Working in restaurant kitchens,
poaching dozens of eggs a day for brunch service,
we had to find a way to make foolproof poached eggs.
You can't waste time and you can't waste products.
So we came up with this method
and you will not find it anywhere online.
This is making the perfect poached egg 101.
So the prep for this is super simple.
All you're doing is combining vinegar
and water and cracking eggs into it.
In our solution, we use white distilled vinegar
because it has a high level of acidity.
For this size bowl,
I'll probably use a cup of vinegar and a cup of water.
Step two, crack le eggs.
You can pull your eggs directly out of the refrigerator
for this because as they sit in the liquid,
they'll come up to room temperature.
You can crack as many eggs as you want into your container.
You just wanna make sure
that they're not super duper crowded.
So just every once in a while,
maybe swirl your bowl a little bit
just to make sure that the acid from the vinegar
is getting the egg white all around.
This is the fun part, it's like science.
The acid in the vinegar is going to help set the outer layer
of the egg white and it's gonna help tighten it up
just to make a teardrop shape.
It's not cooking it,
but it's denaturing the outer layer of proteins
so they're coagulating already.
So when you put it in the water,
you don't have to worry about it flying everywhere.
You wanna let your eggs soak for about 10 minutes.
If you let them soak for too long,
they will pick up a little vinegar flavor.
But if you don't soak them long enough,
you still risk the whites running away.
Whenever you see that outer layer turn opaque white,
you're good to go.
When your eggs look like this,
they're ready to start poaching.
I already brought up some water to a bear simmer
and you don't want your water to be too active.
You just want faint bubbles at the bottom
and steam rising from the top.
Your water should be about three to four inches deep.
If you're only doing three eggs,
about a three to four quart pot, half full will be perfect.
So I'm coming into the bowl with a ladle.
I'm gonna tilt the bowl and get the egg
because even though this outer layer is set,
it's not cooked so I'm going to be very gentle with it.
And I'm gonna scoop it out
with some of the vinegar solution around
and I'm just gonna gently place it into the water.
I don't add anything else to the water.
The vinegar solution has not permeated the egg
to flavor it, but with poached eggs, you're gonna cook them
for such a short amount of time
that it's not gonna pick up too much salt anyway
so I just save the seasoning for the top of the eggs.
So I cook the eggs for two to three minutes
depending on how long it takes to set the egg white.
What I'm looking for here is a soft yolk,
which we still have,
but it feels like the egg white is still a little soft
so I'm gonna let it go for one more minute.
One of the classic methods that they teach you
in culinary school for poaching an egg
is to swirl your water
to create a tornado.
That helps keep your egg white together,
but it only works if you're doing one egg at a time.
These look perfect.
The whites have set
so it's time to get them out of the water.
So to remove the eggs, I'm using a slotted spoon.
I'm just gonna scoop it up, pour off any excess water,
blot them on a towel and go straight onto my plate.
I don't like to use a paper towel for blotting the eggs
because sometimes the paper towel sticks
and you'll get pieces of it torn off onto the egg.
So all of our eggs are out and you can eat them right away.
If I wanna save these to heat up for later,
what I would do is cook them a little bit less.
Instead of three minutes, maybe closer to two minutes.
I would put them in a pan with a little bit of water
at the bottom and cover it with foil.
And then when I'm ready to serve,
I would pop it into a 350 oven
for about three to four minutes just to warm up the eggs.
So this is the time that I would season the eggs.
Little pinch of salt, little grind of pepper on top
and then have at it.
Look at that golden runny yolk.
The egg white on the inside is completely set,
but not overcooked.
It's not hard or chewy feeling.
It still feels tender and supple.
And the egg yolk is exactly
what you're looking for in a poached egg,
like that is the whole point of a poached egg.
There's nothing more infuriating
than getting a poached egg that has a set yolk,
really makes me mad.
You don't get any flavor from the vinegar either,
but you get a perfect shape every single time, do this.
Poached eggs are some of the most intimidating things
for people to cook at home.
However, you now have the answers to make it perfect
every single time, you are fully empowered
to go kick some poached egg butt no matter what.
I used to be able to twirl a baton, not anymore.
