brand: Circulon
gadget: 5-cup non-stick egg poacher
MRSP: not sold individually, but sold as part of the Circulon 11-piece Red Cookware Set, which retails for $499.99 CAD
available for purchase: exclusively at Canadian Tire

the first nibble:

Confession time – I have never poached an egg. Not that I don’t like eating poached eggs (I love them), but whenever I pull out pans to make eggs, it’s always either fried sunny-side up or scrambled. So a few months ago when Circulon offered to send me one of their pans to try out, I deliberately chose the egg poacher. If I’m going to poach an egg, I may as well have a kitchen gadget to do so, right? Right!

Circulon introduced the first hard-anodized non-stick cookware and the TOTAL Non-Stick System of circles in 1985. The system was so effective in extending the durability of non-stick cookware, the pans were proven to be at least three times more abrasion resistant than any other non-stick cookware on the market and garnered a patent from the US government. This patented system features a series of raised non-stick circles on the pan surface that reduce the amount of non-stick in contact with cooking utensils, minimizing surface abrasion and maximizing durability.

The gorgeous red Circulon skillet that the egg poacher fits into is nice and deep (I’ll do a full review of the skillet in an upcoming post) and comes with a clear glass lid that makes it easy to keep an eye on the eggs.

According to Circulon, their Prime range (which both the skillet and egg poacher belong to) “combines quality and versatility to bring a refreshing new choice of cookware … made possible by Circulon’s Total non-stick system, a patented hi-low circular groove technology that enhances non-stick durability. The system promotes a healthy lifestyle by delivering high performance food release without the need to cook with oils and fats. Further, each pan is induction cooktop suitable, oven and dishwasher safe, and comes with a lifetime guarantee.”

how it works:

A non-stick egg poacher that sits in the 9.75″ (25 cm) deep Circulon skillet. It can poach up to five eggs at one time.

(Thanks to the always handy Google, it took me less than 2 minutes to figure out how to poach an egg using the egg poacher).
– Fill the skillet with 1/2 inch water, set over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
– Place the egg-poaching pan into the skillet to warm the egg cups.
– Crack an egg into each cup, cover the pan and cook to the desired doneness, 2 to 4 minutes.

am I impressed?

The egg poacher works exactly as described and the handy clear-glass lid let me watch the eggs as they cooked – a great feature.

Although the egg poacher doesn’t make use of Circulon’s groove technology (you can see the grooves in the photo of the skillet), it was still extremely non-stick (without any use of oil)! After poaching the eggs for 3 1/2 minutes, I took the skillet off the heat, ran a silicone spatula under each egg and the finished eggs slid right out.

The egg poacher itself is extremely light but durable-feeling. The skillet is a little more weighty, but still nothing I couldn’t handle, even when full of water. Because I didn’t use any oil and the eggs didn’t stick at all, clean up was super easy and quick.

In less then 15 minutes from start to finish, I had two beautiful, perfectly-poached eggs ready for lunch. How awesome does my noodle bowl look with these two beauties on top (I love runny yolks!)?

kitchen regular, under the stairs storage, or recycling bin? kitchen regular

the last bite:

Having never tried any Circulon pans before, I was happily surprised that the pan was as non-stick as they claimed. I can’t wait to try their other products. I really like the feel of the pan (in the skillet) and I LOVE how easy it was to clean. Plus, it’s a beautiful shade of red, so it adds a splash of colour to my pots and pans.

The only downside to this handy egg poaching pan is that it (and the accompanying skillet) aren’t sold separately – you have to purchase them as part of the 11-piece Circulon Red Cookware set, which is a little pricey at $499.99, especially if you’re like me and already have a full pot and pan set.

I’m still not sure how often I’ll be poaching eggs, but with this handy pan, I’m definitely going to be doing it more often.

Disclosure: kitchen frolic received product samples from Circulon for review purposes. This in no way affected our opinions; all opinions expressed are our own. kitchen frolic received no monetary compensation for writing this review. Please read our disclosure policy for further information.