How to Make Poached Eggs
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This is how to make poached eggs for breakfast simply and easily.
I love poached eggs.
And while they are a pretty simple dish – making them is a little complicated. If you don’t have the right equipment.
I know that there are ways to make them without a special poached egg cup thingy – but that never worked for me.
For years I had this old fashioned poached egg pot – but cleaning it was such a headache that I never really used it.
So, I was delighted to find a modern take on an old favorite at Crate & Barrel.
Despite their obscene looks, they are really useful and functional.
How to Make Poached Eggs in Silicone Egg Cups
Making poached eggs in these is a breeze.
All you need are:
- a pot with lid – that is deep enough to hold the cups with the lid on
- silicone egg cups
- nonstick cooking spray (I use a Misto oil sprayer filled with Canola oil)
- eggs
- salt and pepper to taste
Fill the pot with about 1 inch of water and bring it to a boil.
Spray nonstick cooking spray on the poached egg cups.
Crack one egg in each cup.
Set the egg filled cup into the pot of boiling water and cover with lid.
Cook until desired doneness. (I usually cook them about 10 minutes for a hard cooked yolk.)
Use a table knife or plastic knife (something not too sharp) to remove the egg from the cup. Often times they just slide out without a knife.
That’s it! And clean up is very easy. The cups are dishwasher safe, but I just wash them by hand.
Buying Options
I purchased my set at Crate & Barrel, but I found something similar at Amazon.com too (although I haven’t tried these).
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I know this is an old post, but I have just stumbled over it.
I can never get eggs that are fresh enough to entirely successfully poach in water the traditional way without turning into jellyfish, so these silicone pods are a boon.
I like a set white and a soft, oozing yolk, and to achieve this the eggs really do need to be at room temperature at the start. If they are fridge-cold then the yolk will begin to solidify before the white is completely set. If you’re in a hurry then crack a cold egg into the pod and leave it on the counter to acclimatise for half an hour befor poaching.
5 minutes poaching will achieve the perfect runny-yolked done-ness from room temperature.
To get over the issue of the pods being quite wobbly, stand them in a small ramekin or dip-bowl to steady them while cracking in the egg.
I’m another Peter, in New Zealand, who found this page using DuckDuckGo searching for “using silicon poached egg holder”. This is such a well laid out page containing very useful information. The poached eggs we had this evening, cooked for 7 minutes with a lid on, were perfect! Thank you.
Thank you – so glad it helped!
Are the cups you have shown a bit hard or are they soft and floppy?? The ones I bought are soft and floppy so I’ve had nothing but trouble trying to cook my eggs in them, falling over and sliding onto the counter, or into the water in the pan..I got mine at Walmart though so I don’t know if that’s why, but I hate them lol. What a mess. I liked the old time pans my mom had that you have pictured here a lot better.
Hi Moe,
The silicone poached egg cups that I have do have some structure to them. I don’t find them to be as floppy as you describe.
Maybe you could try using a little less water in the pot that you make the poached eggs in? Just be carful that it doesn’t evaporate.
Best of luck!
@Moe P, I have same trouble. I finally used a pot that holds eight of them with no space between to fall over. I put inch of hot water in pot and then add silicone filled cups. I then add enough water just to bottom of red rim on cups. So only silicon part is in water.
I’ve poached quite a few eggs in my 80 years and I’ve tried all methods – special pans, microwave pots, silicon cups and the plain old saucepan.
The plain old saucepan way remains the best: quickest, simplest and easiest to cleanup. A few drops of white vinegar in boiling water, take the water off the boil, slide the eggs in carefully, bring the water to a gentle simmer. After 4 – 6 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs, remove them with a slotted spoon and serve on buttered toast.
I use a stainless steel 16” pan for two eggs. Only a trace of egg white sticks to the bottom of the pan, so washing the pan and spoon takes about 30 seconds.
The worst method, I found, was using these silicone cups. Every time, and I tried many times, I found the eggs difficult to remove without them breaking, white stuck to the cups in spite of using oil or butter, so they were a nuisance to clean. I could only fit one cup in a 16” pan, while an 18” pan only just accepted two. Hard luck if you want a family’s worth of eggs.
Hi Alan,
Sometimes the tried and true methods are the best ones! I will try making poached eggs your ways – it sounds really easy.
I pop the silicone cups in small glass prep bowls, crack the eggs in them and then put the silicone cups in the water. When done, I scoop the cups out of the water with a slotted spoon and set them back in the prep cups. They fit perfectly and don’t tip over on the counter.
fill the pan with water crack egg into cups, place the lid over the pot. Set an egg timer for three minutes for a soft egg or five minutes for a hard egg. from another site on poaching eggs with silicone cups.
Thanks for the info!
Thank you
You are welcome!
I found this page by carrying out a DuckDuckGo search for “using silicon poached egg holders”. We have had a set of silicon egg poachers for a long time but never used them until now.
Thank you for providing such a useful instruction.
Using a size 7 eggs (quite large), I found the yolks were just firm when cooked for 10 minutes, and the eggs were delicious.
Hi Peter,
Your comment just made my day! Thank you so much for letting me know that article helped you out. 🙂
I bought a set of silicone eggs from walmart & there is not one thing on how to cook them.I assume you could cook in a micro wave. I was wrong
I’d been thinking of buying silicone poached egg cups. Thanks for your review of them. I’d like to add that I worry about food safety as well, but my husband likes his poached egg yolks to be runny and I often make Caesar salad dressing, so I purchase pasteurized eggs for those recipes to be on the safe side.
Thank you for such simple straight forward instructions. My husband is the kitchen whizz and with him away I want to learn. It’s a blessing having people like you sharing in the world x
Hi Claire,
So glad I could help! Thanks for letting me know – you made my day. 🙂
The point of a poached egg is a firm white and a hot runny yolk. This recipe calls for cooking for about 10 minutes for a firm set yolk. What about cooking time for a normal poached egg?
Hi Lori,
I prefer my poached eggs with a firm yolk – which is “normal” for me. It is all relative, isn’t it?
So, I don’t have an exact time for a runnier yolk. I would just monitor the eggs as they cook, once the whites are firm, you can stop cooking at the stage that you like best. Keep in mind all the warnings about foodborne illness, etc.
I see it’s an older comment, but 6 minutes works for me to get firm whites and runny yolks.
Hi Marcia,
Thanks for adding this – since I like solid yolks I didn’t have an accurate time for softer ones.
Much appreciated!