Perfectly poached eggs will change your life. Or at least your brunch.
The perfect tool for poaching eggs? Your oven!
Poached eggs are such a Julia thing to make, don’t you agree? Yet, they are the Achilles heel of many a home cook like myself.
So, when I had a group of women coming over for brunch, I wanted to go for the Oooh’s and Aaah’s. I wanted to serve Eggs Benedict with asparagus, but was afraid to attempt poaching eggs for 6 people. But, there is a really simple tool to use to make poached eggs almost effortlessly: your oven!
Turns out you can poach eggs perfectly in your oven! Yes, sorry Julia Child, but eggs just aren’t that easy to poach on the stove top. Even if you are a dedicated foodie like Deb Perelman at Smitten Kitchen, it’s still a complicated and arduous task.
I tried this technique as a test a few days before I wanted to serve them, and they came out perfect the very first time. Perfectly cooked whites. Perfectly oozy yolks. Perfect perfect. And as easy as cracking eggs into muffin tins.
Happy Brunch, Everyone!
PERFECT OVEN POACHED EGGS
2 cups water
6 large eggs
Heat an oven to 400 degrees. Bring about 2 cups of water to a boil, either on your stove top or in your microwave oven.
Pour about 2 tablespoons of boiling water into each tin in a muffin tin pan (regular or large size muffin tins work fine, just depends on the shape you like for your finished egg). Crack a large egg into each tin. Pour about 2 more tablespoons of water on top of each egg.
Bake in oven for EXACTLY six minutes. This will make your egg whites perfectly cooked, but your yolks still runny.
Serve immediately.
And some recipes to try once you have poached your eggs:
Easy Poached Eggs, Stone Soup
Poached Eggs over Pasta, Skinny Taste
Poached Egg on Toast, Cookin Canuck
The top of the eggs will not be in water, or be steamed, they will be baked on top?
It worked but next time I’m spraying non-stick and using 1.5 TBS water top and bottom. There was too much hot water. I would also loosen them with a knife. I just assumed they would come out easily but they didn’t.
Thanks Reed – good tips!
6 minutes at 400 and not even close!
i followed the directions perfectly and they were an epic fail….. So disappointing.
SO sorry Kathryn – I have made these a number of times and they have always worked for me.
Hi Kathryn,
I think if you are using standard size muffin tins, 4 Tablespoons might be too much water. I tried the recipe this morning in my standard sized tin and found there was too much water left over. Next time I will try with maybe 2 Tablespoons of water (1 on bottom, 1 on top).
Hope this helps! :)
I assume the eggs are at room temperature? Do you preheat the muffin tin a little? My house is very cold in the winter!
You do know Julia invented this method actually. She makes them in a pan of water on the stovetop OR oven, using glass or ceramic Ramekins. It’s under the video “Elegance with Eggs” on youtube (an episode of Julia’s show). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS2-eyhlRA4
Thanks Rick – did not know. That JC was a genius!
Thank you for this…I LOVE poached eggs and I always mess them up!
I was shocked at how easy this method is – and how perfectly the eggs turned out. DO try!