Hi FitFeat friends!

Ask, and you shall receive!    Here is the post on different techniques for poaching eggs per the feedback after last’s week’s school recap from Egg Day.

Search the internet and you will find a MULTITUDE of ways to poach an egg.  The vinegar method (adding vinegar to the water), the salt method (adding salt to the water), the plastic wrap method (please please do not use this one, no matter how pretty the eggs may turn out – you do not want to heat your foods in plastic wrap), the whirlpool method (swirling the water before adding the egg), the boil and leave it method, the list goes on.

I’ve been testing out different methods and have found my two favorites.

One is the vinegar method: adding vinegar to your water in order to allow the egg white to hold its shape without separating into what looks like a pot of silly string.  This is one that we learned in class.

The other is a method I’d first heard about in a Sara Moulton book, that she learned from an Australian chef, the boil and leave it method.

Both of them produced nice results (and why I ever thought poaching eggs was difficult is beyond me!).  If I had to pick a favorite, I’d say I was most impressed with the vinegar.  I’ve heard people say it leaves a vinegar flavor on the egg, but I did not experience this.

Two things to note no matter which style you use to poach your eggs:

1. Fresh eggs just work better for poaching (hard to know how long they’ve been sitting on the shelf at the store, I know, but fresher eggs will hold their whites and shape better for poaching)

2. Grade “AA” eggs will retain their shape better for poaching.  I use just Grade “A” regularly when purchasing eggs, but it’s something to keep in mind if you are feeding people that you want to impress with your wicked poaching skills.

VINEGAR METHOD:

Since I’m only poaching eggs for me, one or two at a time, I use my smallest sauce pan with just enough water to cover an egg.  Bring the water to a hearty simmer, but not a boil.  Look for tiny bubbles:

(Yes, that is a non-stick pan.  Yes, I know non-stick is terrible for us, and trust me I would prefer it to be stainless steel.  I am slowly replacing my pots and pans one at a time, but hey, tuition comes first!) 

Crack your egg into another vessel.  You don’t want to crack it right into the pot.  I use a measuring cup.

Add vinegar to your water (a good rule of thumb is about 1 tablespoon per 2 cups of water).  I prefer to use apple cider vinegar.

Dip the measuring cup into the water and slowly pour your egg out into the water.

Set a timer for 3 to 4 minutes, depending on where you live.  Things take longer to cook at altitude (I live at 6000′) so I go for the longer time.  If you live at sea level, you’ll probably want three minutes, depending on how runny you like your yolk.

Notice how the white of the egg stays neatly near the yolk in this method.

After the egg has reached the desired level of firmness, gently remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to allow the water to continue to drain.  You can also pat it down lightly to remove any excess water from the top.

I served mine over massaged kale from my classmate’s garden (thank you Sarah!) and sprinkled the egg with pepper and paprika:

And I like my yolks to be on the runny side:

BOIL & LEAVE IT METHOD:

Using the Sara Moulton method, you actually bring your water to a full rolling boil.

Crack your egg(s) into a measuring cup and add to the boiling water.

Cover the pan and turn off the heat.  Leave them alone until they’re done the way you like.  This time around I wanted to see how a firmer yolk would taste so I actually walked a way for about 6 minutes, again less time in lower altitudes though.  So for somewhat runny eggs, stick with the 3-4 minute range here.  (And if you are easily distracted like I am, set a timer and keep in ON YOU . Otherwise you might come back an hour later and go, “Oh yeah, I was making an egg!!”)

The advantage to this method is that you don’t really have to keep much of an eye on your egg (whereas with the vinegar method, you just need to be sure your heat doesn’t creep up or that you go from light bubbles to boil – it’s a fine line.)

The disadvantage to this method is more egg white is lost in the silly string fashion:

But it still looks pretty and tastes great (this one I served on toasted Ezekial, smeared with a little basil pesto and topped with capers, pepper and paprika):

Again, this time going for a well done yolk with still a little run to it.

There you have it!  Egg poaching made easy.

Do you have a favorite technique that you use for poaching eggs?  What’s your favorite way to serve poached eggs?

Have a SPECTACULAR Sunday, blog buds!

– Shari B. =)

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Shari Becht is a Fit Living Coach and ACE Certified Personal Trainer.  She is extremely passionate about teaching people how they can take steps to fit healthy living into their busy lives.  She has decided to take her love of nutrition one step further by enrolling in the Natural Chef Culinary Program at Bauman College and will graduate in Spring 2011.

If you or someone you know could use some help learning how to fit more “FIT” into life, please feel free to email her at shari [at] fitfeat  [dot] com.  For more information, click here.

Tags: egg, egg yolk, how to poach an egg, Vital Farms eggs