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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Julia Banim

Jamie Oliver shares his speedy method for perfect poached eggs every time

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.

Poaching a deliciously golden batch of eggs takes a little practice (Jamie Oliver/YouTube)

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."

Fresh eggs are best, but Jamie has a few tricks up his sleeve for slightly older eggs (Jamie Oliver/YouTube)

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."

Jamie has a tried and trusted technique when it comes to poaching multiple eggs (Jamie Oliver/YouTube)

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."

Do you have a food-related story to share? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com

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