Poached eggs make a fabulous weekend brunch but they can be a pain to get just right unlike your bog-standard fried or boiled eggs.
Depending on the methods you’ve tried, you can easily end up cooking loose and watery poached eggs with crazy wisps of white or overcooked eggs with no runny yolk.
The conditions have to be just right for a poached egg and a lot of chefs swear by tips such as using vinegar, making a whirlpool, or even using muffin trays.
Daily Star has selected three video demonstrations that show ways to cook poached eggs without, hopefully, too much hassle.
(Image: TikTok/ @nel_slims)
Method 1 – Vinegar and whirlpools
In this first video, playable at the top of this page, TikTok user @nel_slims shows how she makes poached eggs with a traditional method after a fan begged for her secret.
Firstly, the home chef uses a shallow pan of water that is not-quite boiling – explaining you need to look out for tiny bubbles at the bottom as a sign it’s hot enough. Larger bubbles in boiling water break-up the egg, she explained.
She adds white wine vinegar and then very gently tips each egg into the hot water.
Making a whirlpool around each egg as it cooks, she gently eases them away from the bottom of the pan without having to physically touch them with a spoon.
The eggs are then put on top of toasted and buttered bread.
Nel proves how perfect they are by cutting into one with a knife, making orange yolk ooze out deliciously.
(Image: TikTok / @georgiehalfacree)
Method 2 – Clingfilm bags
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In this video, TikTok user @georgiehalfacree shows a cheat’s tip to make poached eggs if it just isn’t happening for you – and nobody ever needs to find out.
Promising they will be “perfect every single time”, Georgie first boils some water in a pan.
Next, she shows how to line the inside of a ramekin dish with food-safe clingfilm, leaving plenty around the edges, and coats it with oil.
She then cracks an egg into the ramekin and ties up the clingfilm to make a little bag – taking care to squeeze out extra air and tie a very knot in the top.
The home cook then boils the eggs in the bag for three minutes and removes them with a spoon, placing them on top of avocado on toast.
Looking perfectly round, the poached eggs have a decent runny yolk and it’s not obvious they were cooked in a bag.
(Image: TikTok / @cara_deluca)
Method 3 – Microwave
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Making poached eggs in the microwave might divide internet foodies, but some home cooks swear by it.
In a clip uploaded on TikTok by user @cara_deluca, she gives a step-by-step on how she gets beautiful eggs without the faff, simply using a mug of tap water, an egg, and her microwave.
Cara starts by half-filling a mug with water and gently cracks a fresh egg straight inside.
She then places a saucer on top of the cup and cooks it on high power for 60 seconds.
The home chef checks the egg and it is still a little underdone, so she microwaves it some more in 10-second increments until it is done.
She reckons it takes practice but around 50 seconds is the “sweet spot”.
The egg looks absolutely divine when she cuts into it, spilling out the yellow yolk goodness onto the plate.
Would you try any of these cooking hacks for poached eggs? Let us know in the comments below!
