The ability to whip up a batch of "perfect poached eggs" has to be among the greatest everyday kitchen skills to have, especially when it comes to treating yourself to a lazy weekend brunch.
Like all culinary skills worth having, poaching eggs does take a bit of practice to get down to a fine art, but once you get it right, it's so very worth it.
Chef Jamie Oliver has now shared his go-to method for "soft, delicate, gorgeous" poached eggs in a matter of minutes, depending on whether you've cracked open fresh eggs, older eggs, or multiple eggs in your trusty pan.
1. Fresh eggs
In an instructive video shared to his official YouTube channel, Jamie advised: "The only way to poach the perfect egg is if you have really, really, fresh eggs.
"Bring your water to the boil - that means there are bubbles. Take it off so they subside, and look at the water - there should be no bubbles. It's just poaching. Poaching is not boiling, boiling will smash the eggs all around. Poached eggs, gentle. Take the egg and crack it into a small bowl and you just plop it into the water."
He continued: "Some people say 'put some vinegar in the water', really, why? Yes, it does firm up the egg, but it tastes like vinegar, so I would suggest, don't bother.
"As far as cooking is concerned, roughly around three minutes is going to give you a softish egg. Using a slotted spoon, remove the eggs from the water - cooked to perfection."
2. Older eggs
Of course, the eggs you've got at home may not be quite as fresh as you'd like, but Jamie still has a "few little tips" up his sleeve when it comes to poaching slightly older eggs.
Jamie revealed: "First up, if you spin your spoon around in the pan [to create a swirling motion], then get your cracked egg, and plop it into the middle, you see the inertia of the water is wrapping it around the yolk."
3. Multiple eggs
If you're serving up eggs for the whole family, Jamie has a "little technique" that will improve the look and taste of your yolk.
Jamie instructed: "Get some food-safe cling film and put it in a little bowl, put a bit of oil and just rub it around. Crack the egg into the bowl and clingfilm - the nice thing about doing it this way is you can flavour the egg.
"You could put chopped herbs in - harissa, spiced truffle, and flavoured butters. Pull the sides of the cling film up and tie it in a knot. It's really easy to do and will give you a perfect shape.
"Put it straight into the water then after a couple of minutes, open it up with a knife or pair of scissors and snip off the end."
Showing viewers how his own batch had turned out, Jamie marvelled: "But look perfection. Absolutely cylindrical, perfect. Soft, delicate, gorgeous."
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