Sunny side up eggs

[mike9]

I was just adding to the scrambled egg thread and while I do love a nice soft scramble I must have sunny side up with my grits. I heat a skillet and oil with bacon drippings and butter then add my eggs and turn down the heat some. When they are about half way done I cover the pan and let the steam set up the whites. You have to keep an eye on them, but it ever fails getting a firm white and a nice runny yoke to mix with those grits & toasts.

[applgrl]

Makes a difference if the eggs are room temp, sorta cold, or really cold. If they are super cold the white doesn't set and the yolk will be undercooked. I like to warm the unshelled egg in tap-hot water while I have my first cup of coffee, then fry them. The egg behaves a little better when it is all warm and cozy.

[eclecticsynergy]

My secret weapon for a nice crispy edge is olive oil.

[SocksManly]

You guys got it all wrong.

Heat a dry pan over medium high heat (7 on my electric stove for me)
When it's really hot, add a touch of butter, quickly crack a few eggs, pour about 2-3 tablespoons of hot water around the edges of the egg (mise en place for this one) and cover quickly before the steam escapes. Depending on how hot the pan was and its thickness, either cook it over the heat or just turn off the element and let it sit for a minute.

[jmcarthur8]

Growing up, we called eggs done just like that "Guardian Ware Eggs", because that's the pan we always made them in. Some of you CHers of a certain age may remember those pans with the molded glass lids. One was just the right size for a single egg.

[Harters]

How does that method scramble the eggs? Reads like they would set in one piece like an omelette.

[roxlet]

This is how I do my fried eggs. I start with high heat, and when the whites begin to set, I pour in some water, turn down the heat, and cook until the yellow of the egg has an opaque covering, but is still runny. I hate eating a fried egg that still has egg snot on it, but I love me some fried eggs, plain or in a sandwich. The dog gets to lick the plate, and we consider this as lowering our carbon footprint since we don't have to rinse before putting the plate into the dishwasher.

[PHREDDY]

Ro....how is the puppies' cholesterol?

[Emme]

i do em a bit differently than most. i separate my whites and eggs. let the whites get going first, then when they're half done, i slide the yolk on top and let the whites finish to where i like em, which results in the yolks where i like em... i like a cooked white, not rubbery, and a runny yolk...

[sandylc]

Brilliant. I wonder if you could pick up the white with a spatula and slip the yolk under it......

[eclecticsynergy]

You could call that sunny side down, I guess.

As for separating yolk from white, the yin-yang thing at least is entirely too much trouble...

[Emme]

to each his own... then again, i seldom have to separate eggs, as i always have cartons or yolks and cartons of whites on hand... makes it easier to cheat.

[sandylc]

"cartons or yolks and cartons of whites"

...'splain me.

[Emme]

i buy my eggs at restaurant depot. so i generally buy pre-cracked yolks and pre-cracked whites, separately. i know that some wouldn't like it, but i love it. no angst over extra yolks or whites, no separation, etc.

[eclecticsynergy]

Emme, I was just referring to my little yin-yang icon. Only yolking around, heh heh...

[Emme]

my bad. been a long few weeks...

[Emme]

or put the yolk in the pan and slide the white on top of it (already cooked to liking...)

[MsDiPesto]

The cafeteria cook at work cooks eggs hard as iron, no matter what style you get.

[jvanderh]

I agree, covering it is the way to go. Basting is so much more work and eggs don't really need all that added fat.

[acgold7]

You're funny.

[jvanderh]

I'm for reals. I don't like my eggs brown at all, and if you want a little butter, the way to go is to melt a tiny pat of it in the egg yolk after pricking the egg.

[acgold7]

Pricking the egg? Oh, the horror.

Saying eggs don't need fat is like saying ice cream doesn't need bacon.

[jvanderh]

after you cook it, so the yolk runs over the egg white and whatever's under it

[Querencia]

As the sunny side up egg is cooking in the bacon fat, take a spatula or spoon and keep flipping the hot grease over the yolk of the egg to cook the top of it a little bit.

[Bacardi1]

So I'm guessing that none of you guys will ever be cooking eggs for me, since my instructions at our local diner (which always gets a smile from the waitress) is always - "cooked flat & dead - like a hockey puck".

[paulj]

That's the way to go if you want an fried egg sandwich that does not drip.

[coll]

A fried egg sandwich that doesn't drip is like a day without sunshine!

[jmcarthur8]

Nothin' better than licking runny egg yolk off your knuckles in the morning.

[pdxgastro]

Until it drips onto your shirt. Wah wah wah (sad trombone sound) :o(

[mariacarmen]

i'm with you.

[Berheenia]

At our local greasy spoon the good short order cook (NOT the owner) always takes a dinner fork and makes delicate little fork pricks around the egg white fairly close to the yoke within the first minute of cooking and this guy makes the best fried eggs... full disclosure I like mine over easy not sunny side up.

[sandylc]

Yeah, I poke the white for all types of fried eggs. It flattens it so that the white cooks through all the way.

[jvanderh]

Oooooh. Genius. Thank you.

[scubadoo97]

I do this routinely. Exposes more white to the heat faster so no runny whites. Runny yolks are the goal

[Harters]

I cook on a lowish heat (as I can't abide it when the whites get crispy) and baste with the fat. It's usually perfect for my taste when the yolk has just gone opaque - fully cooked white, runny (but not snotty) yolk.

[splatgirl]

"I cook on a lowish heat (as I can't abide it when the whites get crispy)"

OHHHH THE TRAGEDY! I am the opposite. I love those buttery, crispy, frothy edges.
I make mine in cast iron, heated to super hot before it ever sees any fat just so I get crispy edges before the yolk cooks.
+1 on baste with fat. I try to keep it only on the white.

[mariacarmen]

oh me too....

but i'll do a combo - start out low the lid going on so that the whites puff up, and then turn the heat up and let the edges get crispy.

[classylady]

I have placed the pan with the egg in the toaster oven until it sets.