Egg Poacher Alternative

We get a dozen fresh eggs in our CSA share every week, so we've been eating a lot of eggs.  We like to hard boil them to put on salads, make egg salad, or eat as a snack, but we have an impossible time peeling the cooked eggs.  I have tried every tip I can find online to make peeling easier, but nothing is working.  I started to think about poaching the eggs as a way to get around the peeling issue.

Ever since I was very little, I've loved poached eggs.  I'm not sure why I like them so much, but they were always my favorite.  My parents used to have an egg poacher machine, and the eggs would come out perfectly every time.

For years, I've looked in kitchen stores for an egg poacher to add to my kitchen.  Any that I've found are non-stick, and I don't do non-stick stuff - it's bad news!  I also looked at those "Eggies" things they've been advertising like crazy on TV, but after reading the reviews, I wouldn't go near those with a 50-foot pole!

I decided to improvise and make my own egg poacher.  I tried a few different variations of egg poaching vessels, and they all worked well.  Here's what I did:

• Using small custard cups or small ceramic cups, oil the inside of each cup and place into a large soup pot.  
• Fill the pot with water, so the water level is about 1/2 inch from the top of each custard cup.  
• Cover the pot, and bring the water to a boil.  

• Once boiling, crack an egg into each cup and cover the pot again.  

• Depending upon how you want your yolk, cook about 4 minutes for a runnier yolk and about 7-8 minutes for more of a hard-boiled yolk consistency.

• Using tongs, remove each cup from the pot.  Using a butter knife, go around the inside of each cup to release the egg.  

I put into a sealed storage container and they lasted me all week.  These eggs can be used in the same way as a hard-boiled egg, without spending forever peeling.