What oil/fat is best for basting sunny-side-up eggs?

Question

I've recently gotten into sunny side up eggs. I definitely like the top to be set up a bit, so I baste them in the hot cooking oil. I'm wondering what oils and fats people find best for this. So far I've tried coconut oil, lard, ghee, and whole butter. They all work (and taste) fine, but there's definitely a difference in how well the oil runs off the top of the egg.

Coconut oil seems to run off pretty quickly and get back in the pan to heat up again (which is what I want). The others seem to stick on top of the egg a bit more, which makes it harder to keep getting enough fat in my spoon to baste them continuously.

It's not that there's anything wrong with coconut oil, but I'm curious to try other methods. So what fat (or combination of fats) have you found most effective and delicious for basting sunny side up eggs?

Answer 1

My favourite oil for basting is none: I just put a glass lid on the pan, add a teaspon of water and let the top of the eggs cook in the steam. The few times I have basted, the olive oil I've used for cooking the eggs has not seemed to run off very well.

Answer 2

Bacon grease is wonderful for basting eggs. If you remove most of it before adding the eggs to the pan you can spoon it over the top and you won't run out as quickly even if it's sitting on top.