How should I poach an egg?

I have tried many techniques but what gets the best results for me is dropping them directly in water and vinegar. Complete method below:

1. Take eggs out of fridge early and leave to reach room temp. It is okay to leave them out of fridge overnight if cooking for breakfast.
2. Fill pan with water - I use frying pan with minimum depth of 4cm.
3. Add splash of vinegar to help the egg coagulate.
4. Bring water to boil then reduce heat until you can see a few tiny bubbles rising from bottom of pan.
5. Crack 1st egg into ramekin of some sort - I use a narrow tea cup.
6. If cooking one egg:
   1. Stir the pan very slowly from the outside and then gently slide egg from ramekin into middle of pan.
   2. NOTE: Do not make a rapid whirlpool in the center of pan - the centrifugal forces will pull the yolk towards the side of the pan creating a yolk sack with whites left in the middle of whirlpool.
7. If cooking many eggs:
   1. Gently slide egg from ramekin near outside edge of pan with following eggs near edges of pan. Use a spoon to push escaping whites towards egg after sliding in for a couple of seconds until it starts to coagulate.
8. Cook for about 3-4mins for runny, longer for harder yolk.
9. If eating immediately:
   1. Use a slotted spoon to lift eggs onto a plate with 2 layers of paper towel. Make sure to drain excess water - you may like to shake slotted spoon a bit.
   2. Place a paper towel over eggs and press down gently to soak up excess water.
   3. You should be able to pick up your perfectly poached egg with your hands and show your friends how pro you are.
10. If cooking lots or eating later:
    1. Remove eggs with slotted spoon and place into bowl of cold water.
    2. You may quickly heat them up in hot water when ready to use.

This is my morning routine twice a week - with english muffin, butter, bacon, rocket/spinach salad and hollandaise sauce.

1. I fill a tall frying pan (or pot) with water.
2. Add some white vinegar.
3. Let it come to a boil
4. Add the eggs. Don't make it too overcrowded
5. Take it out with a flipper or a spoon with holes when they look done.

Personally, I cannot stand the taste of vinegar in a poached egg.

Here is the method that I use with perfect results every time:

1. In a covered saute pan, bring water to a full boil. Add about a teaspoon of salt to the water. The salt performs the same function as vinegar: keep the egg whites from scattering and you ending up with poached yolks.

2. Break the eggs by twos into a small dishes. So two eggs each for four people, eight eggs, four small prep bowls.

3. Be sure to prep all other ingredients that will go with the eggs so that they are ready slightly before the eggs: Toast? Plan to toast the toast and butter the toast and plate the toast so neither eggs not toast are ready first. Toast gets dry; eggs get hard. All wrong... Hollandaise also should be prepared to be ready at the same time as the eggs so it does not separate.

4. Once you all ready to "pull the trigger" because you have planned the plates and the other ingredients and the water is boiling and the cover is ready -- Poach the Eggs!
   
   Here is how:

   • Turn off the heat on the pan;
   • Quickly but carefully lower each bowl to the water, tip the eggs gently into the water from the bowl;
   • Cover the pan;
   • Time the eggs:
     • For really soft eggs, about 3 minutes.
     • Larger eggs or firmer eggs, 4 minutes.
   • Use a slotted spoon or slotted spatula to gently lift the eggs from the water. Hold for a second to drain, touch the bottom of the spoon / spatula to a paper towel to dry.

5. Put eggs on the toast or the other preparation.

Enjoy!

Take some microwave plastic wrap and place it in a ramekin; push the plastic into the corners and lightly oil the inside with a brush. Gently break a fresh egg into the centre of the plastic lined ramekin, then gently pull up the sides of the plastic wrap and tie it off with string or a plastic band. Place the pouch in boiling water for (depends on your eggs) minutes. Open the pouch and you have a perfect poached egg.

Just to add to the other answers ... the fresher the egg (properly free range helps too) the better the shape and firmness of the result, whatever technique or trick you use.

You can buy some things (in the UK, maybe not in the US) called poach pods which I use, and work a treat. They're £5 for 2 (or about $8) I guess. They don't take up much room when stored as they stack:- Green poachpod® 2 Silicone Egg Poaching Pods.

Heston Blumenthal seems to have a good way to do this and get "the perfect egg every time", and it actually looks pretty easy.

1. Use a fresh egg. Fresh eggs have a firmer albumen which helps the poached egg form (fresh eggs sink in water, because an air bubble is produced over time)
2. Avoid direct heat in the pan: Put a plate upside-down at the bottom
3. Get the water to 80°C
4. Use a straining-spoon to remove any water albumen from the egg (even fresh eggs have a little), and drop into the water
5. Cook for 4 Minutes

(Watch on YouTube)

I haven't had a chance to try this technique yet, but it seems pretty straightforward, and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

To be perfect honest, I'm a fairly big fan of microwaving eggs in lieu of poaching. There are little plastic gadgets you can get that you break the eggs into. You can microwave them either to hard or soft boiled levels, and they end up as nice, symmetrical mounds. The only trick is not to microwave on too high a power, or the yolks might explode! In that case, the result is a bit exploded in texture, but because the eggs are in the plastic gadget, at least you don't have egg all over the inside of your microwave!

Boil a reasonably large pan of water with a small pinch of salt, then take it off the heat. Crack the eggs gently into the water so they lie separately from each other. Leave them for about three minutes and they're done. Voila!

BTW: I don't stir the water as I fond this can make the white separate from the yolk.

Use a small pot with hot water from a kettle or water boiler, add small amount of vinegar (helps to keep the egg together) then wait until you see small bubbles. No need to swirl the water, just add the egg and don't let the water boil vigorously. Wait until cooked to your preference.

A technique promoted by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is as follows (Based on Heston Blumenthal's technique):

1. Start with the freshest egg you can

2. Crack the egg into a fine mesh strainer and swirl until all the loose egg white is drained off.

3. Bring a few inches of water to about 180 degrees Fahrenheit

4. Lower the egg into the water with the fine mesh strainer. Give it a shake to make sure it releases from the strainer and roll it out with the strainer.

5. Flip the egg periodically, and cook for about 3-4 minutes

You can see a video of him performing this technique here.

A sous vide technique to produce poached egg-like results by cooking the eggs in the shell due to Chefsteps is described below:

1. Heat up your water bath to 147 degrees Fahrenheit (64 degrees Celsius)

2. Put your eggs (in the shell) in the water bath for 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours.

3. Crack the eggs into a slotted spoon and let the loose white drain, and serve.

A video of this process is here.

You can also use their egg calculator to see what other time+temperature combinations look like.

I've tried the vinegar and the swirling water technique... I didn't have much luck. The following 2 have worked for me, but both have negatives

1. Make sure the water is nearly simmering
2. Crack the egg into a small cup so it's easy to pour
3. Tilt the pan of boiling water, so when you drop the egg in, it sinks to the depth. This seems to allow all the whites to settle together
4. Carefully put the pan back on to a gentle simmer
5. Sadly, it makes it very hard to cook more than 1 (I've managed 2 max)

The other way we've had some luck is

1. Part fill the pan of water
2. Add tall chef rings so the tips of the rings are out of the water
3. When the water is nearly simmer, or just simmering, add the eggs into the rings
4. Careful when removing the eggs and rings, as this can be a pain and the eggs have on occasion stuck to the ring