I've read more kitchen hacks for than I've had hot dinners, yet despite the nation being inundated with all these recipes and tips, I can count the number of perfectly cooked poached eggs I've had on one hand.

In fact, not to be too diva-ish about it, a , and I'm not adverse to sending them back in a restaurant or cafe, especially if I've ordered a really gooey expensive one like Eggs Benedict.

Incidentally the dish was named after a stockbroker Lemuel Benedict who ordered poached eggs on toast with lashings of hollandaise sauce because he was so hungover. Imagine if he'd been served with an egg you could bounce off the waiter's head at Waldorf Astoria – it would have changed history.

So for anyone working in a professional kitchen, come on, guys, you have one job etc etc. You don't need fancy cookware at home to make a flawless poached egg with a firm white that keeps its rounded shape and oozes runny yellow yolk when you cut into it, but you will need a few essential kitchen items.

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Firstly, never store your eggs in the – nature has already created a shell to keep them fresh. Plus cooking them from cold will normally cause them to break. Also use freshest eggs possible as these keep their shape the best – whether frying or poaching.

I start by putting a non-stick pan of water on to boil, then turn it down to simmering and add a glug of The acidity helps the egg coagulate quicker and keeps the eggy effluent from spreading in a shapeless mess in the water.

When the water is simmering gently, I break an egg into a tea strainer – or any fine wire mesh sieve – to remove the thin watery parts of the egg white, which again stops it from leaving stringy egg mess in the water. And unlike every other poached egg hack out there – THIS is the one which actually works.

When you've strained your egg, you simply slip the egg into a ramekin, and using a wooden spoon to stir the simmering water creating a whirlpool effect, gently drop the egg into the swirling water. Maybe you can drop it straight into the water from the strainer, but I've not been brave enough to try it yet. Let me know in the comments if you do.

I never cook my egg for longer than three minutes – or until the white looks set – and then I lift it out with a slotted spoon and let it dry thoroughly on a clean tea towel. Or cleanish. As long as the teenager hasn't used it, it's normally hygienic enough.

If I have more to cook, I leave them wrapped in the towel until ready to serve. Or you can drop them in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process and pop in the fridge. It's easy then to reheat in simmering water at a later stage. Or of course, you can do what I did once and forget I'd left the eggs sitting in my tea towel, snatched it up to take something off the stove without burning myself – and lobbed poached eggs all around the kitchen.