We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about the best way to cook a poached egg without vinegar (you don’t really need it).
And now, it seems to netizens of Reddit have come to our breakfast rescue once again.
Anyone who’s ever attempted, and even perfected, a poached egg will know that the true test comes when removing the food from its watery home.
It’s hard to accidentally drench your toast with all the reserved water even a slotted spoon retains, and attempting to drain the egg in a sieve or colander runs the risk of splitting that hard-won runny yolk.
So it’s a good thing site user u/Davidmirkin recently posted their genuinely genius solution to r/CasualUK.
The Redditor uses a potato masher, rather than any form of spoon, to lift the egg out of the water.
He scoops the wavy base of the tool under the bottom of the egg and picks it up gently, allowing the water to drop off of it without adding the risk of transferring it anywhere.
And if you’re wondering whether the egg would slip off, the person who shared the secret revealed that “Initial tests suggest it’s pretty stable on there once it’s on, [though it’s] sometimes slightly tricky to get it on in the water.”
As you can imagine, fellow site users were as impressed as I was by the clever trick.
“Not sure why I didn’t think of this!! The slotted spoon still carries some water which is always annoying,” u/Accurate_Prompt_8800 wrote.
“Love this! Just found a use for my now neglected masher (I now own a ricer!)” u/Agreeable_Plant7899 commented.
And too many commenters to count simply called the suggestion “genius.”
Some chefs recommend placing the egg in a sieve before you cook it.
That allows the egg whites which usually form those annoying wisps around your egg to simply drip away into a waiting bowl ― it won’t damage the more cohesive white you want to keep.
Pros also suggest flipping the eggs a couple of times once they’re in the water, which gives them their beautiful rounded look and prevents them from cooking unevenly.
