eele Smiley Egg Poacher EELE-POACH-2PACK, Silicone

Only giving 1 start because there is no option for zero stars. The eggs kept sticking to the silicone even after oiling them up prior to use. However the biggest problem for me was the smell that emanates from these when you are cooking with them. The steam from the pot left a nasty chemical smell all through the kitchen and in turn the house. I even had my flatmates come out of their rooms asking what the smell was. It is a strong chemically smell which alone was enough to ruin my appetite. With a smell like that I didn't even want to start to think what chemicals may now be in the eggs. Therefore I didn't even want to eat the eggs afterwards. My whole reason for purchasing these was for healthier eating but the smell of those chemicals wasn't very healthy making the entire purchase pointless. Eggs and cups went straight in the bin on the same day they arrived in the post. Complete waste of money. I wouldn't buy again and definitely wouldn't recommend.

These poachers are well made but not fit for purpose. I wasted six eggs and did not make a single good poached egg. I followed the instructions to the letter and tried butter and oil to line the cups. On every single occasion the egg just stuck to the cup. I would not recommend these poacher cups. In the end my frustration exploded and i returned them for a refund. I tried lightly buttering and heavy buttering. I tried a couple of oils and every time the egg was stuck fast to the poacher. Very disappointed.

While I can poach an egg in the traditional manner, it's a bit hit or miss. These little poachers are easy to use and give a nicely domed end result. Remember to use a little oil to avoid sticking, and to pop a lid on your saucepan to keep the heat in (speeds up cooking considerably). Item arrived quickly.

I've tried floating silicone, paper and non-stick metal types but as long as you oil/butter the inside well these Smileys produce excellent poached eggs.

love it. I would never dare make poached eggs my self. This has made poached eggs fun and easy

I was sent a couple of Smiley Egg Poachers for me to try out and review on Amazon.I usually poach eggs by carefully dropping the contents of into boiling water so I'm unfamiliar with the use of conventional egg poachers. Therefore theres some preparation required before cooking commences. The instructions refer to the use of a saute pan, which I don't have so I used a conventional large saucepan that has a glass lid. There's a water level marking on the side of the Smiley Egg poachers so you need to fill the pan to that level and bring to the boil.The poachers are made of silicone and need to be greased before use with either butter or oil. I chose to use butter and wiped the insides with a butter wrapper before breaking an egg into each one. The instructions that came attached to the poachers suggest that you "poach to your preference" which is somewhat unhelpful when you have never used one before. However, the poachers came with a separate leaflet which gave a suggested poaching time of six and a half minutes so that is what I set out to do.I lowered the two poachers into the boiling water and at first thought they were going to topple over but they settled down nicely and I put the lid on the pan. After the six and a half minutes they did indeed look cooked. On removing the poachers from the water carefully tilt them to drain off any water that has collected on top of the egg. Then the fun begins. The eggs were stuck in the poachers even after running a blunt knife around the edges. After a while one came out hole and the other one incomplete but without breaking the yoke. See the photos I took.A day or two later I had another go but this time put a couple of drops of olive oil instead of butter in each poacher and rubbed it around the inside. I cooked them for seven minutes this time and the overall result was very successful. I guess that the required cooking time might depend on how tall a pan is used as it relies on the steam above the egg to cook the top properly.To clean the poachers I recommend folding them inside out and dropping into hot soapy water. Use a sponge and avoid anything abrasive that might scratch the surface or the eggs will tend to stick to them.To summarise: Do they do the job? Yes they are simple and easy to use and clean afterwards. Would I use them in preference to my usual method? Probably not but not everyone is comfortable with dropping a raw egg into boiling water or would they prefer a more uniform looking result.

Well made and beautifully colourful. Delivered very promptly too. Not used yet, but they look like they'll be brilliant.

I love doing poached eggs on a lazy weekend, but the 'swirl in the water' method isn't very useful if you need to do more than one egg at the same time - by the time I've done the second one, my other half has demolished his already! These little poach pods are a brilliant idea and work really well. I just use a saucepan (filled about 2 inches deep and with the lid on) big enough for them to sit side by side floating. I find they take a little less than the recommended 4 minutes but once they're at the right level of cooked for you, just pick them up (they do get a bit hot!) and flip them inside out. You get a perfectly rounded poached egg. And because you've oiled them beforehand, they're a dream to wash up afterwards. A genuinely useful kitchen gadget, if you love poached eggs!