what is a poached egg?

I've read about these kind of eggs in magazines and have seen it many times on peertrainer. Can someone explain this to me in a simple way? thank you

Sat. Oct 29, 11:11pm

poached egg

A poached egg is an egg cracked into boiling water, cooked, then scooped out of water to eat.

Saturday, October 29, 2005, 11:58 PM

Thanks!

Though i did not ask the first question, I too wanted to know this.
Can someone also post the recipe to make scrambled eggs? If I dont have a microwave, can I still make them?

Sunday, October 30, 2005, 5:44 AM

Recipe for scrambled eggs:
Crack an egg into a bowl. Throw the shell away. Put about a tablespoon of milk or cold water in with the egg. Use a wisk or fork to stir. Stir quickly. Heat a non-stick pan at medium low heat with a quick spray of Pam or similar item. Pour in eggs. Heat the eggs till solid but not brown. Stir while cooking if you like them that way. Remove from pan. VOILA! Scrambled eggs!

Sunday, October 30, 2005, 8:16 AM

By the way, if you don't want your poached egg to turn into egg drop soup, a trick is to put a little bit of vinegar in the boiling water before you put the egg in, that way the egg forms around itself instead of spreading out. Saw this on the cooking channel :)

Sunday, October 30, 2005, 8:28 AM

They sell egg poachers that make the egg perfectly round and much more appetizing.

Sunday, October 30, 2005, 9:13 AM

Adding water to egg instead of milk makes them fluffier, you can add other things as well, ham, cheese and of couse veggies. I am stumped that someone wouldn't know how to scramble an egg. And yes the vinegar works, it also works if you hard boil them, the shells won't split open.

Sunday, October 30, 2005, 12:44 PM

Thank you! I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't know what it was!

Sunday, October 30, 2005, 11:14 PM

Everyone is at different levels here. Some people probably have no experience cooking and wanting to know how to cook an egg is a legitimate question. Younger members are more accustomed to fast food and instant anything.

Monday, October 31, 2005, 8:49 AM

poached egg

putting them in a ready made poacher 'plasticises' the egg- best way to go is with water, a little rice vinegar bring water to a slow boil, put eggs in shells in water for 10 seconds, remove and crack open into water, poach in slow moving water. The ten second immersion slightly sets the white- prevents it from breaking up in the water.

Friday, December 2, 2005, 4:18 PM

I adore my microwave egg poacher. You crack the egg, pierce the white and add a tsp water and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes on med - perfect! They refigerate well and can be quickly heated by placing in microwave for 15 secs or so...

Saturday, December 3, 2005, 3:33 AM

eggs should be at room temperature

You'll get a better poached egg if you use eggs at room temperature. If they've been in the fridge warm them in some luke-warm water first.

Monday, December 5, 2005, 4:53 AM

Doesn't anyone poach an egg the way I do?

I make the boling water spin by stirring it quickly for a few seconds. Then crack the egg open and let if fall into the center. The cetrifugal action keeps the egg together long enough for the outside to cook.

I guess I'll try the vinegar idea now...

Sunday, February 19, 2006, 2:01 PM

to the above poster...

That's how I do my poached eggs too!

Sunday, February 19, 2006, 3:00 PM

Paching - I slide the egg gently off a plate into the gently boiling water and it keeps together in a nice natrual shape.

I didn't know how to scramble eggs until I was in my mid-20's . I swear my mother never made scrambled eggs - but she says this is not true.

Mark Bitman - author of How to Cook Everything - says to cook scrambled eggs over heat so low that it takes 20 minutes - it does make for a great dish, if you can spare the time.

Sunday, February 19, 2006, 4:50 PM

Try putting the poached egg in a bowl with some of the water, and a little sesame oil (the brown asian kind, just a drop) plus some pepper. Yum

Sunday, February 19, 2006, 10:12 PM

Dropped Egg

Wow, I would never have called an egg put directly in water a "poached" egg. To me, that is a "dropped" egg. (No, that's really what it's called, not a joke.) A poached egg is cooked over water in a double boiler (or an egg paocher, which is a very small double boiler). This means the egg doesn't get any hotter than the boiling point of water while cooking, but it also doesn't get watery. Plus, you can put salt and pepper (or other seasonings on it) while it is cooking.

