# Poached Eggs in Quantity



## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

On eggs duty for Mothers Day, and I need a refresher.

Do you poach, ice bath, and gently rewarm in water?

I face the poaching step with trepidation. Don't think the vortex trick will work with a bunch of eggs at a time.

Heard about dropping the eggs into a deep pot of water, and that will keep their shape. Sound right?

Also, been thinking of trying out the 6x deg C egg technique with the sous vide rig. Good substitute for a poached egg?


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

How many at a time?

I've had fairly good luck with an electric skillet set for 180°, touch of acid (white vinegar), 3:30-4:00 minutes. No vortex. Break egg into monkey bowl, gently pour into pan, dipping bowl edge into water.

If you place in a consistent pattern, say 12, 1, 2, 3,... with consistent timing, say 15 -30 seconds, you can continuously plate 2 to 4 per minute.

Helps to have a fine strainer to remove tendrils occasionally


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

Not sure how many, haven't seen the reservation book yet. It's buffet style if that helps any. 10 to 12 benedicts per hotel pan?

Kitchen doesn't have a tilt skillet. I'll ask around if anyone has one of those electric skillets at home. My diy sous vide rig could do it via a hot plate, but I'd have to autotune it for new circumstance, and that could take up to a day.

Maybe I should trade with the omelette or carving guy LOL

Thanks for the timings!


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Pot simmering water,drop vinegar,pinch salt . Eggs broken in monkey dishes, ice water bath. Sounds right to me, Make sure when you reheat you drain well.  If you have a lot left over just cook till hard cool and then chop in egg salad.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

Maybe this sounds off the wall but I put my in muffin tins  ( keeping a perfect shape ) and the liquid is just a light chicken broth. You can make 48 in no time.....

Petals..


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

I have done Eggs Benny for thousands of people during Mother's Day buffets and Easter Buffets.

We'd run 2 completely separate buffets with the hot and cold foods, stations etc.....

The day before I would poach off the eggs and place them in a large "Lexon" plastic containers with ice and water.

I had my hotels pans ready to go with buttered English Muffins halves, and the Canadian bacon sliced and at the ready.

During service I had a large braising pan on the hot top filled with simmering water and a splash of vinegar to help coagulate the eggs.

I *did *swirl the water to use gravity to get the eggs to shape better.

I dropped in 12 at a time and gave them 2-3 minutes or until I could take one out, feel it and decide if they were ready.

I had a 1/2 pan with paper towels next to me, so when I spooned out an egg, I dabbed it to get as much water off as I could.

Placed the egg on the already toasted muffin with the heated slice of bacon, ladled on the Hollandaise and a 1/2 of black olive slice for garnish.

I did have to add more water to the braising pan and skim the white egg scum during service, but I was able to keep up with it very well.

Word of caution has to do with the eggs breaking in that Lexon of ice water. You gotta handle them with care and this is something that comes from experience.

My best to you tincook


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## curtispnw (Feb 16, 2012)

Sorry a little late for Mothers Day, hope it was a good one for you, We also used muffin tins, spray with a little no stick, and just throw in the convection steamer, they cook fairly quickly, just scoop them out with a small rubber spat.


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## povertysucks (May 16, 2012)

This is a late response, but I've found a couple of helpful tricks when poaching eggs:

(1) Place a plate at the bottom of your poaching pot and fill with the preferred amount of water (and vinegar if so desired).  This keeps the bottoms of the eggs from coming into direct contact with screaming hot metal.

(2) Heat to around 180F, and get your mise ready: SS bowl, spider, slotted spoon, ice bath, timer.  You won't need to swirl the water but should make sure the eggs you drop aren't sticking.

(3) Crack eggs one at a time over spider and let watery portion of whites drip into SS bowl.  Drop up to eight into the water and set your timer for 3.5-4 minutes.

(4) Remove with slotted spoon and shock.  Without all of the liquid whites, you'll end up with a nice shape and less debris in your water.

I like this method because you won't have to go back and trim the eggs--they all look nice but not artificial.  Also, it makes their level of doneness more consistent and the whites more enjoyable--chewy whites are the worst!  And hey, the accumulated whites that are in your bowl after straining?  Save them and use in your pastry place!


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## rocktrns (Mar 14, 2010)

We have a huge steamer where I work at,and one time we needed allot of eggs benidicts so we got a chafing dish put water and some vinegar and dropped the eggs in then steamed them for about 8 minutes.  We could fir around 15 eggs in the dish.


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## pirate-chef (Jan 25, 2012)

sorry im late but sous vide..... cooked i think its 63 or 65c for 1 hour crack them open and perfect you can also do this old school with pan on a double boiler full of water thermometer and ice to control temp.


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