By perfect I mean the whites are set and not runny - and the yolks are runny and good for dipping toast into.

I have tried using an egg poacher and I have also tried using a plastic microwave thing where you just put the eggs in the moulds and follow the instructions.

However I do it the yolk is always overcooked and solid in trying to get the whites to set.

I use a frying pan, half full with water, boil the water and then turn down so it's a simmering, break the egg in and cook for 3 to 4 mins, spoon water over the yolk as well.

I shall give that a try.

thanks

Good luck - I tried a few methods, a bigger normal pan with much more water but the white just broke up all over, stir water and then drop egg into middle, was better but still not ideal. Since I used the frying pan I've found that more often than not they turn out perfect.

Put some white wine vinegar ( a cap full) in the water - it holds the white together to stop you getting smeggy egg. Seriously.

Doesn't it give a vinegar taste?

The vinegar thing does seem to work - and no, it doesn't taste of vinegar.

Yep - vinegar is essential, about 3.5 minutes in a poacher, really good.

thanks all

Worrying about them doesn't help.

I try all methods from the spinning vortex, to the vinegar and I still end up with a yolk and half a pint of white foamy water.

The wife cracks them in, a few minutes later lifts them out, perfect whites, dippy yolk.

I find solace in the fact that it's the only thing she can cook.

Don't bother with the spinny water thing. I do mine like this:

Boil kettle
pour water in saucepan and put on heat
add a cap full of white wine vinegar
crack egg into middle of water and let simmer
scoop out after about 3 and a half minutes (based on large egg)

Voila poached egg with runny yolk.

Actually that sounds pretty sensible. I used to do similar with kippers to minimise the smell.

Would the boiled water not be enough to cook it? I think it's the bubbling that destroys mine.

You really want to start with boiled water from a kettle but don't let it bubble once in the saucepan as that's why the whites split and you get frothy white water. Let it simmer on a low heat. Try it tomorrow - treat the missus to breakfast in bed.

Yep, get the water boiling in the pan, then turn off the heat before dropping in the egg. Stirring the water to create a vortex is enough to stop the egg sticking to the pan and keeps it together in the middle of the pan.

This method, although it needs a bit of preparation, is THE very best for perfect poached eggs......

get a small tea cup and line with cling film so the film hangs over the side. It doesn't need to be too neat. Crack an egg into the lined cup then very carefully lift the cling film containing the egg out and twist the top to seal it.

Drop very carefully into a pan of simmering water containing salt and vinegar. Lightly boil for 3 1/2 minutes. Carefully lift out with slotted spoon and unwrap, amazingly the cling film will have held the egg in a perfect shape. I promise you this really works!

I use an egg poacher gadget:

Boil water in kettle
Smear a small amount of butter into the 4 egg containers
Crack a large egg into each container
Place containers on container holder
Add boiling water from kettle into poaching pan on a medium heat
Place egg container holder onto poaching pan
Place lid on poaching pan
Wait 6 and a half minutes - make and butter toast while you wait
No peeking!
Take poaching pan off heat and remove perfectly poached eggs from the egg containers
Place onto the freshly buttered toast
Enjoy!

Top tips for gadget are:
Don't remove lid while eggs are cooking
Use a timer
Butter the containers to make it easy to remove the eggs

I'm going to try all these suggestions.

Rita, I think I have already tried yours before but disaster stuck when the water boiled all over the plastic moulds flooding the eggs.

I though I had turned the heat down but clearly it was not low enough.

I was looking for this the other day and found this video on videojug

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-poached-eggs

Thanks for the tip about Videojug. Their recipes are terrific. I'm drooling just watching them.

The golden rule with poached eggs is - the egg must be fresh.

If you crack a very fresh egg into a saucer you'll see that the white has a stiff, gel-like quality, and it clings tightly to the yolk.

An older egg (e.g. on the day of its use-by date) will look quite different. The white will be very runny, nearly like water. If you slid an egg like that into boiling water it would just disintigrate into foamy white 'rags.'

So my tip is: a very fresh egg.
Bring the water to the boil in a pan and stir it around quickly with a wooden spoon.
Stop doing this when you have a swirling vortex going and immediately drop the egg into the middle.
The swirling water will wrap the white firmly around the yolk.

I apologise I should have given a warning

I did that too to start with, but have since added a "fill line" in red permanent marker on the outside of my pan. It always looks too low, but I guess that my poor judgement in that is why I needed the line in the first place.

I made my first poached egg last night using the videojug method and it was lovely! One of my new years resolutions is going well after a few days