Eggs like a chef: boiling by the minute, poached eggs first time and a tender omelette

Egg white starts to set at about 62–65 °C and is fully firm by 80 °C. The yolk thickens at 65–70 °C. That gap is what lets you get a set white and a runny yolk — you just need to hit the timing.

The second rule: eggs dislike high heat. The hotter it is, the faster the white turns rubbery and omelettes and fried eggs dry out.

Drop an egg into a glass of cold water. A fresh one lies on its side at the bottom. An egg one to two weeks old lifts its wide end. If it stands upright, use it soon and only in baking or well cooked. If it floats, throw it out.

Poached and sunny-side-up eggs need the freshest eggs: their whites are firm and hold their shape. For hard-boiling, older eggs are actually better — they peel much more easily.

Bring water to the boil, lower it to a gentle boil and lower the eggs in straight from the fridge with a spoon. Start the timer right away. This method is precise and makes peeling much easier: the white sets fast and sticks less to the shell.

To stop shells cracking, lower the eggs gently and don't cook at a rolling boil. If one cracks anyway, add a spoonful of vinegar to the water: the leaking white sets quickly and seals the crack.

It's a compound of sulphur from the white and iron from the yolk. It forms when eggs are cooked too long or cool slowly in hot water. It barely affects the taste but looks unappetising. The fix is simple: no more than 11 minutes, then straight into ice water.

The main problem with poaching is whites spreading like a jellyfish. The cause is the watery part of the white that every egg has. Crack the egg into a fine sieve over a bowl and let it drain for 20–30 seconds. Only the firm white remains, and the poached egg comes out neat.

The water shouldn't boil — just tremble, about 85–90 °C (185–195 °F), with the odd small bubble on the bottom. You can add 1 tbsp vinegar per litre so the white sets faster. Don't salt the water — salt actually makes the white spread.

Stir a gentle whirlpool with a spoon and slide the egg into the centre from a small bowl. Cook for 3 minutes, lift out with a slotted spoon and blot the bottom on paper towel.

Salt the beaten eggs 10–15 minutes before cooking. Salt partly dissolves the proteins, so the omelette is more tender and doesn't weep water. Salting at the last moment does the opposite and firms the eggs up.

Use only a little milk — no more than 1 tbsp per egg. More milk doesn't make an omelette fluffier; it separates out as water on the plate.

Cook over medium-low heat in butter. For scrambled eggs, stir constantly with a spatula, gathering large soft curds, and take them off the heat while they still look slightly underdone and wet: they finish on the plate in 30 seconds.

For crispy, lacy edges you need a well-heated pan and oil: the egg should sizzle immediately. Spoon hot oil over the white around the yolk — it sets on top while the yolk stays runny.

For a tender sunny-side-up egg without a crust, use medium heat and a lid. Once the white has set underneath, add 1 tbsp water and cover for a minute: the steam finishes the top of the white, with no raw film over the yolk.

What goes wrong most often: