Todd Grooms

Poaching Eggs in a Microwave

· Todd Grooms

Weekday breakfasts should be quick and easily reproducible. I typically do not like to spend a lot of time preparing breakfast on for myself on days when I am hustling to get the kids to school and to begin my workday. I also do not have the patience for experimentation on these days. My standby is usually oatmeal, but there are times where oatmeal just doesn’t sound that good to me. Over the last few months, I have experimented with different egg dishes. It’s not too cumbersome to use the range with a skillet to fry eggs, but that becomes additional work later in the form of washing the pan. If I scramble the eggs, this adds a bowl and whisk (or fork if I’m trying to avoid washing the whisk). I could boil an egg, but that will introduce a pan to wash. I tried cooking scrambled eggs in the microwave (crack open an egg in a coffee cup, beat with a fork, add some ham, then microwave). This isn’t too bad, but cleaning the coffee cup actually becomes an issue since the egg mixture can stay caked to the inside of the coffee cup unless you get a scrubbing brush out.

A few weeks ago, I started experimenting with cooking poached eggs in the microwave. I would put some water and a splash of vinegar in a coffee cup, microwave (to heat up the liquid), drop in an egg, and microwave again for some period of time on a lower power level. No matter what combination of time and power level I used, I would either have under or over cooked poached eggs. If the egg is under cooked, it’s difficult to spoon the egg out of the coffee cup and too much of the egg white stays behind. If the egg is over cooked, the egg yellow is cooked all the way through and you lose out on a runny yolk, which I would argue is a benefit of a poached egg.

With a little experimentation, I think I finally cracked it (har har har) by introducing a new dish in which to microwave the poached egg: a ramekin. I’ve been able to reproduce my desired results a few times and I am now documenting this for posterity.

Steps

  1. Pour water into a ramekin, until about 3/4 full.
  2. Add a splash of white distilled vinegar.
  3. Microwave on high for 90 seconds.
  4. Carefully add the egg (the water will be hot!).
  5. Microwave for two minutes on power level 30.
  6. Carefully use a spoon to scoop out the egg.

I typically add this to a piece of toast and I top with a little freshly ground black pepper and a splash of hot sauce (I prefer Cholula).