Teach Me How to Fry a Perfect Over-Medium Egg

[BeanDip4All]

Dear TGR,

Please tell me how cook a perfectly fried egg- over medium, preferably.

With the whites totally cooked but the yolk still runny... (for dunking in bread and bacon and stuff). No uncooked goopy whites!!

Why can't I master this?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!!

What equipment do you need? Cast iron? Nonstick? Pan or griddle? Do you put butter, or oil, or pam in the pan? How do you get the eggs to not stick to the pan? What level of heat should I be using? Secret type of spatula for the flip? Any special technique for the flip? How long do you let the pan heat up before you put the eggs in? How many eggs in the pan at once? How long do you let the eggs sit before you flip them? How do you get the egg onto the spatula enough so that it doesn't break open when you flip it? How do you prevent the yolks from breaking when you transfer them from the pan to the plate?

I have accomplished and cooked many amazing and wonderful things in my life, however I can't seem to be able to fry a damn egg. I've read many online postings on the subject as well as cookbooks, and tried many different methods, however still turn out crappy over-medium fried eggs (broken yolks, goopy whites, overcooked yolks, all folded onto itself from poor flipping, burned on the outside but raw on the inside, the list of failures is long and distinguished...)

If no one can help me here, I am going to get a second job in a breakfast joint and try to get an apprenticeship or something....

Please halp.

Love,
Beandip

ps- I have been able to make eggs in a hole pretty good but I'd like to be able to fry em up solo not just inside bread!

[BigDaddy]

Cast iron, hot and greasy from the bacon you just finished frying.

Egg should sizzle when dropped in and then it's just a matter of timing when to flip and how long to leave.

Practice makes perfect!

[mtngirl79]

LOL. I cant do fried eggs very well either. I can cook almost anything, except fried eggs. Glad I am not the only one.

[Tye 1on]

Egg pan. Dollop of butter. Practice flipping a piece of bread til ya get that down. Longer on first side, quarter of time in the second. No utensils required.

[zion zig zag]

I've found non-stick works better than cast iron for a perfect over easy egg. Medium-high heat, don't put on any butter or grease until right before the egg. You'll have to figure out the timing but it cooks most of the way on the first side and then about half that on the other will finish it.

[iscariot]

Cast iron, hot and greasy from the bacon you just finished frying.

Egg should sizzle when dropped in and then it's just a matter of timing when to flip and how long to leave.

Practice makes perfect!

This...exactly what I had for breakfast yesterday, exactly how I cooked it. I don't do it often though; more like a speacial breakfast once a month or so.

Drop egg in cast iron containing hot bacon fat (egg should sizzle), put toast in toaster; flip egg when the toast pops; remove egg when you're done buttering the toast. Enjoy with bacon.

If you make it for breakfast, with a tall spciy ceasar for good measure, its a great hangover cure. Finish that with a strong french pressed coffe, with some scotch and baileys in it, and you're back on track.

[gatorboy]

Small non-stick pan.
medium heat (maybe medium/high ymmv)
brush in butter when hot
add egg
salt and pepper
flip when mostly done
immediately turn off heat
let sit for 10 seconds
slide/flip it onto plate

As you get better, you'll eventually move to a larger non-stick for more eggs

[advres]

This...exactly what I had for breakfast yesterday, exactly how I cooked it. I don't do it often though; more like a speacial breakfast once a month or so.

Drop egg in cast iron containing hot bacon fat (egg should sizzle), put toast in toaster; flip egg when the toast pops; remove egg when you're done buttering the toast. Enjoy with bacon.

If you make it for breakfast, with a tall spciy ceasar for good measure, its a great hangover cure. Finish that with a strong french pressed coffe, with some scotch and baileys in it, and you're back on track.

Godamnitsomuch... Now I have to make Bacon and Eggs and a Bloody Mary.

[XXX-er]

I use a non-stick pan WITH a lid ,dab of margerine or butter crack the egg into a medium hot pan ,put about a shot glass of water in the pan and put the lid on the steam will cook the egg without having to turn it

Sprinkling a little Parmesan cheese on the egg is also pretty tasty

[iceman]

flip when mostly done
immediately turn off heat
let sit for 10 seconds
slide/flip it onto plate

The "mostly done" and the "10 seconds" are the important parts here. The white should be almost completely cooked BEFORE you flip it. I prefer to put the butter in and let it start browning before I put the egg in, that's a matter of taste. I can't handle uncooked whites, this gives you cooked whites, runny yolks. Count to ten by "one mississippi" method.

Turning off the heat's not gonna make much difference in ten seconds. Def. slide (not flip) it onto plate, the now-top side is the presentable side, especially if you let the butter brown or you got the bacon fat hot enough (med-high, not way hot).

