How to Make Microwave Poached Eggs in One Minute
Instructions:
- Fill coffee mug half of the way up with cold tap water.
- Put a splash of vinegar into the water (about a tablespoon or so).
- Crack an egg into the water.
- Microwave for one minute (feel free to adjust the length of time, depending on your microwave and your personal preferences for egg runniness).
Important Safety Note: You may want to drape a paper towel over the cup in case the egg explodes, especially if you don’t yet know the exact length of time that works best with your microwave! - Remove from microwave and use a spoon to place the egg on a plate (or toast/muffin/whatever).
- Season egg to taste (I personally love salt, pepper, bacon bits, and cheese, but you could also do hollandaise, for example).
Update – I wanted to find out exactly at what point the eggs could potentially explode when using this technique, so I did some more experiments with more eggs and here is what I found. I have a 1200 watt microwave oven, so keep that in mind:
The first egg I cooked exploded after 1 minute and 16 seconds:
I tried it again at half power, but this time for 3 minutes. This time the egg was clearly over-cooked, and it actually exploded when I cut into it:
I split the difference and tried again, this time at half power for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This gave me a poached egg that was almost identical to the egg I had cooked earlier at full power for 1 minute (although it was cooked a bit more evenly):
So the guess the lesson is:
Experiment with your own microwave to find the best times that work for you, and make sure you drape a paper towel over the cup, just in case!
Also, if you poach the egg so it is well done, it is probably best to let the egg sit for a minute after cooking it, so it won’t explode when you cut it open.