Conference turris::cooks

    I have always been told to put a little vinegar in the water. I
    don't know why or whether or not this help your problem.
    
    BUT!!  The thing I do is to stir the water very rapidly just before
    dropping in the egg to form a whirlppol in the saucepan.

    I don't know what you do if you want 2 eggs!  ( 2 pans ? )
    
    Also remove the pan from the heat before dropping the egg in so
    that it isn't bubbling away. It isn't usually necessary to return
    it unless you like like them well done.
    
    Good Luck
    
    Chris.

    I have a friend who is a chef and his recommendation also was to
    put vinegar in the water.  He was once employed as a chef in a hospital
    and had to make dozens of poached eggs every morning.  He claimed
    that the vinegar somehow kept each egg intact while cooking.  Sorry
    I can't give you exact amount of vinegar to use, you'll just have
    to experiment!
    
    Meredith
    

    I forgot to add that with this method, you should be able to poach
    more than one egg at a time, even several at once if you use a large
    enough pot.
    
    M
    

    Boy, I'm doing well today....
    
    The previous reply should be re: .2, not .3!!
    
    M
    

    You can also buy little frames to pour the eggs into so that you
    can poach several at one time in one pot.  My mother has a set of
    these gizmos, but I don't think anyone has used them lately, or
    even knows for sure where they are stored (too many cooking gadgets....).
    
    I don't make poached eggs very often, and when I do, I use the "swirl
    the water around" method.

    Just a remider that it is very important that the eggs are FRESH,
    this provides you with a firmer egg white.
    
    I poach my eggs by cooking them in a pan of water in exactly the
    same way as if I was frying them, except of course use salted water
    rather than oil!!.
    
    Simmer gently and you can do several at a time.
    
    Bon appetite.

  Agree with "fresh eggs" and "poaching frames". We poach eggs a lot,
  and the vinegar seems to work a bit (add a little salt, too), but not
  enough. The swirling works, too, but only for one egg at a time. The
  poaching frames we use are cheap Teflon(TM)-coated rings about 3.5
  inches in diameter and .5 inches high. I think we got them at
  Bloomingdales or someplace like that. They were marked "egg frying
  rings" on the package. They work great. Put enough water in a frying
  pan to just come up to the top of the ring. Bring it to a very low
  boil and drop the eggs into the rings.

    The poaching rings DO work real well - As a child we had a pan that
    had a separate piece you could set on top of the boiling water,
    and drop the egg into - I've seen some advertised recently, so I'm
    sure they are still available.  As I am on a no-fat diet, and eggs
    are allowed as a protein - but no frying - poaching is something
    I've been experimenting with lately, myself.  The vinegar also works
    well - I will try to remember to look up the amounts in my cookbook
    and post them tomorrow.

    I use about a tablespoon of vinegar in the pot of water. If you
    aren't using the egg frames, be sure there is enough water so that
    there is enough to give the egg some "cushion" underneath, otherwise
    the eggs can "stick" to the bottom and you will normally break he
    yolk when you remove them. I boil the water rapidly, give it a good
    swirling and then add the eggs. To add the eggs, I usually break
    the egg onto a saucer first so I can just slide it in. I found a
    saucer works better than a bowl. Again, add the eggs one at a time
    and IMMEDIATELY turn the heat down. The boiling motion will tear
    up the whites. I simmer for 2 minutes and always have soft yolks.
    Don't leave to pot. Whenever I did, the eggs died a tragic death.
    Make sure you have the remainder of the breakfast ready and on the
    plates because the eggs will cool fast, so all you have to do is
    scoop them out of the water and put them on the plate.

    I too agree that adding about a teaspoon full of vinegar to the
    water before poaching will hold the whites of the eggs together.
    I also spray the pan before adding the water with Pam which prevents
    the eggs from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  No one mentioned
    the fact that you are supposed to cover the pan, also.  Bring water
    to boil then cover pan, lower heat and simmer for three minutes.
    Perfected poached eggs everytime.

