The Food Lab's Foolproof Poached Eggs, Revisited

This is an updated version of the recipe I published in my first book, The Food Lab. I’ve updated the technique to ensure that the eggs don’t stick to the strainer, as well as the temperature and specific instructions for the size of the pan and how much water to use.

The Secrets to Success:

• Use fresh eggs (check the Julian date)

• Strain off the loose whites before poaching.

• Poach your eggs in advance!

Good news for your brunch plans! Poaching eggs is surprisingly easy, and what’s more, it’s almost as easy to poach a half dozen (or a dozen or three dozen) eggs as it is to poach one. What’s what’s more more, you can even poach eggs in advance. Here’s how.

Adding a poached egg is an easy way to transform a side dish into a complete meal, whether it’s a salad, some leftover beans, some sautéed greens, or a pan of tomato sauce. But let's be honest, they can be a bit finicky. Even after years of cooking in restaurants where I’d poach dozens of eggs a day, I’d often find myself crossing my fingers as I slid an egg into the simmering water. More often than not, I'd end up with at least one sad, misshapen egg with wispy whites clouding up the water and making retrieving the surviving eggs intact a near-impossible task.

When the egg is the star of the show—like in eggs Benedict, it’s even more frustrating when they come out misshapen or broken.

But there’s a trick to making them simple, and as is often the case, it comes from the brilliant Harold McGee, in his second book, The Curious Cook.

The secret? A fine mesh strainer. It's the secret weapon for achieving consistently beautiful poached eggs.

But first, let's talk about freshness. The fresher the egg, the better it will hold its shape. While it’s difficult to tell exactly how old an egg is (unless you saw it leaving the cloaca), there are two easy ways to tell that it’s at least not too old (at least, no more than a couple weeks, which is quite a short time in egg terms)

• Look for the Julian date: Every carton of eggs in the US has a number between 000 and 364 printed on it. This number indicates when the eggs were processed. The higher the number, the fresher the eggs (that is, until you get to the end of the year when it all wraps around again).

• Do the float test: Gently place an egg in a cup of water. If it sinks and lies flat, it's fresh. If it stands upright or floats, it's older and might not poach as well.

So where does the strainer come in?

Crack an egg open onto a flat plate and take a close look. What you’ll see is the yolk and the white. Butt if you look more closely, you’ll notice the white is divided into two parts. The main part is what I call the tight white, and it’s packed inside a thin, invisible membrane. The loose white—the parts of the white that run around the plate freely—are what cause problems. So to keep your eggs clean and tight, all we have to do is strain them out before poaching.

To do it, I break cold eggs into a bowl (cold eggs hold their shape better—if you live in a country where eggs are not typically refrigerated, it’ll help to refrigerate them for an hour or two before poaching), then gently tip that bowl into a fine mesh strainer. Swirl the strainer very gently over a second bowl (you can save the loose whites that get strained out to cook separately or to make meringue or any other recipe that calls for egg whites), then tip the eggs back into the first bowl.

(In a previous incarnation of this recipe, I suggested lowering the eggs into simmering water directly in the strainer, but I’ve found over the years and from feedback from readers that the eggs can sometimes stick to the inside of the strainer using this method).

Next, bring a few inches of water in a wide saucepan or Dutch oven to a very gentle simmer (around 190°F or 90°C). Add a good pick of salt, gently swirl the water with a slotted or perforated spoon, and tip the eggs in gently.

Keep the water moving in a slow whirlpool and flip the eggs gently as they cook to give them a nice shape and ensure even cooking. They should be ready in about three minutes.

Advanced Poaching Technique

One of the best things about this method is that you can poach your eggs in advance! Simply cook them as described, then transfer them to a bowl of ice water to cool. Once chilled, they can be transferred to a sealed container, covered with water, and stored in the fridge for up to a few days. To reheat, just place them in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes before serving.

With this simple technique, perfectly poached eggs are no longer a matter of luck. Ain’t that egg-citing?

Foolproof Poached Eggs

Time: 10 minutes

Active time: 10 minutes

Yield: 1 to a dozen eggs

Ingredients:

• 1 to a dozen eggs (fridge cold)

• Salt

Note: The strained whites in Step 1 can be used for making egg white omelets, meringues, or any recipe that calls for egg whites.

Directions

1. Carefully break the eggs into a bowl. Set a fine mesh strainer over a second bowl. Carefully tip the eggs into the strainer and swirl gently to let all the excess loose whites drain out into the second bowl (see note). When the eggs are thoroughly drained, transfer them back to the first bowl.

2. Bring a few inches of salted water in a wide saucepan to a simmer. Reduce heat until it’s at the gentlest simmer (a few bubbles should be leaving the bottom of the pot in a steady stream). It should register around 190°F (90°C) on a thermometer. Swirl the water gently with a slotted spoon. Gently tip the eggs into the water. Keep stirring gently to keep the eggs moving around the bottom of the pan. Flip them occasionally to ensure even cooking.

3. Cook until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still liquid, about 3 minutes. Carefully lift eggs from the pot with a slotted or perforated spoon. Serve immediately, or transfer the to a bowl of ice water. Once chilled, they can be stored in an airtight container covered in cold water in the fridge for up to two days. To serve, transfer the eggs to a bowl of hot water and let them reheat for a couple minutes.