Slotted spoons really don't work that well for draining liquid from food. They're certainly not super at getting rid of excess water with poached eggs. I thought something like [www.savebarn.co.nz] or [www.williams-sonoma.com] might be better.

What do you do to drain your poached eggs?

Do you use slotted spoons or something better to drain liquid from food?

I think you would find that those wire lifters would be too rough and would snag the egg and break it. You need something very smooth so the egg will slide off without breaking.

I use a nylon egg slice, but it does need a steady hand otherwise the egg can fall off back into the pan.

I like the old retro utensils from the 60's and look on Trademe to find these treasures, although they're getting expensive these days. These ones are on at the moment.

[www.trademe.co.nz]

I think Skyline is the Brand name, Made in England. I love the fish slice too they are very thin metal and flexible. There are a couple of good ones from this era still around.

[www.trademe.co.nz]

Some are in better condition than others though.

Edited to put in the correct 2nd link.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2020 06:20AM by Danube.

I had that set for a long time Danube. I particularly liked the potato masher and kept that much longer than the others.

My Mum had that set.
For removing poached eggs I do use a slotted spoon, but find if I rest the spoon on a paper towel briefly it seems to draw off the water, and I kind of slightly tilt the spoon from side to side to allow the water to find a path away from the egg.

For poached eggs I use a small stainless steel sieve: [www.briscoes.co.nz]
Lynne2

These old style slotted spoons have lots more slots all the way around the spoon and drain much much better than any modern one I have bought. Only thing is they can't be put in the dishwasher because they have painted wooden handles, a nightmare if you have people helping do the dishes, but I think they're worth the hassle. The egg turner/fish slice is much better too because they're nice and bendy and can get in under things to pick up without breaking them up, They come in a long style fish slice too which I'm keeping a look out for because mine is getting past it.

Yes agree, Danube, those old wooden-handled utensils were the best - my slotted spoon is the only remaining piece of my set and the paint has long since disappeared off the handle. I use it mainly for poached eggs.

I also have a brown silicone slotted spoon which I bought at Foodtown over 30 years ago - in fact we call it the Foodtown spoon. I like it because it has a deeper bowl than the metal one and although it doesn't drain as well, it certainly has its uses. Funny how you reach for different utensils for different jobs.

Regards,

Barbara Anne

I use a fish slice to take the egg out and then rest it on a paper towel to get rid of the excess water. easy

Like Griz and Sue, I've tilted my slotted spoon (and used a fish slice - bit scary) and rested it on paper towel, etc, but I remain thinking the slotted spoon just isn't doing it's job well enough and it's time for a new idea. Lynne2, excellent, just what I was thinking and now on my list for Monday.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2020 08:29AM by J1.

..was just looking with newfound respect at my old slotted spoon. Made in England is stamped on the metal part.

Regards,

Barbara Anne

Barbara Anne Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
. Funny how you reach for different utensils
> for different jobs.
>
I have a long utensil rack over the kitchen bench, more than 2 m. I can always tell which visitors are cooks and which aren't - the cooks say "Oh how wonderful to have all that space for all the fish slices/vegetable peelers/serving spoons, while the non-cooks say "Why do you need seven fish slices/three vegetable peelers/four rice spoons etc".

I use a fish slice or potato masher to get eggs out of the water.

I use a slotted spoon for lifting poached eggs but as mentioned above I also pat the spoon on the underside with a paper towel.

I love those Skyline fish slices, there is absolutely nothing better.

I use a cuisinart skimmer for poached eggs and it works well. I can rest it on a paper towel and that soaks up any residual liquid underneath. I tried the wire spider style before the skimmer and it found it too deep and the egg did catch on the wire and the tumbled around rather than gently sliding.

[www.briscoes.co.nz]



This looks like it could be an option if you were looking for a more spider like utensil.

[www.nisbets.co.nz]

I'm thinking I should get a better fish slice while I'm at it....

Jenna, that Nisbets one has potential too.

A friend was just rhapsodising yesterday about the amazingness of her particular slotted spoon for draining poached eggs. She didn't say what it was but she said she would buy me one so if she does I'll let you know. I think, though, that it might have been a Good Grips one as she has a tremor and uses Good Grips for a lot of things.

I like a fish slice too for poached eggs - I have a plastic one but it's slightly bendy rather than stiff which makes it easy to get under the eggs if using a small pan.

Fish slice, either metal or plastic........for the past 35 years of my career

I avoid the issue altogether by using an aluminium egg poacher - the simmering water sits below a rack which has shallow cups for each egg, and a lid keeps the steam in. It's very old, but works perfectly.

Karena, I had one of those many many years ago. It worked well but I found it a pain to clean. My husband is in charge of poached eggs because he is really good at it. He uses a fish slice.

I have an egg poacher and never use it, somehow it's not quite a poached egg to me. I had a poached egg this morning, and my slotted spoon was in the dishwasher, which was running, so I looked for something else to use, and came across a cocktail strainer, so I used that and it worked perfectly! (but would need a longer handle I think)

We've had an egg poacher for decades and used to use it a lot but then I came to like the randomness of freely poached eggs so haven't used it in a long time. I should try it again. We actually use the pot part every day (it's a beautiful Murray, copper-bottomed perfect size pan with straight half sides that we use as a jack-of-all-trades for anything and everything) and it's only the poached egg (3) insert that's on holiday in the drawer.

Chris, you mentioned you found the egg poachers difficult to clean. The trick is to grease them with a little bit of butter, just as you would a cake pan or muffin tins. Not only does this make cleaning an absolute breeze, it also makes the eggs taste a tiny bit better.

Griz, I had to look up cocktail strainer. Interesting device. I still haven't bought anything to solve the incompetence of my slotted spoon, as I'm up against my ingrained anti-buying bias and it's winning so far, telling me I should just get my eggs out with my existing slotted spoon and then tip them into my existing sieve. I haven't tried it yet but I'll have to or I'll be at stalemate. I had the same problem with gloves recently - none of my gloves keep my hands warm enough so I thought I need to buy ski gloves or something. Then my anti-buying bias kicked in and said why not just wear two pairs of your existing gloves at once? Well, one pair did fit inside another and it worked a treat so I had to cross ski gloves off my list again....... The perils of anti-consumerism....

I can already predict that if my-existing-slotted-spoon-tipping-egg-into-my-existing-sieve doesn't work, I shall be forced by myself to return to using my existing Murray egg poacher....

Yes - I should have said that I grease the cups with a little butter. The fact that they are basically steaming makes them very close to the poached-in-water eggs in texture, and as J1 says, the butter adds to the flavour.

I've mentioned before on Foodlovers that I use the little silicone-type cups that those 2 or 4 to a pack ready-made jellies and steamed pudding come in for poaching my eggs. I do smear a little butter on them but it's not really necessary, it's more for flavour. Prick the yolk and the white in a couple of places with a toothpick or similar, place on a plate, cover with a paper towel and microwave on medium. The time varies, probably according to the age of the eggs, but if you check after every minute or so, you should get it right.