POACHED EGGS | how to poach an egg (perfectly)

– Hey guys, and welcome back.

You loved my video on how to make the perfect soft-boiledand hard-boiled egg, so I thought it only madesense to follow that video up with today's video on how tomake the perfect poached egg.

Now, here's the funny thingwhen it comes to poached eggs and I find that most peoplelove to order them for breakfast when they're out at restaurants, but they rarely make them at home.

And if you ask why I think most would say that it's hard to get thatperfect round spherical egg shape in the poached egg, without getting lots of crazy white wispies all over the place.

Well, for the last several weeks, which you might have seenon my Instagram stories I have tried every single eggpoaching method under the sun.

From adding salt to thewater or not adding salt, to adding vinegar or not adding vinegar to swirling a vortex pattern in the pot, to using a fine mesh sieve to get rid of some of that loose egg white, to using brand-new fresheggs versus old eggs and even changing thedepth of water in the pot from a very deep pot ofwater to a shallow saute pan.

And needless to say Ihave definitely learned a few things in this process, so in today's video I'mhappy to share with you all of the tips in what works the best for the perfect poachedegg, so let's dive in.

When it comes to the depth of water I'd recommend a pot with at least three to four inches of water.

If you use a shallow sautepan with only an inch or two you'll end up with a flatter poached egg, that may have more of a fried egg shape.

So, heat the pot of water onhigh and bring it to a boil.

While we're waiting for our water to boil we'll get our eggs ready.

Now the number one most important factor when it comes to a perfectly poached egg is having the freshest eggs possible.

And ideally that meansthat you'd purchase them just that morning.

Fresh eggs are gonna have tighter whites, and keep more of that spherical shape that we're going for.

Eggs that have been sitting in your fridge for a weekor more, like this one are gonna have more ofthat looser liquidy white and that's what causes allof those white wispies.

But as I know running to the market before breakfast may notbe feasible for most, here's what you can do toensure poached eggs success.

And you should do this nomatter how old your eggs are.

Just crack your eggsinto a fine mesh sieve, give it a little swirl, and remove that liquidy egg white.

And as you can see on this egg which I just purchased this morning, there's a lot less ofthat looser egg white than in the previous example.

Once all of the very loose eggwhite has been strained out transfer your egg to asmall 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 we're making soft and hard-boiled eggs, if you plan to make these poached eggs for meal prep or ahead of time, get an ice water bath ready as this will stop thepoached eggs from cooking.

Alright at this point ourwater should be boiling, so now reduce the heat to low.

You just want some slightbubbles on the bottom if any, but no bubbles breaking the surface.

Many people say to add salt tothe water when you poach eggs but I found that this actuallycreated more white wispies and splayed the egg white all out, then the reason this happens is because salt changesthe density of the water.

So definitely, don't add salt to the water but just so you can see whathappens with your own eyes here's an attemptedpoached egg in salt water, and you can see that it doesn'thold its shape very well.

When it comes to vinegar, it's true that vinegardoes help to coagulate and keep the egg white all together.

Now I was against this method at first, as I didn't want my eggsto taste like vinegar but if you use one to two tablespoons you definitely can't taste it 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 get to poaching some eggs.

Add a tablespoon of vinegarto the water then stir it and create a vortex.

And yes the vortex definitely works, and I recommend it if you'remaking just one or two eggs.

So once you've got a nice fast vortex drop your egg right into the middle, and look at that lovely poached egg shape.

(upbeat music) Set your timer for three minutes for a firm white and liquid yolk, if you'd like your yolk a bit firmer just add another 30 seconds, and once the time is up use a slotted spoon to removeyour beautiful poached egg You can also give your egg a gentle tap to see how cook through it is and place it back in the water if you'd like it a little bit firmer.

If it's to your liking, just dab the poached egg on a paper towel to remove any excesswater and serve it up.

If you're making these for meal prep or to make an advance for a crowd, add the poached egg to your ice water bath which will ensure theegg yolk stops cooking and I'll show you in a second how you'll warm it back up later.

Now, if you'd like to makeseveral eggs simultaneously without the vortex method, you can do that as well.

The shape may be a little flatter, but it's really not a big deal.

So gently pour each ofyour eggs into the water.

And on this last egg you can see that there was a little more liquidy white but that the main eggshaped still held together.

You can also use a spoon to move the water and help create a rounderegg shape if you'd like.

And when three minutes is up again use a slotted spoonto remove your poached eggs.

(upbeat music) If you have any leftoverwhite wispies still attached, you can use kitchenscissors to snip those off, and this is actually whatrestaurants will oftentimes do for that perfect poached egg shape.

They'll actually trim it into shape.

Now, I think that's a little silly and I'm all for a morenatural poached egg shape like this one.

All right you've now gotthis beautifully poached egg, so let me show you one ofmy favorite poached egg breakfast recipes.

Just 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 zest of the lemon as well.

Add a bunch of asparagusand use some tongs to move them around and saute for about three to fiveminutes or until they're tender but still hold their shape.

Add the asparagus to a plate and top them with a slice of prosciutto.

Now, at this point we don'twanna add a cold poached egg to our breakfast, so towarm up our poached eggs just add some boiling waterto a bowl or large mug, then place the poachedegg in the hot water for about 20 to 30 seconds or until it's warmed through.

Remove it from the hot water and now it's ready to betopped on our asparagus.

Add a little salt andpepper and if you'd like shave on some fresh authenticparmigiano-reggiano cheese.

All right, let's cut into this poached egg and see how we did.

Yep I'd say that's pretty darn perfect.

I hope you guys enjoyedthis poached egg tutorial, and if you did, hit that thumbs up and while you're at it hitthat subscribe button below so you don't miss next week's video, and I am now gonna finishenjoying my breakfast.

(upbeat music).