Getting the egg to release off the pan (use spatula or similar around edges until it's free) when it's maybe half done so you can move it around so the yolk is dead center in the pan is also good.

[iceman]

I use a non-stick pan WITH a lid ,dab of margerine or butter crack the egg into a medium hot pan ,put about a shot glass of water in the pan and put the lid on the steam will cook the egg without having to turn it

Sprinkling a little Parmesan cheese on the egg is also pretty tasty

I don't know what that is but it's not a fried egg. "Shirred", I think is the term.

[huckbucket]

You're forgetting the most important part. Eggs sticks to pans because of the difference in temperature. Leave your eggs on the counter to get to room temp before cooking. No stick.

[iceman]

hmmm, unless you have uranium counters there's still gonna be quite a difference between the counter and the pan.

[skiing-in-jackson]

...Cast iron, hot and greasy from the bacon you just finished frying.

...

WINNER! In the second post no less!

[splat]

Egg pan. Dollop of butter. Practice flipping a piece of bread til ya get that down. Longer on first side, quarter of time in the second. No utensils required.

Tye 1on has it. Can't be a short order cook unless you can flip eggs.
Otherwise, you'll have to ask how to poach them.

[taz]

LOL. I cant do fried eggs very well either. I can cook almost anything, except fried eggs. Glad I am not the only one.

Jesus, this seams to be a girl thing! Seeing that I'm in the same boat as beandip and mtngirl.......... why is it we can cook a blackforest cake, tiramisu, eggs Benedict etc yet the damn over medium egg mocks us everytime.

[advres]

7:16 onward. I've personally been using a large cast iron skillet lately but Alton Brown has never stirred me wrong yet so maybe I would listen to him. Gonna try it shortly.

[iscariot]

you got the bacon fat hot enough (med-high, not way hot).

This is important. My stove has dials with markers 1 to 9. I do eggs in bacon fat at about 4.5 to 5. Not way hot.

[Caucasian Asian]

Basted eggs. Cooked whites(no rooster juice), and runny yolks for dippin' hashbrowns.



I use a cast iron pan on med/med-high. Egg, tablespoon of water or two, and cover for 30-45s. Check doneness by giving the pan a little shake. The yolk will have a slight skim over it, but will still jiggle when you shake the pan.

[::: :::]

Bacon grease is good and all, but...
don't flip

At the point where you are thinking of flipping, add a tblspn water & cover
This will cook the top
No flipping = no fuckups

[mtngirl79]

Jesus, this seams to be a girl thing! Seeing that I'm in the same boat as beandip and mtngirl.......... why is it we can cook a blackforest cake, tiramisu, eggs Benedict etc yet the damn over medium egg mocks us everytime.

Its because men are suppose to cook breakfast, preferable served to me in bed... I'm not sure why Beandip is trying to ruin it for all of us by learning how to fry eggs.

[iscariot]

Basted eggs. Cooked whites(no rooster juice), and runny yolks for dippin' hashbrowns.



I use a cast iron pan on med/med-high. Egg, tablespoon of water or two, and cover for 30-45s. Check doneness by giving the pan a little shake. The yolk will have a slight skim over it, but will still jiggle when you shake the pan.

Cool. I'm gonna try that.


Poached eggs are actually my favorite way to have eggs.

[Helldawg]

OK, you can disregard all other posts. I am the master of the over-medium egg, no doubt. Next to sarcasm and cunnilingus, it's one of my top skillz...

-Get a pan that looks like the one in post #19. And a nice thin metal spatula. Old skool.

-Put the pan on a burner over medium heat and give a nice spritz of PAM or similar

-While the pan is heating to a nice even temp over its whole area, crack your egg into a shallow bowl. A lot of eggs are ruined before they even had a chance because the yolk separates on the drop into a hot pan. With the shallow bowl, you slide the egg in with no damage. Also, this gives you the chance to pluck any errant shell fragments.

-After about 2 minutes heating, gently pour your egg into the middle of the pan. She should sizzle and bubble up right away. Let it cook for about 1.5 minutes, or until the whites are starting to brown on the underside.

-Flip. Slide the thin metal spatula directly under the yolk, and flip that bitch. Then count 30 seconds exactly.

- Remove with spatula, set on plate, and get down to business. Some toasted jewish rye would be nice...

- Send a nice PM to Helldawg, for helping you achieve egg nirvana.

[Helldawg]

PS, if you sleep over one night, I will gladly demonstrate this technique in the morning...

[iscariot]

I am the master of the over-medium egg, no doubt.

-Put the pan on a burner over medium heat and give a nice spritz of PAM...

Unless Pam is the girl that stayed over last night, these two statements are diametrically opposed.

Also, this gives you the chance to pluck any errant shell fragments.

Rookie...