Eggs are one of the most popular forms of protein that we use. One of the areas where it is most commonly used is for creating breakfasts in which it can be fried and poached. However, if you have never seen a chef prepare a poached egg you will notice that they often add vinegar to the solution before adding the egg. Why do they do that?
The main reason that vinegar is added to poached eggs is it reduces the extent to which the egg spreads out at the bottom of the pan creating a poached egg that is fatter and more rounded shape. The advantage of this is that it is easier to control the rate of cooking of the yolk in the center of the egg because it will heat up last and therefore you can control its consistency more readily. This means that you can adjust how runny the yolk of the egg is more easily because the yolk is slow to cook.
So What Does The Vinegar Actually Do To The Egg To Help It Retain Its Shape?
A chicken egg contains two main components which we are all generally aware of the yolk and the egg white which is sometimes referred to as the albumen. The egg white makes up about two-thirds of the total mass of the egg and is the area that the vinegar comes into contact with.
The egg white is made up of around 90% water and a range of proteins. These proteins are constructed using a range of different amino acids that are linked together in chains that have varying water solubility. Some are hydrophilic which means they like water and are soluble in water while others are hydrophobic which means that they will avoid contact with water and behave more like an oil in water.
Due to the variation in solubility of the amino acids in the proteins, they generally arrange themselves into balls with the water-loving amino acids sitting on the exterior of these balls and the amino acids that do not like being in contact with the water held in the inner part of these balls.
An analogy of what happened is happening here can be considered when you lie out in the sun on the beach. If it is warm your spread out and allow the sun to hit your body, however, if it is a cold windy day on the beach your scrunch up into a ball to reduce the contact with the cold air.
When the cooking process occurs the proteins in the egg white begin to unravel and spread out which is why the egg will begin to flow out at the base of the pan when poaching starts this is commonly referred to as denaturation of the protein. The addition of vinegar has two significant roles in preventing the egg from flowing out at the base of the pan.
The first is that the addition of vinegar which will make the environment more acidic which accelerates the rate of denaturing and therefore allows the egg to hold it shape better. The second important role that it plays is it alters the charge of the aqueous environment in which the egg is cooking. Adding an acid increases the negative charge within the water.
The change in charge in the water affects the solubility of the amino acids within the protein. It makes the insoluble amino acids that don’t like water even less likely to want adventure near the water which holds them together preventing them from spreading out at the base of the pan.
Does It Matter What Type Of Vinegar You Add To The Water?
It does not matter what type of vinegar you add to the water they will all pretty much have the same effect on the eggs ensuring that they do not spread across the base of the pan because all vinegars are acidic and contain the same basic acid which is acetic acid.
How Much Vinegar Do You Need To Add To A Pot Of Water?
Typically you only need to add a teaspoon or 2 to a large Pan and it will still have a significant effect on the shape of the egg. However, it is important to recognize that you don’t want to add too much vinegar because more vinegar does not improve the shape of the egg further and it can affect the flavor of the egg that is produced.
Do You Have To Use Vinegar When Poaching Eggs?
Vinegar is the most commonly added to the poached eggs to help them retain their shape, however, you do not need to necessarily use vinegar. Any type of acid that is added to the water will have a similar effect so you can use things like lemon, lime, or orange juice as an example because they are all acidic and they will all have much the same effect.
The only thing to be mindful of is that the addition of these types of juices can result in some degree of transfer of flavor to the egg which is also what happens when you add a little bit of vinegar to the water so you may want to consider carefully what you add to the water to avoid tainting the flavor of the eggs.
How Do You Know When A Poached Egg Is Ready?
The other tricky thing with poaching eggs is also knowing when they are ready to get just the right consistency in the yolk. You can do this by carefully removing the egg with a spoon or an egg lifter and placing it on a plate and double-checking the degree to which it’s cooked.
This can be done by gently pressing on the egg with a spoon to feel how soft it is. If it is extremely liquidy in nature and moving fairly easily you may want to put the egg in for a minute or two longer to ensure that all of the egg whites and some of the egg yolk is cooked to create that runny yolk.
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