    Julia Child did a show last Saturday on breakfasts and among the
    things she did was poach eggs.  Her method is to prick the top of
    the eggshell with a pin and place the egg in boiling water for 10
    seconds(she actually counted out loud).  This will allow the air
    in the egg to escape and set the egg white.  She then broke the
    egg into a pot of simmering water, fingers almost touching the water,
    and let the eggs cook for 4 minutes.  The amount of vinegar used
    was 2 1/2 tablespoons per quart of water.  After the four minutes
    she dipped the eggs in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking
    process and also to rinse off the vinegar.  Poached eggs can be
    made ahead of time and kept in the fridge in a bowl of water uncovered
    for about 2-3 days.  Then all you have to do is dip in hot water
    to warm them and dap on a towel to remove excess water before serving.
    
    Manina

    I poach eggs in a small custard dish.  I half fill the dish with water.
    Then I break an egg or two into the the dish and pop it into the
    microwave for a couple of minutes.  The egg comes out in one piece no
    problem.
    
                                    August G. Reinig

    I know I'm sticking my uneducated nose in here, but I'm a little
    confused as to nomenclature.  During my formative years a poached
    egg was done in a pan with a molded plate which set in a groove
    at the top of the pan.  Procedure was to boil water in the bottom
    and put a egg (w/o shell) in each 'cup'.  (Butter/margarine kept 
    it from sticking.)
    
    Now, what I've been reading here is, as far as I know, methods to
    prepare Dropped Eggs.  (I saw J.C.'s show on the subject--coulda
    swore she said 'dropped'--and I thought the rings was just the 
    ticket.)
    
    Anyway, when I first learned about Dropped Eggs I gave it a shot.
    It tasted like a soft-boiled egg whose sheel cracked during cooking
    and leaked the white.  Ick!  Do I assume the vinegar compensates
    for this?
          
    What is the attraction for the dropped method vs. an egg poacher?
    (Corn oil, e.g. could replace the butter/margerine, so that's not
    it.)
    
    Just so you don't think I'm closed-minded on the subject, the microwave
    method sounds interesting; I'll try it.
    
    						Don
            

  You may be right ...

  When I was little and first learning to cook, I used to make breakfast
  in bed for my parents, who liked poached eggs. Our only cookbook
  (Settlement) called for dropping them, but they were called poached.
  My little hands weren't coordinated enough to avoid making a giant
  mess, so they bought me some poaching pans, which were really tiny
  single-egg-sized double boilers. Just as in your case, butter kept the
  eggs from sticking, and the results were great - nice clean eggs, not
  icky (we called the icky ones "octopi"). Later, I learned that "real"
  cooks don't use tiny double boilers for poaching eggs; they drop them. 

  In any case, there isn't necessarily any advantage to dropping over
  "poaching". It's more likely that poaching pans have gotten hard to
  find. At least, I no longer have my little egg poachers, and haven't
  been able to find them (in spite of looking in Spag's every time I'm
  there).

  Regardless of what you call them, eggs made in a poaching pan are
  practically perfect. If anyone knows a place that sells them, please
  let us know. Until then, the rings work well. When you nuke them,
  though, do they really come out with the whites nicely cooked and the
  yolk still liquid? That's important. If so, it could be the best bet.

    Re .12
    I've never tried nuking them but doesn't the membrane have to be
    pierced to keep the egg from exploding all over the oven?  (I
    recall reading that in one of my microwave cookbooks.)
    
    Re .14
    I just purchased a cheapo double-boiler/steamer pan that came 
    with the egg poacher insert at Reading China & Glass in Kittery
    (Maine).  You should also be able to find them in various low-end
    department stores/5 & 10 type stores (unless you're looking for
    top of the line type cookware).  Since I use them infrequently
    I did not bother looking for a high quality one.
    
    Evelyn

    Re .14, .15: I should think those specialty shops in the malls 
    would have them also.
    
    Silly me; I looked it up and it said "To cook eggs, by dropping them
    into a pan of water".  L&FB.  I'd still like to know what the vinegar
    does.               
    
    Re .15:  I interpreted .12 as de-shelling it so the white/yolk cooks 
    by direct contact with the water.  This may be the best cooking
    revelation since I learned how to nuke spuds.  I wonder if the taste
    would improve using distilled water, and what the new cooking time
    would be.
    
    						Don       

    RE:  The Vinegar - the vinegar helps to keep the egg together in
    the water, so the white doesn't "string-out" through the water
    (and start looking like octipi).
    

    Right.  You can soft-boil (in the shell) a cracked egg if you put
    vinegar in the water--it stops the white from running out.
    
    						Don