In a competitor's (let's say Brand X) poacher with plastic (ugh) cups, the thermal conductivity of the cups is so low that eggs effectively cook only from the top down from being directly exposed to the steam. Result: after 9 minutes of poaching (at 7300 feet), the yolk (which floats on top) and the top half of the egg white are firm; meanwhile the egg white on the bottom still quivers like jelly and is semi-transparent (ugh). And the cooking pan is quite shallow (just under one and one half inches inner measure), with the result that boiling water easily spills over on top of the poaching eggs, creating a real mess inside and out.The stainless steel egg cups on this unit are perfectly formed and slightly flattened on the bottom with a thermal conductivity so good that eggs cook pretty equally from all sides. The pan is quite deep (just under two and three-eight inches inner measure) so that the poaching tray rides very high over the surface of the boiling water. The result is a perfectly poached egg, no messes, to whatever degree of firmness of the white one wants. Yet one can still have a soft or partially soft yolk, impossible to achieve with "Brand X" above. At an elevation of 7300 feet, poaching time using this pan for a firm white and medium (non-runny) yolk was 6 minutes; for a firm white and softer yolk, between 4 and 5 minutes. Lower elevations should adjust these times downward a minute or two.Because of its' stainless steel composition, depth and diameter, the pan can also be used for other cooking. Indeed, this reviewer dares to suggest that despite its higher price, this unit is almost a mandatory addition to any good cook's staple of cooking utensils. Because of bad past experiences with the kind of riveted handle attachment to the pan used here, which breaks off too easily, this reviewer docks this unit one-half star. Aside from that, the design and materials of this product are generous indeed; it's appearance is so attractive that this reviewer left it sitting on top of the range as general décor. The only other gripe is with the shipping expense which was one-fourth of the total cost. But in all fairness the heavy-duty packaging did protect the glass lid and unit as a whole. If you are looking for a great egg poacher, buy this model! Norpro Stainless Steel 10 Inch Egg Poacher Skillet Set
Through the years we had an electric teflon coated egg poacher that cooked the eggs well except we did not like the fact that we were scraping off the teflon surface each time we tried to clean the egg cups out. We did not want to be ingesting the teflon anymore. We found this Stainless Steel egg poacher and just love it and it is actually easier to clean. One just needs to set a timer for 5 minutes and is able to get perfectly poached eggs.
I'm completely satisfied with this egg poacher. It's easy to use and easy to clean, and the eggs come out great! The see-through glass lid is a super big plus, since I can watch the eggs as they poach. Maybe not the fanciest egg poacher in the universe, but a nice, well made product that works just as it should.
I won't comment on anything else other than how to avoid having the eggs stick in the cups, which many people complain about with poachers in general. The first few times I used the poacher, I sprayed oil into the cups then put in the eggs and started the cooking. But once they were cooked, the eggs stuck like crazy in the cups. I had to scoop them out with a spoon, which wasn't so bad, but the egg remnants were impossible to get out of the cups. Here's the trick - don't just spray oil into the cups. Fill the cup with oil (I use olive oil), slosh it around, then pour the oil out. The easy way is to pour it from one cup to the next and so on until you've oiled all the cups. Then pour the remaining oil back into the oil container. Put the eggs in and cook them and they'll drop right out of the cup with no stickage at all. That's it. Do this and you'll be happy with poaching. Use an oil sprayer and you'll make a mess every time. Hear me now and believe me later.
On the strength of the above review, hesitating only because there were no others, I bought the product. I can now corroborate the conlusions there stated. I gave five stars because I doubt that the handle would cause a problem in ordinary use. Mine was not riveted but seems to be spot welded (securely).
If you are looking for a good egg poacher look no further, this is it. Why buy yet another electric appliance to take up valuable cabinet space? This poaches eggs beautifully and can also double as a skillet all on the cooker you already have. It only takes 5 mintues to poach an egg with a soft yoke, 7 for a firmer yoke. I use this several times a week for breakfast. If I were to complain about anything it would be the little handles of the cups, they do get hot, otherwise one can't go wrong with this poacher set.
I bought this egg poacher for my husband for his birthday. He loves to make poached eggs on the weekends. This is a very beautiful pan, and it works really well. I looked all over for an egg poacher that was stainless steel, and I was so happy when I go found this one. The glass lid is great too. I was alittle worried about the handle getting hot, but it does not, and it has not been a problem at all. However, you do have to use a hot pad when you pick up the little wooden knobs on the cups. We just put olive oil or butter in the egg cups, and the eggs come out pretty easily. This pan is pretty big. It would be nice to have a 3 cup one available.
This is a great egg poacher at a great price, attractive design, cooks well, the major flaw is the small black plastic knobs on each poacher cup. While they are easy to pick up, they are too dang hot to hold for more than a second, making it quite inconvenient to try to spoon the egg out of the cups; you have to awkwardly use a pair of tongs, a pot mitt, or your napkin. The design of a slit in the handle of the cup allowing it to be held by a fork or knife (which many models employ) is a far better alternative... what would have been really innovative would have been to have these knobs detachable by an easy clip with a simple, quick, squeeze motion, so they are not heated in the bath during the cooking process (hey, if any company utilizes this idea, I want a % of royalties for this idea)... it seems the permanent platic knobs were designed by someone who never tested or used the product or they would have discovered this flaw. I give it 3.5 stars since a well cooked poached egg does little good if you cannot get it onto your plate without dropping it or burning your fingers (looking even sillier if you are serving guests breakfast--in which everyone present clearly sees the fatal flaw in the design and wonders why the heck the "professionals" who designed it could not understand the obvious). - Egg Cookers - Egg Poachers - Egg Cooker - Poacher'
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