How I fry my eggs
A reader left a comment the other day, asking how I fry my eggs.
I don't think my method is anything particularly special, but I'm happy to oblige.
The pan
You can use a nonstick pan, of course, but my method lately has been to use my stainless steel skillet.
I heat it up until water beads up on the surface; this has an interesting effect on the nonstick levels of the pan, partly because the metal expands, sort of "filling in" the tiny nooks and crannies in the metal.
There's also a Leidenfrost effect, which I am not going to type out; click here for a thorough article about the stainless steel skillet heating method and the why behind it all.
At any rate, you can actually fry eggs in a stainless steel skillet this way! And that makes me happy because stainless steel skillets last way longer than nonstick skillets do.
The method
Once the pan is hot, I usually add a little bit of oil for flavoring; my favorite lately has been to use some of the oil from my jar of chili crisp.
I crack the eggs into the skillet, lower the heat a few notches, sprinkle salt and fresh-ground pepper over top of them, and then cook them, without flipping them, until the egg white is cooked through.
At this point, the yolk is still nice and soft, which is how I like it!
But if you prefer yours cooked more thoroughly, you could just gently flip the egg and cook it on the other side for a bit.
How I use my fried eggs
Of course, I eat them just as-is.
But also, I eat them:
- on avocado toast
- on mashed potatoes
- on sweet potatoes
- on leftover rice
- as a sandwich, on a toasted bun with some jarred hot red peppers
Honestly, you can add an egg on top of lots of different things and call it a meal. 😉
How do you cook your fried eggs?
P.S. I realize this post makes it look like I only ever eat eggs for breakfast, but I do actually mix it up sometimes with smoothies and oatmeal!
Good morning, Sometimes as a special treat, I fry my eggs in pesto.
I would eat eggs for breakfast every morning if I could! My kids go in phases with eggs. At one point we were up to needing to cook 11 at a time, now we're down to 5. We will see what next year brings.
Eggs! Such a nutritional gift in a small package. Can confirm that learning to use stainless steel properly has been life-changing. So simple and no more ingesting bits of the nonstick material as the pan wears (omg). Simple, quality tools are so valuable, kind of like an egg is a simple, quality food.
I love eggs for breakfast, with toast and tea. I do a quick scramble over high heat. The moist, runny style of scrambled eggs is not to my taste. We have a (declining) ceramic pan that's not really non-stick anymore, but I'm not sure that stainless steel will cut it for pancakes. Would be happy to hear otherwise, though!
Cast iron definitely works for pancakes as well.
Thanks! I like the idea, but I can't manage the weight of cast-iron. Enameled cast-iron is so pretty, too--like Le Creuset--but it's just SO heavy, and I don't have great joints.
I struggle with the weight on pans too. We currently have Hexclad that we got at Costco, so far we really like them.
Try carbon steel pans!
They have the same proprieties as cast iron (need to be seasoned, nonstick without a coating, etc.) without the weight!
Stainless steel does work for pancakes! I use a bit more butter than I would with nonstick, but I make pancakes this way all the time. I got rid of my nonstick pans about six months ago and just use stainless steel now, and I’m really happy with the change. I thought the same thing, but you can absolutely do it if you want to!
Thank you! I would love to not deal with non-stick anymore. I want my pans to last longer than non-stick (even the ceramic) does, and I'm looking forward to giving it a try.
As a side note, we have pancakes for dinner weekly. This week, I made pancakes for breakfast for my 4 year-old who exclaimed "Pancakes?! For breakfast?! But it's not dinner!" which I thought was so funny! She doesn't even think of pancakes as a breakfast food, even though pancakes, eggs, and fruit is our "easy" dinner.
We are Team Cast Iron here at Chez WilliamB. Other than that the method is the same; get pan very hot (something you can't do with nonstick safely), add a small bit of oil, fry at lower heat. One advantage of cast iron is you can get very small pans so the eggs fit perfectly.
My roommate likes his on tater tots. He under fries the egg a bit, then mixes it into the tots so the tots residual heat finishes cooking the eggs to his liking.
If you like your yolk more cooked, try these things:
1) spoon the hot oil over the top of the eggs, and/or
2) cover the pan
I have a great collection of cast iron (100% thrifted) and should use it more often, except that like some of the other commenters, I find it heavy and thus tend to push the easy button by using my non-sticks.
I have one set of cast iron (no-name but made in USA) that's lighter than my Lodge set, and I'm thinking that I may put the Lodge set into my donations for the annual antiques/collectibles sale run by the small-town library Ms. Bestest Neighbor is involved with.
