Stop Fumbling With Poached Eggs — Keep Them Intact With A Splash Of This Pantry Staple

Poached eggs are perfect in an eggs Benedict, and they're also excellent for salads, soups, and just about any other savory dish that goes well with eggs. Though they make a delicious addition, achieving the right shape and doneness can be a test of patience and technique. If you frequently struggle to get your poached eggs into that fully set, oval shape you long for, adding a splash of vinegar to the water takes care of any runny whites. You can pour the vinegar in before the water starts simmering or after.

This method is effective because of how the vinegar works on the egg white proteins. As an acid, vinegar causes denaturing, a process that occurs when intricately shaped protein strands become long, loose, and solid and clump together. Various factors can cause protein denaturing, including salt, acid, and heat. White vinegar and rice wine vinegar are the best choices, though you can also use apple cider vinegar if egg color is not as much of a concern. The intensity of the color may depend on which apple cider vinegar brand you buy. Darker vinegars can change the color of the egg whites and impart additional flavors, so many cooks default to white vinegar.

One catch to this tip is that some cooks find they need a significant amount of vinegar for it to work. This has the unwanted side effect of making the poached egg sour. However, you can avoid using too much vinegar by adding salt to help the whites set without overcooking the yolk. Remember, salt is one of the factors that triggers protein denaturing. America's Test Kitchen discovered that a good ratio for this vinegar trick is 1 teaspoon of salt to 1 tablespoon of vinegar, added to 6 cups of water. You can riff on this, but ideally you don't want more than a few tablespoons of vinegar.

You can also use an alternative acid for solidifying egg whites — 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. If you have any lingering concerns about the vinegar flavor, lemon juice has a milder taste and goes well with eggs, as proven by the existence of hollandaise sauce. Once you learn how to avoid the common mistakes that ruin egg poaching, both experienced cooks and beginners at cooking poached eggs can take advantage of this hack that yields improved firmness and presentation.