Cooking Eggs

[Quartermass]

Okay people, I like eggs. My favorite is sunny side up. However, I have a problem when i try to cook sunny side up.

The yolk breaks most of the time.

So the question I put to you is, are there any tips for cooking sunny side up without breaking the yolk?

[geardaddy]

1. The answer is...

non-stick pan.

I love sunny side up eggs, too.

[hedgehog]

2. In the summer, I get fresh eggs from my well fed, free range chickens.

In the winter, they stop laying and I buy eggs from the grocery. i notice that the shells are distinctly thinner than my home grown eggs. In fact, when my hens start laying eggs with slightly thinner shells, I treat them to a sack of oyster shell. Their egg shells have never been as thin as what I'm seeing from the store.
I notice that I never break the yolks on my home grown eggs, but almost always break the yolks on the store bought eggs. Commercial farmers control heir hens' diets to obtain the maximum profit. Oyster shell costs money, and as long as the egg shells are thick enough to ship, they're thick enough. i'm going to speculate that something is missing from the hens' diets, and that's why the yolks break.

[JoePhilly]

9. That is REALLY interesting.

We almost always get Eggland's best white eggs (don't have my own chickens) ... my wife decided that EB was what we should buy ... not sure why ... but ... I almost never break their yoke.

Your post made me think ... so I went to their web site ... and they do have cage free, organic eggs .. but I don't think their white eggs fall into that category ... they do discuss their approach to feeding the chickens, etc ... and so on ... so maybe something they feed their chickens is along the lines of your "oyster shell" and diet comments.

I may have to try their brown eggs (which are free range, organic) just to see ...

When you buy eggs ... if I can ask ... what do you look for??

[hedgehog]

12. I generally look to see if I can find eggs from cage free

chickens. If not, i grab something local.

[HopeHoops]

3. They are easy if you do them right.

1) Use a small pan with a lid (non-stick, but butter it anyway)

2) Crack the egg by whapping it on the table not over the edge of the bowl. One smack will usually be sufficient. Grab both halves and it should dump into a bowl easily (try not to put a finger in the crack to pry it open)

3) DO NOT use too high a heat. Patience. Keep it covered and use sound as your judge. That cooks the whites on both sides (sort of like poaching) but leaves the yolk nice and soft.

4) Rather than using a spatula, slide the egg out of the pan onto the plate.

[JoePhilly]

6. I like your number 4 ... very good point.

On cracking the egg ... your #2 ...

I find that for me, I prefer a bowl ... the bowl I use has a rather THIN edge ... and so the crack that I tend to get is very clean and straight, and so the 2 halves almost always split very evenly. If I do it on the counter, I tend to end up with a sunny side up egg, but its on the counter (so clearly I'm doing that wrong )

[HopeHoops]

10. You have to give it a sharp whack on the table - not hard, just fast.

It will split the shell all the way around, like a plastic Easter egg. It's rare for shell parts to drop.

[JoePhilly]

11. I hear you ... I just don't seem to be able to master that technique ...

I think I go too deep, if you follow me ... so it doesn't so much crack, as it does crush.

Using the bowl I have, I can sometimes, if feeling bold, break the egg, and divide the shell, one handed. But that approach increases my "breakage" percentage.

[HopeHoops]

20. Both skills take practice (meaning there WILL be fuckups)

A LOT of fuckups.

[JoePhilly]

4. I do a couple things ...

I crack the eggs into a bowl first, and I melt some butter in a non-stick pan and then slowly pour the eggs into the pan with the bowl almost touching the pan ... that usually works.

Also ... sometimes I'll do this, and one breaks, or maybe I change my mind (that happens) ...

In either case, I try to gently break both yokes ... and then I swirl the pan so that the whites and some of the yoke, will spread and cover the entire pan ...

... if the pan is the right size, it becomes much like an omelet, but with both the white and the yoke remaining fairly distinct so that you can taste both. Then sometimes I add some cheese, and / or ham ... or some tomatoes ... whatever is around.

.... its my back up plan

[freshwest]

5. Not sure if this is what you mean, but my Dad taught me this method.

Since they're 'sunny side up' meaning the yolk stays on top, he cooked them that way, in butter. The yolk was never turned so it never broke.

We liked the white to be cooked, but not the yolk. He used a spatula to splash the hot butter (oil would work just as well) onto the white to fast cook it.

That's a fast way of doing it. I usually do it by covering the pan with its glass cover and letting it steam the whites until they're done, but sometimes that cooks the yolk as well. My Dad's way was faster and more reliable.

[JoePhilly]

8. There is another upside to using the cover ...

... at least in terms of yoke breakage ... I find that if you time it right ... that approach will cook the TOP of the yoke just a little, and make the yoke a somewhat more resistant to breakage.

You can think of it like how people cook steak ... do you want it "Rare, Medium, or Well Done". If you do sunny side up eggs RARE, almost all of the yoke is liquid ... if you want well done, the yoke will be HARD ... and then medium has much of the yoke liquid, with some amount of cooked yoke ... and if you are really good, you can try to go for medium rare ... or medium well.

[davsand]

13. I was also taught to baste sunny side up eggs.

Just spoon a bit of hot butter over the top of that egg to set the top--

Or, as an alternative, put a tablespoon or two of water in the pan so it will steam and then cover with a lid for a short time to steam the egg the rest of the way.



Laura

[murielm99]

14. That's what I do.

I use just about a teaspoon of water and cover them with a lid. I use a nonstick pan, but melt butter in the pan first.

Also, they need to be cooked slowly, over low heat. I guess I have done this for enough years that I know how much heat to use and how long to cook them. I love sunny side up eggs. Over easy is good, too, if you can turn them gently without breaking the yolks.

[blogslut]

15. My Dad went farther to the dark side

He fried his eggs in bacon drippings and basted the tops with the evil, delicious stuff.

[OriginalGeek]

16. Well if that's evil

then call Me Beelzebubba.





ANd then please make sure my Lipitor bottle is full.

[blogslut]

17. Ha! I can sympathize

Good old Dad. In his youth he worked as a short-order cook and could make some awesome diner-type food.

[Kali]

18. I think you could fry dog shit in bacon grease and it would taste good.

mmmmmmbacon grease

I can barely eat a fried egg cooked in any other kind of fat.

[blogslut]

19. Do you have "the can" or "the jar"?

Mom did. Precious, precious left-over bacon grease. The ingredient of the gods.

[blueamy66]

21. We have the covered Pyrex bowl.

I use the bacon fat for my cabbage and when frying eggs and potatoes.

Our Mom's were smart!!!!

[Quartermass]

23. Thanks.

[lunatica]

7. Cook them very slowly

and cover them so steam helps in the cooking. You can cook them this way until all the whites are actually gently cooked while the yoke is still runny. When you cook them slowly they won't stick to the pan and the edges won't get overcooked. It only takes a few minutes and is well worth the patience. You will then have successful sunny side up eggs almost 100% of the time.

[MorningGlow]

22. It's not you; it's the egg

I read somewhere that the fresher the egg, the less likely the yolk will break. I've found that to be true (and I eat eggs every morning).

[Turbineguy]

24. My specialty is Eggs Over

Messy