I love breakfast. One of my favorite things is to sit down to a hearty spread of breakfast favorites, whether it is in the comfort of home on a Sunday morning or at a cozy breakfast eatery (reviews soon to come). Occasionally, there comes a time when the morning can't come too soon. Tonight is one of those times! Now, I'm going to assume that most people can brew coffee, cook up some sausage links, even muster through making pancakes or waffles so I'm not going to publish a step-by-step to my whole meal. However, one thing that a lot of you are not doing is proper egg cookery. You just don't know it yet. So, today I'm going to share some simple rules to properly cook a simple fried egg and you may ask yourself, "Is this really worth the trouble?" Hopefully your results will speak for themselves and you'll find out what you have been missing.
Rule #1: Start with room-temperature eggs.
I cannot stress enough how much of a difference this simple rule makes in achieving your target doneness. All protein should be cooked in this fashion. Eggs especially consist of different densities between the white and the yolk which cook at different rates. If an egg is too cold, the whites will cook up much faster than the yolk, leaving you with a texture that may be less than desirable. If you don't have enough time to let them sit out, give them a warm (not hot) water bath for 5 minutes prior to cooking.
Rule #2: Never crack eggs into the pan.
Instead crack your eggs into a small bowl. This way if you happen to get a piece of shell in the egg, it is easily retrievable without risking breakage or burns or even leaving it in! This also allows you to have more control while placing the eggs in the pan, preventing them from running everywhere.
Rule #3: Know Your Cooking Fat
In other words: butter. And use REAL butter. I am completely a proponent of healthy cooking and living but this is not an area where you should skimp. Butter alternatives are haphazard at best when it comes to melting points, water content, browning, etc. Trust me, you won't be doing yourself a favor by cutting corners here. Use about 1/2 tbs. of butter for each egg you are cooking.
Rule #4: Low and Slow Wins the Race
OK, so maybe that's not exactly how the old adage goes but this is true for cooking eggs. Don't try to rush things by using high heat. Cook eggs on medium-low to medium heat until desired doneness. If you are hesitant about flipping or turning and want to cook over-easy/med/hard simply cover the egg in the pan with a small metal bowl to get some steaming action going.
If you follow these 4 simple rules, I promise you that you'll get better results.
One other side note: Buy the best eggs you can afford. Don't fall for the cage-free gimmick unless they are USDA Organic. You're just throwing away money. Good eggs should have a brown shell with slight speckling and the yolk should have a rich, orange-yellow color. Usually, the lighter the yolk color, the lower quality and nutritional value and the more unnatural diet the hen had.
Good luck in cooking your eggs and let me know how it works out!
