I have seen a couple of presentations for boiling or simmering water that say to start with cold water. Why? If you are just going to heat the water, why not start with hot water?

What is the best way to reheat a poached egg so as not to cook it more? How long can you keep them in the refrigerator after they're poached?

Good questions. Not such an obvious answer.

SOME... believe that hot water can absorb bad flavors from sitting inside a hot water tank for a long period of time. I'm sure that most of the newer tanks are okay, but any Italian will always tell you to start with cold water when cooking pasta because pasta absorbs water to cook.

Eggs, as you know now, are porous and can also absorb moisture through the shell. This is why we suggest starting with cold water. In the end it's not going to make a really big deal, just a good practice that's been handed down by many chefs.

A cooked and immediately cooled poach egg (in an ice bath), will be fine in the fridge in water for 1 to 2 days - a very common practice in even high-end volume restaurants. Just remember, you want to just undercook it a bit before icing.

To reheat, simply place them into simmering water for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes for a large egg. All you are trying to do is reheat them and by the time they reheat to the middle, the egg should finish cooking.

In case you missed it, here's a short video. Great time saver and work ahead solution.

http://rouxbe.com/drilldowns/21

Hello!
I am so excited tonight.

May I just share that I have cooked the most perfect sunny-side up egg for dinner!
=D
My father will be so pleased because it's exactly how he likes it, with a runny yolk.

Thanks to all who's working hard at Rouxbe.
Cooking really is less initimidating when it has been explained properly.
Keep the good work going!

The video explains to use clarified butter for use with pan-frying eggs, yet occasionally they refer to a similar looking liquid as "fat."
I am assuming this is just another term for butter or clarified butter?

You are correct we are just referring to the clarified butter as "fat".
Technically you can use whole butter or oil if you prefer.

The clarified butter just makes for nice pristine looking eggs (no specks from the milk solids that whole butter can sometimes leave behind). Oil would also work, however you will not get the same flavor that the clarified butter adds.

Hope this helps!

What difference does poaching in clarified butter make beyond presentation? Does it make a difference in the taste at all?

Also, how do you make and store clarified butter? It looks like you need a lot of butter to poach eggs and I would hate to see that butter have a one-time use unless I am making a lot of eggs. Can I store clarified butter? If not, how can I use the clarified butter for meals made later that day (after breakfast) or can I use them to enhance other breakfast items like pancakes or waffles?

The taste of eggs poached in clarified butter is quite sensational, also the texture of the eggs adds to the experience. They are just a bit more luxurious I suppose.

As for how to make and store clarified butter here is a Drill-down showing you how it's done http://rouxbe.com/drilldowns/146

Clarified butter will keep for sometime and it can be re-used after you poach the eggs....strain it if there are any floaties! And yes you can use it to enhance other things such as pancakes or waffles if you like.

Clarified butter can be used much like oil...only it has the added bonus of tasting like butter. The advantage of clarified butter is that the milk solids and impurities have been removed, which is what causes butter to burn (or get those little dark flecks).

Hope this helps! Try the poached eggs in clarified butter at least once, it's worth it just to watch them cook :-)

I couldn't figure out why my eggs kept looking like a basted egg. They didn't come out like they had in the video - nice and round. That is because I didn't use a small vessel to put the egg in the water. This was a necessary step.

The vessel is not totally necessary. In fact, I made 30 poached eggs this weekend (for a birthday brunch) and I simply cracked the eggs directly into the water.

The thing to keep in mind with the videos, is that they are visual guidelines. By this, I mean you may not always (myself included) get the exact same result (at least not always) that we did. That is the beauty of cooking the small little variables can slightly change things, like what something looks like. The things that could have affected how your eggs looked could be temperature of the eggs, their freshness...etc etc.

Cooking is about practicing more than anything. If everyone practiced poaching eggs until they were blue in the face, I can pretty much guarantee that each person in the end would have slightly different results and methods. But with that practice would come confidence and a deeper understanding of what it takes to properly and consistently poach an egg with success.

Hope this helps Rosi. Good luck and happy poaching.

Hey Team,

So I'm a bit confused. In the wet heating lessons, you say that the poaching temperature is 160-180 degrees and simmering is 195-205 degrees, but then in the poaching eggs lesson, you say that the eggs should be dropped in just below a gentle simmer, which you say in the latter video is just below 200. IF it should be dropped in just below a simmer, shouldn't it be below 195, and in either case, shouldn't it be dropped in once the temperature is in the poaching range?

Thanks for the help.

Robert

Hi Robert,

The water needs to be closer to a simmering temperature to quickly set the egg whites, but the cold temperature of the eggs (especially when cooking a few at the same time) will immediately lower the water temperature closer to 180 F, or poaching temperature, to gently coagulate the interior of the egg. If you are just poaching one egg, then you can also turn the heat down after the egg has been submerged.

Terms can sometimes be a bit confusing - just like "boiled" eggs. Technically, eggs are not boiled (but rather simmered), but who refers to them as simmered eggs? :) Hope this helps!

I've tried red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and regular white vinegar, and so far besides a slight variety to the taste, I haven't seen much difference. So I was wondering, is there any difference in the outcome depending what type of vinegar used with the cold water method for poaching eggs?

Thanks!

It's the acid that makes this technique work so any acid should work equally well. Nice to see you are testing though. This is how you become a great cook - through experimenting and taking notes.

The lesson briefly mentions that the skimmed milk solids from making clarified butter can be used but are usually discarded. What can they be used for?

Here is another thread that asks (and answers) that same question. Cheers!

Why is salt always added to boiling water? Like when cooking pasta or eggs, salt is added to the boiling water, why is that? What does it do for and to the food?

Salt is added during the cooking process to bring out and enhance the flavor of food. It should not be used only at the end of the cooking process. For more information, we have a great lesson on How to Season with Salt in the Cooking School. Cheers!

But remember be careful when adding salt to your scrambled eggs when cooking as you can make them watery and tough. It is better to add salt after they are cooked.

Good advice John, we say this in the lesson as well. Cheers!

I am using an induction stainless steel pan on an electric burner. Is there a technique for frying eggs so they do not stick or brown? I understand that a easy solution would be to use a non-stick pan but one that I would like to avoid because of the teflon.

Perhaps the Rouxbe gurus have a magic formula for making eggs in stainless steel without them sticking or turning brown...

Failing in that, however, how about using a good old cast iron pan? As long as it's well-seasoned (and you can season it with only a bit of fuss), it works quite well for eggs.

Whether they are fried or scrambled, etc, eggs can certainly be cooked in a stainless-steel pan. You will just need to use more fat to prevent sticking...and if you don't want any color, keep the heat relatively low. Cheers!

The three stooges are the only ones I ever saw flipping eggs. I tried it for the first time when I did the exercize for this lesson. I'm happy to report that I got it right the first time, and didn't break the yolks. It really works!