I've checked the OED & the distinction between poach & coddle seems impossible to make.

Coddle: To boil gently, parboil, stew (esp. fruit)
Entymology: [Found first in end of 16th c.; origin uncertain. The form and sense would be satisfied by a NFr. *caudeler = Fr. *chaudeler, f. caudel, chaudel, late L. cal(i)dellum (see CAUDLE), in sense of 'to warm, heat gently'

Poach:   To cook (an egg) by dropping it, without the shell, into boiling water and simmering gently; to simmer or steam (an egg) in a poacher. Hence, to cook (fish, fruit, etc.) by simmering in water or another liquid.

Entymology: OldFrench pochier (12th c. in Godef.), later pocher to enclose in a poke or bag