Why do we add vinegar when we are poaching an egg? | Te Wāhanga Pūtaiao / Faculty of Science | Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington (2024)

FAQs

Why do we add vinegar to water when poaching eggs? ›

"Vinegar is an inherently acidic material, so if we add a few drops of vinegar into that boiling water that is going to increase the rate of denaturing and it's going to make that happen faster and help the poached egg hold its shape better."

If the water is hot enough (near boiling), salt increases the density of the cooking liquid just enough to make the egg bob to the surface when it's about perfectly done. While you can certainly poach eggs without the salt and vinegar, they'll want to sit on the bottom of the pan and thus cook unevenly.

Fill your pot at least 4 inches deep with water and bring to a gentle simmer. Add a generous pinch of salt and a little bit of vinegar. The salt helps season the eggs, and the vinegar helps the egg whites stay together while they poach. The vinegar is optional, but I use it when I poach eggs.

Do you need to add vinegar to poach eggs? Adding a splash of vinegar to the water sets the whites faster, so you have fewer wispy bits. However, if you follow the other tips this extra step usually isn't necessary.

When poaching eggs, a small amount of vinegar added to the cooking water will keep the egg whites from spreading. When frying an egg, covering the skillet will cause the upper surface of the egg to cook. When baking eggs, individual baking dishes should be placed in a shallow casserole filled with 1 inch of warm water.

The negatively charged molecules on the protein coating around the eggshell act like a magnet for the positively charged ions and hydrogen proteins from the acidic vinegar. This helps the dye to stick to and permeate the shell, leaving you and your family with colorful eggs for the holiday!

If you soak this egg shell in vinegar (which is about 4% acetic acid), you start a chemical reaction that dissolves the calcium carbonate shell. The acetic acid reacts with the calcium carbonate in the egg shell and releases carbon dioxide gas that you see as bubbles on the shell.

The vinegar in the water makes the eggs easier to peel. Here's why: The vinegar's acid not only dissolves some of the calcium carbonate in the shell, it also helps the whites set faster. Running the hard-boiled eggs under cold running water as you're peeling, meanwhile, helps the shell separate from the membrane.

Add one tablespoon of light-colored vinegar to the pot and stir to create a vortex. Pour the ramekin with the egg into the middle of the vortex and set a timer for 3 minutes. Once the egg is done, use a slotted spoon to remove the poached egg. Dab with a paper towel to remove excess water and eat immediately.

Focus on making sure that your water is at a low simmer (not a boil) when you start poaching, and that you set a timer to make sure that you don't overcook them. Even a minute can mean the difference between a perfect poached egg and an overcooked one.

What is the purpose of poaching an egg? ›

A poached egg is an egg that has been cooked, outside the shell, by poaching (or sometimes steaming), as opposed to simmering or boiling. This method of preparation can yield more delicately cooked eggs than cooking at higher temperatures such as with boiling water. Poached eggs can be served in several dishes.

The acid will act, along with the hot water, to shock the egg whites into cooking before they separate from each other in the water. The acid will also reduce the cooking time of the poached egg by the double action from the heat and acid. In other words, acid makes poaching eggs much easier.

The acidity or sourness of vinegar brightens the flavor of food and adds balance to a rich dish. It is found in popular kitchen staples like salad dressings, marinades, sauces, mayonnaise, and ketchup. Vinegar can change the texture of foods.

Vinegar makes it coagulate faster than it otherwise would and seals up the crack in the shell, so that no more escapes. Similarly, vinegar is often added to the water in which poached eggs are cooked, to make the white coagulate more quickly and spread out less in the water.

Here's how to do it right:

Fill a tall pot with water, salt it well, and add 3 tablespoons of vinegar per 1 gallon of water. (The vinegar helps to coagulate the egg.) I prefer a deep pot because I love how the egg develops a teardrop shape as its plunges into water and sinks to the bottom.

When vinegar is added to eggs, its acetic acid combines with the calcium carbonate in the eggshell to produce carbon dioxide gas and calcium acetate. This reaction creates an acidic environment in the container, which can cause the egg whites to denature and become opaque and rubbery.

Start with the right liquid.

Broth-based poaching is refreshing and relatively low-calorie, while oil- or butter-based poaching makes for unbelievably tender fillets. Other staples like coconut milk or wine make great poaching liquids, too.