The Muffin Tin Hack That Makes Poaching Eggs Way Easier

A simple, elegant poached egg just hits different. It can be a lot harder than it looks to get a poached egg just right, and if you need to poach more than two eggs, it'll take some precious time to cook them all in batches. But, not to worry ... like most things, there's a hack for that.

All you need at your disposal for a much easier way to make poached eggs — aside from the stovetop, pot, vinegar, sieve, and all of the technique involved — is a muffin tin and a little water. To poach a dozen eggs at once, simply add a tablespoon of water to each muffin cup and crack your eggs right on top. Bake at 350 F for around 8 to 10 minutes, and that's it. This muffin tin method will achieve the ideal poached egg texture: A whisp-free soft yet firm egg white that encases a jiggly, barely cooked yolk, ready to ooze once cracked. To remove each poached egg from its cup, use a slotted spoon to carefully scoop it out. All that's left to do is eat and enjoy.

Poaching your eggs in a muffin tin is as easy as can be, but there are a few things you can keep in mind to make the process or the results even better. First, you should make poached eggs as soon as you buy the carton. Not only because the fresher the eggs, the better they taste, but also because fresher (aka younger) eggs have a tighter, more stable albumen (aka egg white), which is the ideal texture for poaching.

Rather than drop your eggs in straight from the fridge, let them come to room temperature first for better results. If you're making a dozen poached eggs in a muffin tin and would like to save and reheat a big batch of them, you can place the eggs in an ice bath once they're cooked to stop them from cooking any further, then store them in the fridge. To reheat, place the eggs in hot water that's barely simmering for just about a minute until rewarmed.

That handy muffin tin can be a lifesaver in the kitchen for all kinds of hacks, whether cooking-related or not. Similar to the muffin-tin-poached-egg method, muffin tins are the perfect pan for shortcut "hard-boiled" eggs, too. "Hard-boiled" is in quotes because they're not actually boiled but baked. All you need to do is place a whole egg in each muffin cup and bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes, then let them cool in an ice bath.

Outside of eggs, muffin tins are also great for entertaining — whether you use the pan to serve various condiments or ingredients for a barbeque or taco bar, as a tray to carry drinks, or as receptacles for leftover food and trash while you clean up after a party. The pans are also great for freezing individually-portioned foods, like soups and sauces, or for providing molds for things like giant ice cubes and sushi.