Over Easy Egg Question

[chef_biz]

Ok, don't laugh. You can if you want but here it goes. Im a steak type guy so I do a lot of cooking meats and such. I recently branched out into the breakfast foods and came to the conclusion that I cant cook one of the easiest things...eggs. I can scramble them, which is easy but I can't get a good "over easy" Any tips??

 

[Robo410]

the pan and spatula are as important as the technique. And it takes practice so expect to do a dozen until you're comfy.

I like to (and everyone else will give you their method so be ready for many) use either a black cast iron pan well lubricated by cooking scrapple (bacon and sausage leave too much brown and the egg gets stuck!) or a non stick pan (which were made for eggs btw!)

I like to have a very thin edged turner or spatula, and a rubber/silicon scraper.

I like to break the eggs into bowl (helps with shell spotting) and then turn them gently into the hot pan (hot but not searing)

THe rubber scraper can help you corral the white and keep it from going all over the place.

When it comes time to flip, go for it...no hesitation, DO IT. Up and Over. THe other option is to flip it over with the one edge of the egg staying in the pan so you never really pick it up till it's done. Some feel there is less breakage that way.

pan lubricant...even in a non stick pan use a little butter or evoo or spray of choice.

Don't forget the salt and pepper while it cooks.

In the last 4 years I've only broken one (made a sandwich with that later) and only hard cooked one (ditto).

go for it and perfect your style. a dozen eggs isn't that expensive and the messes can be eaten (chopped hard fried egg with bacon mayo and green onion and hot pepper makes a great sandwich!)

 

[thumpershere2]

Yes, Robo is right, practice, practice.

 

[Home chef]

As far as spatulas go, I prefer a slotted spatula. It seems to break the tention between the egg and pan better.

Also, the fresher the egg the more firm the whites will be. A very fresh egg will not run all over the pan.

Keep the pan on a medium heat. For your frist couple of eggs I would cover the pan for a minute. This will help hardent eh white so it will be easier to turn.

 

[Constance]

I used to flip eggs...Easy over is the most difficult, I think. There must be plenty of grease in the skillet, even if you use a nonstick, and the temperature must be a little over med/high, to get the bottom cooked quickly. The minute you put it in, cover it to help cook the top, but don't wait long. A minute may be long enough. Then, as mentioned above, just DO it! Get that spatula under there, and turn it over without hesitation. It also helps if you tilt the skillet a little.
I prefer to cook eggs differnetly. If you want to present a beautiful egg, perfectly cooked, this is the way to do it.
I melt 2-3 tbls butter or bacon grease (I have even used EVOO) in a nonstick skillet (Calphalon), turn the heat up to one notch below high, crack my eggs into a custard cup and slip into the pan. I immediatly put the lid on and let them steam for a moment, check to see if the whites are cooked (you will see the white film of cooked egg white), then slide them out onto the plate. I like to salt and pepper my eggs AFTER they are cooked.
Just try it this way once, and let me know what you think.

 

[Andy M.]

I use an 8" non-stick and butter. Crack the eggs into a bowl and pour them into the heated skillet. This way, both eggs will be cook the same. Cracking them into the pan one at a time you always have one egg cooked more than the other.

Cook for a couple of minutes. A too high heat will cause browning and toughen the white. Then, practice flipping the eggs over without using a spatula. You've seen it done on TV and it's not that hard.

If you hold the handle in you hand and push it forward and jerk it back towards you the egg will ride up the slpoed side of the pan and turn over. Then you can catch it in the pan and back on the fire for 10-15 seconds then off the heat. They will slide onto a plate with ease.

 

[AllenOK]

I, like Andy, use an 8" nonstick pan. It's the only non-stick pan that I bought because it's nonstick. I use a mix of clarified butter (for taste) and vegetable oil (for health) to cook eggs in at home.

Basically, everyone here has already gone over the basics of using a spatula or flipping by hand. Personally, I flip by hand, but then, being a cook, I have to know how to do that.

I will give one good tip that hasn't been mentioned. When you pour the eggs into the pan, try to keep the yolks fairly close together.

