How to Poach Eggs Perfectly Every Time

Soft, runny poached eggs oozing deliciously over buttered brown soda bread is a favorite breakfast of mine: it's healthy and low calorie too. Below is an easy and simple method to achieve perfectly poached eggs every time to ensure your eggs are just right; a soft and runny egg yolk with a firm, solid egg white.

Ingredients:

• 4 fresh free range eggs at room temperature
• a splash of one of the following: apple cider vinegar, a fruit based vinegar or a white wine vinegar
• a pinch of salt
• boiling water straight from the kettle

Utensils:

• a deep bottomed pot
• four espresso cups or similar sized coffee cups
• a slotted spoon

Method:

• Pour the boiling water into the deep bottomed pot over a medium heat, allowing the water to simmer lightly.
• Add in the salt.
• Add in the splash of whichever vinegar you are using.
• Crack each egg into one of the four individual espresso cups.
• Gently lower the cup into the simmering water (hold the cup by the handle) and tip the cup slightly, thus allowing the egg to slip gently into the simmering water.
• Repeat with the remaining eggs.
• Simmer the eggs for 2 minutes (use a timer, timing is crucial).
• Turn off the heat and allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for a further minute.
• Remove the poached eggs from the hot water with a slotted spoon.

To Serve:

• Serve on thickly sliced homemade buttered brown soda bread.
• Sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper and a pinch of salt.

Using a light flavored vinegar like apple cider, a fruit based or white wine vinegar ensures you don't get that horrible vinegar taste that ordinary malt vinegar has. Malt vinegar has a very strong flavor and is best kept for your french fries.

Using the little cups helps mould the egg, hence keeping a nice round shape.

To achieve perfect poached eggs every time, you will need very fresh eggs. To test your eggs to ensure they are fresh, follow these simple guidelines:

• Fill a deep bowl with cold water.
• Gently place the egg into the water.
• If the it sinks, it's fresh; the fresher the egg, the lower it sinks.
• A really fresh one will sit a the bottom of the bowl.
• If it floats, it's not so fresh; the older the egg, the higher it will float.
• A really old one will float near the top of the bowl.

The theory behind this test; the more air in the egg the older it is, hence the higher it floats.

Eggs are a low fat food with only a mere 70 to 80 calories per average medium egg. Eggs are a readily available cheap and healthy food source. Eggs are full of vitamins and minerals which the body requires on a daily basis for healthy functioning. Among numerous essential vitamins and minerals eggs contain:

• Protein: essential for healthy growth and muscle repair
• Vitamin A: helps to maintains healthy skin tissue and eye tissue
• Vitamin E: maintains good health and helps fights infection
• Numerous B vitamins including folic acid; prevents birth defects and choline; promotes healthy brain development
• Vitamin D: essential for the development of strong bones and strong teeth
• Iodine: controls the functioning of the thyroid glands
• Iron: maintains a healthy supply of red blood cells
• Zinc: helps promote a healthy immune system