To Poach Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Fill a wide, clean pan with ½ cup of spring water.
Add ¼ teaspoon of coarse sea salt.
Place the pan over a smoke‑free fire until the water boils.
Poach the eggs
Carefully break the eggs into separate cups.
Draw back the pan.
Gently glide the eggs into the water.
Let the eggs stand until the whites are almost set, about 1 minute.
Simmer the eggs for 2.5 to 3 minutes without shaking the pan.
Lift the eggs out with a slotted spoon.
Trim the ragged edges.
Serve
Serve the poached eggs on dressed spinach, minced meat, or toasted bread.
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
- New laid eggs
- Provide the protein that sets into the tender body of the poached egg.
- Spring water
- Forms the gently simmering liquid that cooks the eggs evenly without a shell.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the poaching water and helps the egg whites coagulate more cleanly.
The step that matters
Gently glide the eggs into the water. Simmering water that is too rough or too hot disperses the whites and tears the eggs apart. Drawing the pan back from the heat and lowering each egg slowly lets the whites gather and set around the yolk.
“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.
More poached eggs recipes
You might also like
Rice Gruel28 recipes
Peptoned Milk Gruel9 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.