I was determined to find the perfect poached egg using the sous vide to go with the perfect sous vide hollandaise. Last night, I heated the water bath to 63.5C, and experimented with times on the bath and the post sv dunk in water to better set the white. I will try the faster time for SV eggs another night, out of curiosity.
63.5C 30 minutes, 15 sec in simmering water. Roughly 1/4" of egg white left in shell, and egg white surrounding yolk is very wet.
63.5C 30 minutes, 15 sec in simmering water. Yolk is liquid, but not runny.
63.5C 45 minutes, 15 sec in simmering water. Roughly 1/4" of egg white remains in shell. White surrounding yolk is thicker than after 30 minutes in bath, but is still very fragile.
63.5C 45 minutes, 15 sec in simmering water. Yolk is more viscous than 30 minute eggs; but is still not quite to a custard texture.
Success; the perfect sous vide poached egg. 63.5C 45 minutes, followed by a 60 sec in 180F water.
Nearly no egg white remains in shell. White surrounding yolk is perfectly set and has a silky texture. This egg is less fragile than the other eggs, without compromising texture.
Success; the perfect sous vide poached egg. 63.5C 45 minutes, followed by a 60 sec in 180F water.
The yolk is thick and rich, clinging to itself and the egg white.
I put the eggs in the bath directly from the refrigerator, out of curiosity if they would crack. Not one of them did, much to my surprise. These eggs were purchased last Sunday, so they are not fresh. It is obvious that the post-sv dunk water temperature affects how much egg sticks to the inside of the shell; lower temperature plus longer dunk = less egg waste and more white clinging to the yolk.
Needless to say, I am thrilled with the experiment and with finding the perfect sous vide egg.
