my eggs to taste like vinegar, but if you use a tablespoon or two you definitely won't notice the taste at all. And for the type of vinegar you can use white vinegar, apple cider vinegar or any type of lighter colored vinegar. So let's start poaching some eggs. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water, then stir it around and create a vortex. And yes, the vortex definitely works, and I recommend it if you're making just one or two eggs.

So once you have a nice quick vortex, drop the egg right in the middle and look at that beautiful poached egg shape. (upbeat music) Set your timer for three minutes for a firm white and runny yolk. If you want the yolk to be a little firmer, just add another 30 seconds and once the time is up, use a slotted spoon to remove your beautiful poached egg. You can also tap the egg gently to see how cooked it is and place it back in the water if you want it a little firmer. If it's to your liking, simply rub the poached egg on a paper towel to remove excess water and serve.

If you're making them to prepare a meal or to make a preview for a crowd, add the poached egg to your ice water bath, which will ensure that the egg yolk stops cooking and I'll show you how to heat it up in a second. make a backup later. Now, if you want to make multiple eggs simultaneously without the vortex method, you can do that too. The shape may be a little flatter, but it's really not a big deal. So gently pour each of your eggs into the water. And in this last egg you can see that there was a little more liquid white but the main shape of the egg was still holding together.

You can also use a spoon to move the water around to help create a rounder egg shape if you like. And when the three minutes are up again, use a slotted spoon to remove the poached eggs. (upbeat music) If you still have some white strands attached, you can use kitchen scissors to cut them off, and this is actually what restaurants often do to achieve the perfect poached egg shape. In fact, they will shape it. Now, I think that's a little silly and I'm all for a more natural poached egg shape like this. Alright, now you have this beautiful poached egg, so let me show you one of my favorite poached egg breakfast recipes.

Simply add a little olive oil to a pan along with two cloves of minced garlic, then squeeze a lemon into the pan and add the lemon zest too. Add a bunch of asparagus and use tongs to move them around and sauté for about three to five minutes or until they are tender but still hold their shape. Add the asparagus to a plate and top with a slice of prosciutto. Now at this point we don't want to add a cold poached egg to our breakfast, so to warm up our poached eggs simply add some boiling water to a large bowl or mug, then place the poached egg in the hot water for about 20 minutes . 30 seconds or until heated through.

Remove it from the hot water and it is ready to cover our asparagus. Add a little salt and pepper and, if you want, shave with some real fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Alright, let's cut into this poached egg and see how we did it. Yeah, I'd say it's pretty perfect. I hope you enjoyed this poached egg tutorial, and if you did, hit the thumbs up and while you're at it hit the subscribe button below so you don't miss next week's video, and now I'm going to finish enjoying my breakfast . . (upbeat music)