Poached Eggs

I had always thought that poached eggs were fancy and difficult to make.  After my experience with poaching eggs this morning, I have come to the following conclusions:

1. Yes, poached eggs can be fancy, but they also make a simple and tasty breakfast along with some buttered toast.

and

2. No, poached eggs are not difficult to make.  Slightly more time-consuming and resulting in more dirty dishes than other egg preparation methods, perhaps, but by no means is it difficult to poach an egg.

Since poaching eggs is less of a recipe and more of a method, I'm not going to include a recipe in this post.  There are plenty of step-by-step egg-poaching tutorials out there and I don't think another one is needed (plus, I'm feeling lazy today and I don't want to type up a recipe).

 I mainly used two sources for reference:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/how-to-poach-an-egg-smitten-kitchen-style/
http://www.pbs.org/food/fresh-tastes/poached-eggs/

I followed the method in the second link this time, but I may try the whirlpool technique next time I poach eggs.  I'm curious as to whether it would result in less weird filmy waterlogged egg white floating around the pot.  I found that lowering the small dish with the egg into the water before tipping it out did seem to help keep the egg in one place.

The first egg was left in the water for about 3 minutes.  Since it was the first one I made and I didn't want to give the uncertain results to my family members and possibly disappoint them, I ate the first fruits of my labors.  The white was firm and smooth, but the yolk was still liquid, just the way I like it.  There was a thin layer of almost-firm yolk, but it was mostly just runny and delicious with my buttered toast.

Next, I tried poaching two at once.  I left them in the pot for about 3 minutes each (taking advantage of both the stove timer and the microwave timer).  These two were slightly more cooked than mine, but still had runny yolks.  My older sister and my little brother each had one.  My little brother said it was okay, but he actually prefers a solid yolk.  Next I poached two more eggs for my younger sister.  She really liked them, but then again, she loves eggs in general.  After hers were done, I offered to try poaching one more for my brother, this time with a solid yolk.  I let it cook for close to 6 minutes, and when he cut into the yolk, it was solid almost all the way through, with a slightly soft--but definitely not runny--center.  Finally, I poached an egg for my mom.  In an effort to end up with minimal cooked yolk, I only let the egg cook for 2 1/2 minutes.  She said it still have a layer of cooked yolk, though, so next time I might try only 2 minutes of cooking time.

All in all, I would say today's eggy experience was a success!  I can't wait to try making Eggs Benedict with my new egg-poaching skills, and it will give me a chance to attempt a hollandaise sauce, as well.