Method · Wet and slow
Poach
Cook chicken, fish and eggs so gently they can’t dry out.
Poaching is cooking in liquid that is hot but not bubbling. It is quiet and it doesn’t look like much, which is why people skip it. It is also the surest way to get tender chicken for the week, fish that flakes, and an egg with a runny middle.
This lesson is free, start to finish. So is every other one.
At a glance
- Best for
- Chicken breast, fish, eggs, shrimp, pears
- Heat
- 160 to 180°F. The water shivers. It does not bubble.
- Time
- 3 to 20 minutes
- Level
- Start here
What you need
- A wide, deep pan or pot with a lid
- Wide enough that the food sits in one layer.
- Instant-read thermometer
- For the water first, then the food.
- A slotted spoon
- To lift food out without breaking it.
Why it works
Meat dries out when it gets too hot too fast. The outside squeezes its water out before the middle is done. Poaching liquid tops out well under a boil, so the outside can never race ahead. The food cooks evenly and stays moist, and it’s hard to overshoot.
The trade is that there is no browning. So the flavor has to come from the liquid.
Read the water
- Boil, 212°F: big rolling bubbles. Too rough. It toughens meat and breaks fish apart.
- Simmer, 185 to 205°F: small bubbles breaking the surface. Still too hot for poaching.
- Poach, 160 to 180°F: steam rising, a few tiny bubbles on the bottom, the surface just trembling.
- Bring it up to a simmer, then turn it down and wait a minute. That’s your poach.
Season the liquid
Plain water gives you plain food. Salt it like soup. Then add what you have: half an onion, a bay leaf, peppercorns, a smashed garlic clove, a strip of lemon peel, a few herb stems. Stock, or water with a splash of white wine, is better again. Save the liquid after. It’s a light stock now.
Chicken breast, step by step
- Put the chicken in a pot in one layer. Cover it with cold seasoned water or stock by an inch.
- Bring it slowly up to a bare simmer over medium heat.
- Turn the heat to low, put the lid on, and hold it at a poach.
- Start checking at 10 minutes. It’s done at 165°F in the thickest part.
- Let it cool in the liquid for a few minutes if you have time. It stays juicier.
- Slice or shred. Keep it in a little of the liquid in the fridge for up to four days.
Eggs and fish
- Eggs: fresh ones hold together best. A splash of vinegar in the water helps the white set. Crack the egg into a cup, slide it in, three minutes, lift it out with a slotted spoon.
- Fish: slide fillets into poaching liquid and cook until they just flake, about 5 to 8 minutes for a fillet an inch thick. Fish is done at 145°F.
- Shrimp: two to three minutes, until pink and curled into a C. A tight O is overcooked.
When it goes wrong
- Tough, stringy chicken
- The water boiled. Turn it down. You want a tremble, not bubbles.
- It tastes like nothing
- The liquid wasn’t seasoned. Salt it like soup and add aromatics.
- Egg whites went everywhere
- Old eggs, or water moving too much. Use fresh eggs, add vinegar, and lower the heat.
- Fish fell apart
- The liquid was too hot, or it cooked too long. Lower heat, and lift it out with a wide spatula.
- Raw in the middle
- The pieces were too thick or stacked. One layer, and check with the thermometer.