Poached Eggs: You've Been Lied To

let's fix that

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Hello To My Perfect Orbs!

Last week, I published this kale-centric pasta with a poached egg on top, and in that newsletter I talked about why we blanch kale. This missive is dedicated to the poach—hands down the easiest method of cooking eggs that has nonetheless been sold to you as a tricky proposition.

Here are some of the lies recipe developers tell you about poaching eggs. Tl; dr: If you’re a visual learner, head directly to the video halfway down in this post.

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LIE #1

Always add vinegar to the water.

This myth is built on the truth that acid helps proteins coagulate. However, it’s a lie that adding a dash to your poaching water will do anything, and pre-soaking the egg in an acidulated liquid (the way they do at Per Se!) is also irrelevant for our purposes as home cooks. What you need is a pan of gently simmering water. I don’t even salt it.

On beans

LIE #2

For a pretty poach, you must strain the egg.

The truth is that you can get rid of the thinnest part of the white by placing the egg into a tiny fine mesh strainer, but the lie is that this is a required step. Those ethereal strands will liberate themselves in the poaching liquid, and if not, you can use the edge of a spoon to free them from the cooked egg. Additionally, you’re nine thousand times more likely to break the yolk getting it out of the strainer than if you just cracked the egg into a saucer.

LIE #3

You need to form a vortex.

Does the vortex do something? Yes. Do you need to vortex? No. If I’m poaching one egg, I vortex. It encourages the egg to rotate and spin with some planetary-action energy, which helps the yolk find its way towards the center of the white, rather than sitting atop it. Perfectly nice. Very optional. If I’m poaching several eggs at a time, I skip the vortex and simply stir the eggs now and then to keep them from sitting on the bottom of the pan.

On kale

LIE #4

You have to simmer the whole time.

False! In my method, you add the eggs to simmering water, cover the pot, turn off the heat, and come back in 3 minutes for a runny, but slightly thickened yolk, or 2 1/2 minutes for a more fluid yolk. (This timing is for large eggs.) To poach eggs ahead of time, transfer them to a bowl of very cold water and leave them submerged for several hours, or even a couple of days in the refrigerator. Reheat in a pan of very hot water for about 1 minute before serving.

Four lies up, four truths down.

Got more poaching Q’s? I’m happy to answer them all in the comments!

Happy midweek blessings to you.

xoxCarla