Eggs Poached
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the water
Fill a frying pan with boiling water to a depth of ½ inch and add a little coarse sea salt.
Place the pan on the stove to keep the water boiling hot without a rolling boil.
Poach the eggs
Break each egg into a saucer and gently slide them into the water one at a time.
If the water does not cover the whites, add more boiling water carefully with a large spoon.
Once the whites are set, use a cake turner to divide and lift the eggs carefully.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg whites set in hot water to form a tender shape, while the yolks stay soft and runny.
The step that matters
Keep the water hot but not at a rolling boil. A rolling boil tears the whites apart before they set, while water that is too cool lets them spread out and cook unevenly. A gentle, steady simmer-level heat keeps the whites together and cooking evenly.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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