Monday, February 20, 2006, 10:47 AM

I am noticing the little comments here and there in this thread about not knowing how to cook certain items - I have a WONDERFUL book called "How to Cook an Egg" - the title is very tongue in cheek but the book is amazing! It will teach you all sorts of tips and tricks for cooking. Pick it up for about 19 dollars at Barnes & Noble.

Monday, February 20, 2006, 1:24 PM

to the 10:47 poster -

the definition of poaching is "cooking in simmering liquid" and you can cook lots of things that way - nice way to cook fish!

your double boiler aproachsounds really smart - but I'l bet it has another name.

Monday, February 20, 2006, 1:45 PM

Yep, poached definitely means the egg goes in the water.

The double boiler technique sounds more like a "steamed egg" to me.

Monday, February 20, 2006, 1:47 PM

I put my egg in a shallow ladle and lower it into the water (or broth). The trick is to get the water boiling and then lower the temp to medium--enough so that it isn't rapidly boiling (more like simmering). That way it simmers vs boils.. the egg and it holds its shape.

Regarding hard boiled eggs...

Put COLD eggs in COLD water. Put the pan on the stove and heat until boiling. Turn off the pan and let the eggs sit for about 15 minutes. You''ll get a perfectly boiled egg without any "green" from over-cooking. :-)
I sprinkle with some sea salt and fresh ground pepper. YUM.

Microwaved Eggs-- Get a small bowl, or a microwavable container the size of a 1/2 lb round take-out tub. (you know, the kind that cream cheese or deli dips come in.)

I usually melt a little butter (about 1/2 pat of butter) until liquid.

I break the egg into the container and whisk it quickly with the butter.

Cook on high for about 1 minute - 15 seconds. (Take it out to check it at about 45 seconds and every 15 seconds after that...

As soon as the egg gets puffy and there is no more liquid egg left, it should be done.

Let it rest for a little bit and then take it out and pop it onto an english muffin with a bit of ham, and you have your own home-made Egg Mc Muffin.

Now, I understand that most people will not want to add as much butter-- it will add a lot of fat...

So... you might try spraying the container with an oil spray... Whisk the eggs prior to putting into the container, vs. whisking it in the container with the butter-- You'll want to put some kind of release on the container or the eggs might stick to the container... :-)

Monday, February 20, 2006, 2:52 PM

i make poached eggs in the microwave almost every single day and I don't need to use a bit of fat. I also would not use any of the flimsy plastic that is used to package cream cheese or the like. It is NOT microwave safe - meaning chemicals (often carcinogens) used in the plastic extrusion process can break down in the microwave and leech into your food.

Buy a microwave-safe egg-cooking dish and use that. Follow the directions and you should have perfect eggs every time. Mine allows me to cook poached eggs and be out the door before a pot of water could even be halfway to a boil.

Monday, February 20, 2006, 3:02 PM

Good point...
That's why I mentioned to use a Microwave SAFE bowl. (about the size of the take-out containers) I sometimes use a big mug for that as well...

I think I remember reading somewhere that if you are cooking an egg in the microwave without scrambling it that you need to poke a hole in the yolk. is that true>

Monday, February 20, 2006, 3:20 PM

>>Get a small bowl, or a microwavable container
>>the size of a 1/2 lb round take-out tub. (you know, the kind that cream cheese or deli dips come in.)

Sorry - I read that as 1 OR the other and wanted to stress DON'T use those flimsy plastic containers. I see people do it all the time at work and I try not to be the PSA for using microwave-safe containers but it makes me cringe whenever I see it, so I'm a tad bit overzealous :-)

My apologies if I misunderstood.

Yes - you need to pierce the yolk and the white (the thick part that is close to the yolk). However if you are using reasonalby fresh eggs the egg holds up wonderfully and the yolk does not run into the white at all (when I first started doing this I thought I would have a flat overcooked yolk).

Monday, February 20, 2006, 3:40 PM

No offense taken.
I am bad about using take-out containers and re-heating, but since my friend who is a doctor told me not to do it, I've stopped... :-)

I'm not afraid of the eg running, only exploding.:-)

Monday, February 20, 2006, 4:00 PM

That's egg, not eg.. LOL

Monday, February 20, 2006, 4:00 PM

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