Page 564 - YC Cooking School

When poaching eggs, the water temperature is very important - it should be just simmering.

Remember, you’re not boiling the eggs; you want a gentle cooking process that will keep the
eggs intact. Medium heat works best for this.

Quick and easy cooking
Cooking times for poached eggs vary according to the size of the egg and whether they’re

cold or at room temperature (always preferable) when you cook them. Here are a few
guidelines to follow:

Runny egg yolk: 2 minutes
Soft egg yolk: 3 minutes

Firm egg yolk: 4-6 minutes

To drain the poached eggs, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pot. You can also
place them on kitchen paper before serving to remove any excess water (because nobody
likes a soggy egg).

If you still feel like you need a little extra help, these tools make poaching eggs a dream:

Egg poacher
Poach pods

How to make Hollandaise sauce

Poached eggs pair perfectly with Hollandaise sauce. Here's how to make this happiness-
inducing sauce:

Prepare the reduction

Getting the balance of flavours right with the reduction is very important. It shouldn’t be too
acidic or too watery, so do a taste test to make sure it’s something in between. It’s important
to allow the reduction to cool completely before adding it to the egg yolks: if it’s too hot,
you’ll end up with scrambled egg.

Set up a double boiler
To set up a double boiler, you’ll need a large pot and a heatproof bowl that fits snugly into it.
Bring the water to the boil and then reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer. The idea with
a bain marie or double boiler is for the steam trapped between the pot and the bowl to
gently cook the ingredients. This technique is perfect for delicate sauces like Hollandaise
which can easily change texture if too much heat is applied.

This technique relies on getting three important things right:

The water in the pot should not touch the heatproof bowl
A gentle simmer is what you’re after

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