How to poach eggs

I am only posting this recipe because so many people seem to have problems poaching eggs.

Many people poach their eggs by putting the eggs directly in the boiling water. This often results in wispy strings of egg, and very irregularly shaped eggs. There are lots of tips online to prevent the wispiness and irregularity, involving adding vinegar to the water (which gives the eggs a strange flavour) and stirring the water in a circular motion around the egg (difficult to do when cooking several eggs at once). Basically, none of these tricks work well.

The best way to poach eggs is in an egg poacher, as shown in the photo below (also shows the pastry brush that I use when poaching eggs). The eggs are never in direct contact with the water, and the result is regularly shaped eggs with no wisps. An egg poacher is a very worthwhile investment, but if you don't have one, see the paragraph below for an alternative method.

Add about 1 cm of water to the poacher pan. Bring the water to a boil, then brush the egg containers with some olive oil or butter using a pastry brush just before adding the eggs. Put on the lid. Cooking time is 3 to 4 minutes (I usually test whether the eggs are cooked by prodding the egg-white with a knife).

If you don't have an egg poacher, you can use a muffin tin. This also allows you to cook larger quantities at a time, which is useful if you have guests. Put about 1 cm of water into a large roasting tin (big enough to fit your muffin tin), then put in the muffin tin (it may float until you add the eggs later). Heat it in the oven to about 160°C until the water starts to gently bubble. Then brush the inside of each muffin cup with olive oil or butter, and add the eggs (you don't have to fill it - just the number of eggs that you want to eat). It may take a little longer for the eggs to cook this way; you need to test whether the eggs are cooked, often.

Whichever way you cook the eggs, once cooked, remove the egg holders from the poacher (or take the muffin tin out of the baking tray), and use a blunt knife (e.g. a butter knife) to turn out the eggs onto plates.

Eggs cooked this way still have that proper poached egg flavour, very different from fried eggs.

I like my eggs with runny yolks and fairly firm whites. If you like them more cooked, cook them longer; if you like the whites to be runny, cook them for a shorter time.