If you flip, swirl the pan to rotate the eggs so the yolks are at the handle of the pan (6 o'clock). When you flip it, that particular spot gets "pulled" towards the other side of the pan while it flips. The egg white at 12 o'clock, when flipped, kind of "slaps" the pan when it flips over. If you have the yolks at 12 o'clock when you flip, you run a good chance of breaking them yolks.

If you turn with a spatula, basically, you want to do the same basic thing, except rotated differently, depending on which hand you use to lift and flip the egg over. Rotate the yolks so that they are on either the right or left side of the spatula, and when you lift and flip it, the yolks need to be on the side that doesn't "slap" the pan.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Everything said in the above posts is true. I use a well seasoned cast-iron pan for my eggs and because of the severe angle between the bottom and sides, can't wrist-flip the eggs, though I used to do it with a small teflon pan that I used to use.

I'm posting to give you a few more methods, one of which isn't the healthiest. My Dad used to cook his eggs this way.

Cook bacon in a seperate, large pan. When done, pour the hot grease into your egg pan. Keep it hot. Break the eggs into a bowl and gently pour into the pan of hot grease. As soon ast they begin cooking, gently splash hot grease, with your spatula, over the eggs until the yolks have a pink film over them and the whites are set. Lift with spatula and let excess grease drain off, then plate.

A second method is to use just enough oil to make the pan surface shine (you have to have a very well seasoned cast-iron, or very good non-stik pan to make this work). Heat the pan to medium and again slide the eggs from a bowl into the pan. Season while the whites are still clear. When the whites are almost set, increase the temperature to medium high heat. Pour 2 tbs water into the pan and immediately cover. Cook for about 20 seconds. REmove the lid and lift the eggs with your favorite spatula onto a plate.

Oh, one more tip, when you get the hang of lubricating your pans, and have selected your pan of choice, you can experiment with cooking temperatures. For a tender egg, with liquid yolk, use low temperatures and moist heat. For an egg with crispy edges (my daughter loves them this way), use more fat and higher heat. The edges will turn an almost transparent brown and become very crispy with high heat. But you have to flip this kind of egg, or baste with hot bacon or sausage fat to set the whites completely. And it's a fine line between overcooked and just right yolks.

Again, practice will do the trick.

For soft boiled eggs that come out perfect for me every time, I start with cold water. I place the eggs (large size) into the pan and turn the heat to high. Just when the water begins to boil, when the bubbles start rising to the top, I time them for exactly 2 minutes, 37 seconds. I them remove from the heat and put the pan under cold running tap water to halt the cooking, then, lightly crack the eggs and keep under the cold water for another 30 seconds. The shells come off easily and the whites are completely set, with a runny yolk. Cook longer to set the yolks if you prefer.

Then there are great ways to make poached eggs, whirlpool eggs, coddled eggs, omelets, quiche, fritatas, and others.

For an interesting change, cut a large center square out of a piece of bread that you will butter on both sides. Place the bread into a hot pan and drop the raw egg into the hole. Cook until the egg is mostly set and then flipthe bread and toast together. Cook for another 20 seconds and flip onto a plate. Toast the bread, that was removed to make holes, in the pan, with a bit of butter. This makes a fun breadfast.

There are so many more ways to make great eggs and egg dishes. I'll let someone else give you their favorite egg-cooking techniques.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[chef_biz]

Thanks for all the advice! I'm eating some now as we speak . I liked the flip without a spatula technique so I've been working on it. The first two I cooked a little to long so I put them on some toast and made a sandwich out of em. The next two I broke one yolk when I flipped but I'm getting better. I'll get it down sooner or later . Thanks again

 

[chef_biz]

For soft boiled eggs that come out perfect for me every time, I start with cold water. I place the eggs (large size) into the pan and turn the heat to high. Just when the water begins to boil, when the bubbles start rising to the top, I time them for exactly 2 minutes, 37 seconds. I them remove from the heat and put the pan under cold running tap water to halt the cooking, then, lightly crack the eggs and keep under the cold water for another 30 seconds. The shells come off easily and the whites are completely set, with a runny yolk. Cook longer to set the yolks if you prefer.

Sorry for double post.

I've seen my girlfriend do something like this. She has these little holder things that you can set the egg in when its done and it holds it upright so you can dip your toast or w/e into it. I never watched how she cooked it though. I'm willing to bet your method is similar.