How To Make Poached Eggs Easier With This Vintage Thrift Store Find

If you're among those of us who find poaching eggs a challenge, listen up! There's a fairly decent list of mistakes that you can make when poaching eggs, but a handy little tool called the Perfect Egg Poacher, manufactured by Perfect Automatic Egg Timer and Manufacturing Company in Fulton, Chicago, in 1921, helps prevent many of them. If you find yourself feeling like you're on the wrong side of a late-night infomercial — hand on your shaking head, wondering why your whites don't stay together and your yolks are overdone — this simple gadget is for you.

In a video, YouTuber @xetaprime shows the metal poacher with two cups on each side attached to a tall cylindrical handle. All you need to do is place it in a pot with water that nearly reaches the top of the cups. Heat until it's gently bubbling, crack your eggs into the cups, and watch the magic happen. Once they're cooked, pull up on a single small release handle to create space for excess liquid to drain from each egg cup. Then, simply transfer the beautifully poached eggs to a plate by pushing the release located at the top of the device, and enjoy.

While a newer version of the exact tool may not be on the market currently, thrift stores or websites are your best bet for searching out this (or a similar) kitchen gem, and conceptually, it needn't be a single-use tool. You can also put it to work to make or heat other dishes like veggies or momos.

If locating a vintage poacher is a priority, there are a variety of other versions available. For example, you can find tools with a similar construction that have more than two cups, making them great for poaching for a crowd, or heavy-duty pans with inserts hovering over the pot's boiling water.

While thrift shop finds may add a touch of timeless flair to your kitchen, if you're simply looking for a tool that gets the job done without having to fuss over the stove, there are plenty of choices. Try racks that you can put directly into your own pan that come with two, four, or six cups with handles for easy removal, or try silicone cups that can be placed directly in the pan.

Poaching on the stovetop is the classic way to prepare poached eggs, but for a more traditional method, consider turning to your oven. Try using a muffin tin to easily cook up an abundance of eggs all at once. Or, invest just a few bucks in a microwave poacher and give them a quick zap for a speedy breakfast. Finally, don't sleep on using your air fryer for poaching — just grab some ramekins, crack an egg into each, and pop them right in for another hands-off method to make your morning meal.