James Kenji Lopez-Alt
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Perfect Poached Eggs
🕑 Added 2023-10-26 10:02:32 +0000 UTCThis technique is one that I shared in my first book, The Food Lab. The idea is that by straining eggs in a fine mesh strainer before poaching them, you eliminate the problems caused by those excess loose whites - the whispy cloudlike things that muck up the water and make the poached eggs look kinda like wet tissue instead of a nice clean, tight torpedo shape.
The method is not 100% foolproof (there will always be a random egg here and there that has whites that are already broken when you take it out of the shell), but it's as close as I know.
What's especially nice is that you can crack lots of eggs into the strainer at once. I've done this with three dozen eggs at a time at a demo once!
Comments
Cindy Gleason
Really great egg lesson, Kenji!
Cindy Gleason
Great question! I’d love to know this too. I get fresh eggs (kept at room temperature) from my daughter’s chickens from time to time.
Dana Seymour
Have you noticed any difference in straining between using cold eggs from the fridge versus room temp eggs? (We keep our eggs on the counter as they are fresh from the neighbor’s hens) I’m wondering if I should chill them before straining and poaching so the whites aren’t as runny.
