You poached an egg…Does the Farmer know?

So you want to poach an egg but want to know which products work best. Well let’s see what we can do for you.

Poached eggs are not just for breakfast or brunch. I like to place a poached egg on top of cooked lentils (French or Italian). I have also put a poached egg on top of a fried risotto cake. This is a great way to use leftover risotto, shaped into a cake and seared to a golden crisp. Yuuuummy! The uses of poached eggs are limited by your imagination and good taste.

First, let’s look at what poaching is and then we can delve into what the products will and won’t do in this endeavor.

Poaching is defined as by the Food Lover’s Companion as “To cook food gently in liquid just below the boiling point when the liquid’s surface is beginning to show some quivering movement.”

Almost universally you will find that to properly poach something, there needs to be water on and around the thing to be poached. After dropping in the egg, water is swirled to help hold the shape or, gently using a spoon, to push the white over the yolk for 2 or 3 seconds.

In Julia Child’s seminal work, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” a poached egg is dropped without its shell into barely simmering liquid and cooked for 4 minutes until whites are set while the yolk remains liquid. She, and others, recommend using a tablespoon of vinegar per quart of water. Most recommend using around 2 inches of water, depending on the pan. When using this free form method, make sure you use the freshest eggs possible. This will help limit the egg whites from trailing off in wisps.

Now many of us have had some fairly ugly results using the free form poaching method. We are not alone in this frustrating experience. Hence, the creation of egg poachers.

Here is where things get a bit muddled. The first and most traditional egg poachers have holes in the bottom to allow for water to reach the egg. They look like this.

They sit in the simmering water and give the egg shape while it poaches. And yes, it still is a poach as the hot water is in direct contact cooking the egg. One can also still gently spoon water over the egg for balanced cooking. I would still put vinegar in the water to prevent white separation. For another low cost option, you can also use egg rings or “pancake” rings or even mason jar tops to help keep the egg in a good form while it poaches.

From there the products change to look something like this…insert trays.

Most are Teflon, but Scanpan uses ceramic titanium coating as the nonstick surface. As you will notice, these products have solid bottoms. They do not allow water to come in direct contact with the egg. [This will be the prevalent theme with all the remaining products.] You put the inserts into the pan of simmering water and drop the eggs into the individual cups. The egg then technically steams. It will look and somewhat feel like a poached egg, but by strictest definition is not poached.

The next version of an egg poacher is very similar to the insert. The only exception being that the product is comprehensive and complete. It consists of a pan, an insert tray perfectly made for the pan and individual cups which sit in the precut holes. Again, Teflon coated.

I have mostly used the pan set with insert and non-stick cups. While you get a well shaped egg, it lacks the delicate subtle form and texture of a proper poached egg.

Next there is a return to the individual cups, but this time they are made of food grade silicone. They are also shaped into fun looking shapes and can be used to serve them in if you wish to eat them directly out of the cups.

They look like these fun products here…

These cups will sit in the water and “poach” the eggs.

Like this….

Thanks to input from Friend of Kitchenboy, Deb K., we must always remember to butter or oil these poachers to prevent sticking. “But aren’t most of these products nonstick Kitchenboy?”, you may ask. Well yes, but egg whites have a way of not caring about such trivialities. Somehow the steaming action cause the egg whites to adhere to the cooking holder. It is best to take proper precautions and prevent disaster, so grease those cups and trays.

And finally we have the electric egg cookers, which have poaching trays included as part of the product. One simply adds water and sets the device to prepare the egg in the manner desired. Remembering, of course, to grease the cup trays first. Many companies make these machines, but I will only profile the most available.

Oster – The general opinion is that Oster makes the most reliable, long lasting egg cooker. The only drawback seems to be that not many “bricks-and-mortar” shops sell this model. It is readily available online.

Krups – The second best choice. It is also well liked and reliable. Although this one also is not widely available in “bricks-and-mortar” shops.

Chefs Choice – The Chef’s Choice is third best in our little egg cooker index. It is widely available in many shops like Sur La Table, Bed, Bath and Beyond and Williams Sonoma.

Westbend – This model has had some reliability issues. It is available mostly online.

Cuisinart – While this model is widely available in shops and online, it is the least liked and suffers from the most reliability issues.

The main purpose of these electric machines is “boiling” eggs, but all come with “poaching” trays. As we discussed earlier, they are steaming the eggs, either in the shell or in a tray.

The results will generally be more firmly cooked eggs than poached.

As for which of these devices is best, let’s look at it from the perspective of ease of use, most true to the poaching method result, storage space requirements and cost.

The best:

the old school, traditional poachers with holes in the bottom.

Pros/Cons: very low cost, uses a pan you already own, easy storage, gives the most true result and is easy to use.

Next:

Silicone cups:

Pros/Cons: easy on storage, low cost, produces a good result and easy to use. Can be used to serve in, also a multi-use product – can do custards and desserts, are freezer and oven safe.

Insert trays:

Pros/Cons: use existing pan, are low cost, fairly good on storage, less true result but can still be good runny yolk. Will probably produce a more firm egg than some like.

Pan Sets:

Pros/Cons: more costly, as much as electric egg cooker and sometimes more, requires more storage space, gives less true result, more work with clean up, not hard to use though. Pan portion can be used as a small saute pan and other cooking purposes.

Finally the electric models.

Pros/Cons: costly, require the most storage space, least true result, limited in other uses as it cooks eggs only.

I have found that many of these poaching solutions provide a good form of cooking, but all must be watched closely. You must learn how to cook with each one, as they will have idiosyncrasies. Like many cooking tools, you just have to work through the disappointments to get a finished product you are pleased with. The only way to ensure a perfectly poached egg is to stay with the tried and true method. Sometimes these other products produce a result which is overly cooked on one side and not enough on the other. But if one perseveres, you can get what you want.