Just The Tip: How To Poach An Egg In The Microwave

Happiest of Fridays, party people! There are lots of exciting things happening at Domesticate ME! HQ today—I’m testing wine slushies later—but I’m particularly pumped to kick off a brand new season of JUST THE TIP.

(Sadly, I still haven’t managed to acquire the rights to 50 Cent’s “Just A Lil Bit” for the JTT theme song, but fingers crossed for Season 4…)

I know it’s been a while since the last episode of JTT, and for that I apologize, but rest assured that there will be lots of new quickie kitchen tips and tricks coming your way every Friday for the foreseeable future. (I imagine you’re having an excitement freakout somewhere embarrassing right now, yes?) I thought we’d get the ball rolling today with a truly genius poached egg hack.

If you feel slightly panicky about poaching eggs, trust me, you are not alone—I get all manner of poaching questions on the reg. How hot should the water be? Vinegar or no vinegar? What the shit is a water “vortex”? How long do I poach?! The hard truth is, poaching eggs is a finicky process, and while I can give you pointers, I can never guarantee that you’ll get the perfect poach on your stovetop. However, there is a rather simple way to beat the system. And that, friends, is to use your microwave.

Watch, learn, and #putaneggonit.

Just a heads up, a microwaved poached egg looks a little different than its stovetop counterpart (the yolk is slightly more exposed on top rather than fully encased in white), but the taste and texture are almost identical. Promise.

p.s. Huge thank you to the great Phoebe Lapine, who let me get down and dirty in her gorgeous DUMBO kitchen for this season of Just The Tip. FYI, she’s now teaching cooking classes in this glorious space, so if you’re in the NYC area, check out her blog for details and get involved.