Perfect Fried Egg

Question

I like a fried egg with all the white cooked, yet all the yellow runny.

I normally do this by separating the yolk and white, and putting the yolk in halfway through.

Anybody know an easier way?

Answer 1

Tips for perfect fried egg:

• Temperature of your pan is the key. (low - medium)
• Do not flip the egg (this will cook the top too fast and bye bye to runny golden yolk)
• Halfway through the cooking take a lid for the pan put a small bit of water in it and close the lid on it for a few minutes. (Too much water and your eggs are wet when you pull them, too little and the effect is not noticed.)

The end result, if you do it right is the white cooked, the outer yellow cooked but inside runny golden and good. If you do it too short the white will not cook through, too long and you over cook but I have been doing it this way for awhile.

Answer 2

One way to achieve this effect is to fry it in plenty of butter or oil, and baste the top of the white with the hot fat.

Answer 3

I use a technique from Cooks Illustrated. Add very little oil (1-2 Tspoons), add the egg (preferably egg is at room temperature - ok if it is not), cover and cook at really low temp until the white sets. You might also try swirling the pan (the lid must be on) so that the little oil can cover the top of the white and cook it faster - however you also cook the yolk at the same time. The trick is really low heat, covered pan.

Answer 4

there are a few ways to doing this, it depends on the type of fried egg you want. The easiest way by far, is to:

• Crack the egg on top of a hot pan + oil.
• season lightly with S & P
• Flip the egg after about a minute or so for about 30 seconds.

If you want sunny side up eggs,

• crack the egg on top of a hot pan + oil
• season your egg
• put a lid on for about a minute
• take the egg immediately off the heat

it'll take about 20 to 30 eggs to master the process, but one you got'er you'll do blind folded

Answer 5

I like my eggs over-medium (cooked white with a TINY bit of brown, runny yolk), and this is the method I've settled on after much trial and error. Everyone has different motivations, but for me, I like this method because it's:

1. fast (the length of these instructions are a bit deceptive)
2. uses minimal equipment
3. repeatable
4. uses minimal fat

cons:

1. takes some practice
2. need a good(relatively new) nonstick skillet(s)
3. occasionally lose an egg

Technique:

1. as previously stated, stove temperature is key. you have to spend some time learning your stove. You want a temp that is high enough to cook the white but not too high that the yolk is cooked as well. (modify this temp according to your desired results...runnier yolk = higher heat)
2. another key is a SLICK non-stick skillet. I use the cheap $10 8" from a supply shop for one person's serving(up to 3 eggs comfortably). I have 2 on hand, so that I can cook for my wife and myself at the same time. With more people I cook in shifts, still using one skillet per person. These are dedicated egg pans...I use them for NOTHING else. When the egg no longer releases perfectly, they go into regular duty and I get another(hence the $10 version). No all-clad or calphalon here(the cheap one's are better non-stick anyway).
3. heat pan to your known temp(see step 1)
4. crack the eggs for one person's serving into a small work bowl
5. swipe the pan with a very quick pass of a stick of butter(for the very slightly browning more than anything else)
6. pour eggs into hot pan
7. let cook until whites are ~3/4 cooked from bottom to top. this is where the temp is critical. if you have it right, the bottoms of the white will be at your desired level of doneness, and the top side will still be slightly uncooked.
8. this is where the practice is important(and the slick pan). FLIP the egg. Everyone has their favorite technique for this, and if you don't I recommend practicing it. For me I move the pan away from me slightly to give the food some momentum, then pull back towards myself sharply just enough for the food to hit the sloped side away from me and become airborn. Lastly, bring the pan back under the food, and move it downward slightly to try and cushion the landing, so that the food lands nice and softly back in the pan. After some practice, you'll be able to do this with a pretty high success rate.
9. let the egg cook for another 5-10 seconds. this will finish off the remaining uncooked white, including that surrounding the yolk. I
10. usually do this on my way to the plate. Carryover heat will continue to firm the egg up, but if you got step 7 right, it won't overcook the yolk.

I realize this is a necro post, but just wanted to add this technique to the collective, and I love stack exchange :).