Camp Cook - The perfect poached egg - 80°C

Paying the price!

The secret to perfectly poached eggs is having a perfectly fresh egg as the main ingredient!
Simple huh?
A couple of weeks ago I read on one of my many blog feeds how to poach the perfect egg - and as this came up in conversation at the big breakfast at the Megalong Valley Tearooms where we debriefed following the camping trip. I thought for the record I would share the knowledge!  Oh yes and you can check out the tearooms too on the link below!

http://www.megalongtearooms.com/history.php

Poached Egg

Ingredients

1 pan of boiling water - The water in the pan must be over 3" deep to stop the egg sticking to the base
1 cup
1 egg (very fresh) room temperature
dash of vinegar if you are not confident in your egg's freshness

Assemble ingredients - into the pan of boiling water add the dash of vinegar and bring back to a simmer.Do not add salt to the water! (this negates the congealing power of the vinegar). Egg white sets at 80°C so the water need be no hotter than this or the taste and texture will be affected negatively.
 Into the cup - carefully break the egg so the yolk remains intact. Slowly lower the cup into the now simmering water being careful not to burn yourself and let a little of the  water lap into the cup then gently and slowly let the egg slip into the water and watch the white form. You can help the white stay closer to the yolk with a spoon. - At this point you may choose to turn off the heat and wait for the requisite 3 minutes for a soft yolk or you can choose to leave the heat on - the temperature needs to be less than 83°C! Use a thermometer  until you get it down pat!