Fool-Proof Poached Eggs Recipe

Poached eggs are healthy, delicious, and yet surprisingly tricky to make properly. For such a simple concept — eggs cooked in water (sans shells, otherwise they'd be soft-boiled) — why are they so darn hard to get right? Recipe developer Ting Dalton feels that "many people are apprehensive about making poached eggs" and speculates that this may be because they're wondering, "How do you get that perfectly yolky center and round shape without the egg whites being under-cooked?" She says she sticks with the tried-and-true method of adding a little vinegar to the water and then swirling it before adding the eggs. "It's something I've always done," she says, adding, "It never fails me."

Dalton does, however, have a few more eggs-pert poaching tips to avoid common egg-poaching mistakes . For one thing, she says to use fresh eggs as ones that are older have more water in them, something that she says leads to "wispy" whites. She also advises that you strain the eggs before cooking as this will again reduce the moisture content. If you do so, she says, "You should find that your poached eggs will be firm and hold their shape."