How to Poach an Egg Video – scroll down for step-by-step instructions

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Knowing how to poach an egg is one of the basic cooking skills that you probably should have if you like poached eggs. With a couple of tiny tricks, they’re really very simple, but have that “magic quotient” to them that gets people all swoony when you make them.

Watch the video above to see how to do it, but here are my tips for poaching an egg in writing, too, in case you hate hearing me talk:

1. Use the freshest eggs possible. It will still work (meaning, they will still poach) with less-fresh eggs but they won’t look as pretty. Fresher egg whites hold their shape better when poaching, making prettier, more compact and round poached eggs. Use old eggs and you’ll end up with a weird spider-web effect in your poach. Tastes fine, yes, just ugly.

2. Acidify your water. I like using a little plain white vinegar, but lemon juice is fine, too. A little acid goes a long way in helping those egg proteins coagulate into a solid, instead of running all over like an amoeba.

3. Have your water just below a simmer. Use a thermometer if you have one to maintain it around 200º F.

4. Don’t make a crazy-insane waterpark whirlpool in your pot. You don’t really need to make a vortex or anything. Just give the water a turn, slip in your egg, and use a rubber spatula to help shape and form the egg as it cooks.

5. Crack the egg into a small bowl first. This is to avoid plopping the egg in and splashing hot water all up all over you, as well as to help keep your yolk from breaking with said “plop”. Just lower the bowl close to the water and slide it on in all easy-like.

Depending on how cooked you like your yolks, let a large egg cook at around 200º F for 3 minutes and up to 6 minutes. Easy! With a little practice and a couple ugly poached eggs, you’ll get this skill down in no time.