Recently I received an email from one of my loyal readers/listeners inquiring about how I poach my eggs. Just a few days ago I was at lunch with some friends and they asked the same thing. Additionally, while purchasing eggs at the grocery store the other day I overheard to people saying they wished they knew the secret to poached eggs and so I think it is worthy of a blog!
Traditional poached eggs requires taking the time to bring a pot of water to a simmer, adding a splash of vinegar, cracking the egg into a bowl, gently sliding it into the water, carefully spooning the water over the egg until it is cooked, then hoping you can remove it without breaking the yolk. That is way too much effort for me on a lazy weekend or busy workday. Not to mention the extra dishes and multitude of opportunities to ruin the delicate egg.
Well my method is a lot faster and doesn't dirty anything more than a single bowl or cup. I simply do it in the microwave. Professionally trained chefs will frown on such methods or tell you that microwave eggs are rubbery. But, before the classically trained chef can get their water and vinegar into the right temperature I can be eating my perfectly poached egg. This is so simple that my daughter learned how to poach eggs for herself at a very young age. So young in fact that she could not remember the term "poached" so she called them "Winnie ah Pooh Eggs". By the time she learned it was Winnie the Pooh - Winnie ah Pooh was already etched in out hearts and vocabulary so they are still referred to affectionately as "Winnie ah Pooh Eggs" in our house today.
To make a proper "Winnie ah Pooh Eggs" I simply take a microwave safe cereal bowl and fill it 1/2 full with water from our hot steaming water dispenser. (Too hot to want to hold your hand in the water but not boiling.) Crack 2 eggs into the bowl and zap in our microwave on high for 60 seconds. Then I use a slotted spoon to hold the eggs in the bowl and pour out the water. I tend to eat them in the same bowl or transfer them to an english muffin or lay them on a bed of spinach with crumbled bacon. If I am only making one egg I reduce the time to 45 seconds.
| Bowl of hot water 
| Raw Eggs 
|
| Cooked and Ready to Drain 
| Drained and Ready to Eat 
|
The first few times you make this you may need to keep a close eye on your microwave. I would suggest covering it with a paper towel because if you zap it 5-10 seconds past the perfect point you will hear a pop and it will be overcooked and will lightly splatter . 15-20 seconds past perfection and it will be an exploded mess. If you do not have a hot water dispenser your tap water may be hot enough to use depending upon the setting of your water heater. You could also heat the water in your microwave prior to adding the egg. Each microwave is different so you will need to pay close attention to yours. The first time you may need to zap for 30 seconds and then do it in 10 second increments to determine the precise timing for your oven. I have used the covered microwave egg poachers but find that the lid traps the steam and I causes the yolk to be overcooked buy the time the whites are solid. Once you have found the precise timing for your microwave you do not even need to cover the eggs and you can just set it and pour yourself your favorite morning beverage or pop something into the toaster and get ready for perfectly poached eggs in a a jiffy.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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