Norpro Stainless Steel Egg Poacher/Skillet Set, 10", Silver, 1 Liters

I've had mine for almost twelve years and it's still going strong. I misplaced one of the cups a while back, but who's ever really needed to poach five eggs at once?Tips:* Use spray oil in the cups to prevent eggs from sticking. It's much easier than swirling butter or oil.* Run a spoon around the edge of the egg (no need to go that deep) when they're done to help it slide out more easily.* Leave your eggs out overnight so they're room temperature when you cook them (they'll cook faster and more evenly).* Crank up the heat to get more steam in there and more even cooking.* Try to pick eggs that are about the same size so they're done at the same time.* Get used to touching warm things with your fingers. The plastic handles get hot (is that really surprising?) but I've never burned myself on them.Pros:* Stainless steel cups are more durable than non-stick ones.* Big base means you can easily turn up the heat.* Despite other reviewers' troubles with the lid, I've found it to be durable. (It's my go-to lid for other pans.)Cons:* Easy to get a runny white every once in a while. Room temperature eggs help a lot with that.* Cleaning every nook and cranny in the pan can be tiring. (At least the cups clean easily.)* If you forget to put oil in, cleaning the cups is not easy.* Black knobs conduct a little too much heat, but it's manageable.

Like many other reviewers, I'm not too crazy about cooking with the non-stick Teflon silicone whatever engineered cooking materials. I prefer wood, glass, steel, stone & cast iron when able. This egg poacher did not disappoint. I tried it out for the first time this morning and despite slightly overcooking the eggs, it worked great and just needs some heating adjustments on my part. I can't stress enough that the poaching cups need some form of greasing; otherwise, you will have a cleaning nightmare on your hands! I used a tiny (very tiny, actually) dab of crisco to grease all 5 cups. I then put small scoops of butter in the cups before the eggs. Guess what...upon removal, the eggs slid right out of their cups with no sticking whatsoever. No staining or residue was left on the cups, either, after cleaning.Based on other reviews, I also did not want to chance having a glass lid explode all over our eggs, so I used a 10" steel lid that fit perfectly over the pan (the glass lid that came with the pan went promptly into the recycle bin. Check out the Nordic Ware 10" steel lid).More times than not, I don't feel like going through the process of traditional poaching (water vortexes, straining the thin, wispy whites from the eggs, cooking 2 eggs at a time, etc). This pan is a fantastic substitute. Get one!

We were looking for a gift for our daughter and were delighted to find this item on line. My wife bought this poacher about 25 years ago at a grocery store and it has given us excellent service. Since it is stainless steel, it is easy to clean, and doesn't tarnish. It makes 5 poached eggs, which is convenient. The glass top lets you observe when the poached eggs are done to your satisfaction and it has a hole to enable steam to escape. We think it is constructed very well. Our daughter hasn't opened the package yet (but from the online description, it seems identical to the one we bought many years ago).

Poached eggs are a very civilized breakfast food. I use this pan for poached eggs on toast, and when I have guests, for eggs Benedict. I've uploaded a picture of eggs Benedict made using this pan. You can find the recipe by searching on "emory cottage eggs benedict."There are only two good ways to poach eggs, and one of them takes constant practice. The technique that takes constant practice involves swirling boiling water to create a vortex in the center of the pot and dumping a raw egg into the vortex. I still haven't learned to do it.This poacher is the way that works for everyone. But first, a word of warning about things that don't work. Among these are silicone pockets that you dump into boiling water with an egg in each and metal poachers with non-stick egg cups. Silicone is a great insulator, so the eggs cook from the exposed end only. The non-stick stuff eventually comes loose, leaving you with bits of Teflon in your eggs.What is needed is an egg poacher with plain metal cups, like this one. Stainless steel, like this one, is best because it's easy to care for.Poached eggs will stick to metal cups unless you put a film of fat between egg and cup. So, put a little water in the bottom of the poacher and put it on the stove to boil. Spray each cup lightly with cooking spray, then place about a quarter-pat of soft butter in each cup and thoroughly grease the inside of the cup, all the way to the rim, by spreading the butter around with your index finger. (You can use more cooking spray instead of butter, but you still have to spread it around with your finger.) Break an egg into each cup.When the water is boiling, put the egg cups in the tray and cover the poacher. You will need to experiment with the cooking time because it will vary depending upon altitude, taste, and the whims of Chaos. Start with 3-1/2 to four minutes. When the desired time is up, remove the poacher from heat and lift the entire tray out of the pan and onto a plate. This egg poacher has nifty little insulated handles on each cup. Don't forget that these nifty little handles are hot as blazes because they've just been steamed for over three minutes. Be careful!The only criticism I have has already been mentioned by others. The handle is spot-welded instead of riveted. Mine's still attached after two years, but you'll want to treat it gently. The spot welded handle is why I rated it four stars instead of five. Also, five is a distinctly odd number for poached eggs. It probably doesn't matter because four's enough for an elegant and romantic breakfast for two.