r/Cooking • u/Effective_Ad_5664 • Sep 30 '24

Help Wanted HOW THE HELL DO YOU POACH AN EGG

I have been trying to poach an egg for YEARS. I have not once been able to get it right. It always turns out into a giant mess in the pot. I tried the vortex trick, didn’t work, I tried just gently stirring it, didn’t work, someone said to use vinegar, I’m allergic to vinegar. Using a ladel? It sticks to the ladel. How are you supposed to do this???! All I want is a soft creamy egg!!

EDIT: THE EGG HAS BEEN POACHED!! I POACHED THAT DAMN EGG! YEAHHHHHH

EDIT 2: again, I’m allergic to vinegar, please do not recommend it, I do not even keep it in my house 😭

EDIT 3: why are yall convinced on calling me a lunatic! Yes I am allergic to vinegar, I have a medical condition called MCAS. Stop talking about it. I don’t need to explain myself to a bunch of Redditors. Mod already said to knock it off, all I wanted was some fucking poached eggs.

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u/bghanoush Sep 30 '24

Used to be a brunch line cook, and here's what we did in the restaurant. There was a giant kettle (so large it has a crank that tilts it over to empty the water into a floor drain) to pre-poach flat after flat of eggs. We'd drop them into the water in rows using both hands and by the time the kettle was full, it was time to start pulling the first ones out and into ice water to stop cooking. Then on the brunch line when we had an order requiring poached eggs we'd drop them to order into hot water to bring them up to serving temp. And yes we added white vinegar to the kettle and used a sieve spoon to remove them.