Easy & simple way to poach eggs

Eggs have always been my protein of choice when eating ramen and I poach the egg inside the same pot as the ramen while it's cooking. A few months ago, I started eating Japanese soba. Since soba is eaten with a dipping sauce, instead of a soup, poaching an egg inside the same pot as boiling soba wouldn't make much sense. The first few times, I fried eggs to go with my soba but they are obviously not very healthy. So I tried my hand at poaching eggs in a separate pot. If you've ever watched "Julie & Julia", you know that poaching eggs is very difficult. It involves water, vinagar, slotted spoons, and a hard-boiled mess if you don't do it right. Well, I can't do it right.

So I saw this egg poacher at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I was a bit leary because these one-use cooking contraptions have been hit or miss for me. Not to mention that my cooking idol Alton Brown strongly discourages "uni-taskers", or a tool that can only do one thing...such as poach eggs. But for $6.40 ($8.00 regular price - 20% coupon), I figured it wasn't much of an investment to give it a try.

The instructions were very vague. I don't have them anymore but it said something like "Boil enough water in a shallow pan so it does not cover the egg poacher. Place egg poacher in pan for 8 minutes." The first time I used it, I followed the instructions and winded up with hard-boiled eggs. Grrrr... But after using it a few times and tweaking the instructions, I now know how to make perfectly poached eggs with it!

Using a shallow pan, I boil about 3/4 inch of water. When boiling, turn heat to low. Place egg poacher with eggs in the cups inside the pan. Turn heat to low and cover. When the eggs whites are solid white color (about 4-5 minutes), turn heat off, put the cover back on, and let it stand for another 3 minutes. This gives me consistently poached eggs.