This Is the Coldest and Easiest Way to Boil an Egg.
At some point in my adult life, I became the one who wakes up at 6:30 in the morning. I have not chosen this path – I would always prefer to sleep, thank you – but I am trying to make the most of my body’s sudden refusal to sleep in.
Getting up early made me reconsider my views on breakfast. I write about food to make a living, so you might think I have a big delicious breakfast every single day. It would be wrong: I need a few hours to admit that the coffee and water – it is not food, and by the time it happens, I’m so very hungry, that will suit only the fastest and lightest meal. For me it has always been eggs and toast, and thanks to my imaginary mom Alice Medrich, now I have a big poached egg moment.
Poached eggs are a white whale for chefs of all skill levels. Everyone has their own favorite method – drain off excess proteins! Add some vinegar to the water! Make a water whirlwind! – but none of this simplifies the process. Complex, overly fussy techniques, in my opinion, are diametrically opposed to the ideal simplicity of poached eggs. Check out Alice Medrich’s flawless technique she learned from her ex-boyfriend:
“An old guy taught me how to make poached eggs. Rather, I watched him do it. He cracked and dipped the eggs one by one into a shallow pot of boiling water, covered the pot, turned off the heat, put toast in the toaster, and went to shave. He returned to the kitchen clean-shaven, grabbed toast and spanked eggs on top. Nothing special – and a pleasant memory.
(Sounds dreamy. Nice trick and release job, Alice!)
I have been quite successful in catching eggs for over ten years, but I am not exaggerating when I say that this method has changed my life. It’s fast, simple, and easily reproducible – just what I need for my first meal of the day. Here’s how to do it.
Add two inches of water to a skillet or saucepan with a tight-fitting lid; bring to a boil over high heat. If you are storing sliced bread in the freezer like I did, now is a good time to take out a few slices and put them in the toaster.
Gently break the refrigerated eggs, one at a time, into boiling water – or, if you prefer, into a mold / teacup / soup container first – then close the lid and turn off the heat. Start the toaster.
After three minutes, remove the lid and inspect the eggs. The large eggs are almost ready; giant eggs may take another minute or two.
Lightly brush your toast with butter, then fold a paper towel (or clean kitchen towel) several times. Use a slotted spoon to remove each egg from the pan and blot excess water with a towel.
Transfer the eggs to buttered toast or a plate. Serve with salt and pepper, because hot sauce goes with scrambled eggs.
The ease and lightness of this method should be enough to convince you to try it, but if the idea of ditching filters, vinegar and vortices makes you itchy, here are three more entries in the Pros column. First, it completely gets rid of those shitty, thin bits of egg white that make ugly poachers – they sink to the bottom and crumble along with the rest of the protein when you dig up the eggs. Any leftover leftovers can be carefully cut off by pressing a spoon against the side of the pan.
Second, cooking eggs in completely still water denatures the egg whites gently and evenly, rather than aggressively and immediately as with continuous boiling. This prevents the proteins from merging into the edges and bottom of the damn skillet, so cleaning up will be much easier.
Third, this method makes scaling easier. If you’re having a big brunch and are firm on eggs Benedict, just use more water and a large saucepan – and plan to break the eggs into the tap before adding them to the water.
As with all egg dishes, adjust the temperature and duration as needed to suit your taste. I like a poached egg with completely frozen white and boiled yolk, so starting over high low heat works great. However, if you want a more classic poached egg situation – hard whites, completely runny yolks – bring the water to a boil, split the eggs, then cover the skillet and reduce the heat. They will cook a little faster, so check them in two minutes.
Be careful: once you master this technique, you may find that everything looks like a piece of toast. It suits me; In the end, everything from fried rice to a pile of fried greens is more like a meal with a poached egg on top.
This story was originally published in 2018 and has been updated with new information on 02/27/2020.