Bacon grease is the way to fry eggs, particularly if one likes them over easy. My late mother had it down to an art using bacon grease to do over easy.
For eggs hard anodized pans. I use a glass lid when I do over easy (which I prefer). I use butter (and get irritated when better half thinks he doing me a favor by putting far too little butter in the pan). My late mother switched to canola oil and lid when dad's cholesterol crept a bit high.
If I am in the mood for scrambled, I add some half-n-half and whip the mixture before adding to the skillet.
Try carbon steel pans. 🙂
They have very similar properties to cast iron, without the weight.
I agree that your egg photos are amazing! They look so tasty! Do you ever eat eggs any other way? Scrambled? Poached? Hard boiled?
On weekends, I indulge in fried eggs cooked in leftover bacon grease (I keep a jar in my fridge) and a piece of toast for the yolk. On weekdays/workdays, I've discovered that if you crack the egg into a small round Pyrex dish, microwave it for one minute (pierce the yolk first), it makes a nicely cooked egg that fits nicely with a piece of cheese on an English muffin or piece of toast, open faced. Quick and easy and yummy.
MommaJo,
I once bought a set of two round plastic "egg cookers" for the microwave (brand new, I think it cost 50 cents) that serve the same purpose, though Pyrex sounds much more durable, and no worries of plastic leaching into your food.
MommaJo, what a great tip - thank you!
Yep dipping buttered toast in the yolk is the way to go.
Every time I see your pictures of fried eggs, I shudder in horror. The crispy edges-noooo. And the pepper. If there is the tiniest bit of pepper on an egg, that's all I can taste. I use a non stick skillet on medium. Throw in some butter and when it barely sizzles, put in the egg. When the white is set, flip the egg and turn off the stove. It's done. Sometimes when I order eggs over easy in a restaurant, I get whites with clear slime hiding underneath. That's even worse than crispy edges. It's interesting how a simple thing like an egg can turn out so many ways to accommodate so many tastes.
I’m with you, Ava, on the crispy edges! They are a definite NO. I never fry myself an egg and will only eat one out of politeness if at a dear friend’s house. I’m team poached and scrambled.
We eat so many eggs, all different ways. Hard boiled and scrambled are the leaders, because they are most convenient. I mostly use my non stick pan, occasionally cast iron, but never my stainless steel. I need to try this method -- thank you for sharing the link!
I have a stainless steel pan sitting in the Goodwill donation bag, because everything sticks to it. But I will dig it out and try again, with your instructions!
You can find simple directions on seasoning a stainless steel pan. Good luck!
I didn't use mine for years either but then I learned about appropriate temperature control and use it for everything from eggs to salmon to skillet meals. Don't give up! It makes you feel like a boss when things slide right off!
I use a little Teflon pan with a lid and fake-poach my eggs. A bit of butter in pan, medium heat, add two eggs and a couple tablespoons of water, cover, and watch like a hawk to get egg whites that are cooked through but runny yolks. Works with just a smidge of butter so there's no added fat, so the eggs are really not fried. They're steamed???
Can anyone give me a recommendation for a stainless steel skillet size and brand? I would like it Buy For Life quality.
I have a set of stainless steel pans I've had for 20+ years. So.eo e have them to me and I believe they came from HSN or QVC. They are Huggins brand and I think they were made in Korea. They have been fabulous for me. I use them nearly every day.
I have the 8 in and 12 in (I think) all-clad D3. It heats quickly and evenly. We used some of our wedding gift money to buy them in 2003. I don't anticipate needing to buy another set of stainless steel pans ever. They can be pricy but keep an eye out for sales and bonus sets - this will make them more affordable.
I have a 10 inch All-clad stainless steel skillet that I use every single day (often more than once a day). I also have a 12 inch all-clad sauté pan with a lid that I use when making larger recipes (bigger bottom). All-clad is pricey, but you can gradually add to your collection and it is WONDERFUL. I’ve had mine for over a decade and it’s still like new - worth every penny. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t buy a big set - you’ll end up with things you don’t need or use often. I’ve added to my collection over time and adore each and everyone piece.
For reasons beyond all understanding, one year my mother wanted to buy me kitchen gear. (She hated cooking and d centrally didn't like shopping either so why was she window shopping in the kitchen section at Bloomingdale's? No one knows). She asked me to start as if I had an unlimited budget and we'd pare down from there.
After a lot of research I bought 5 ply All-Clad. I expect it'll last me the rest of my life and into the next generation's.
Agree that usually sets aren't your best choice, even if you're starting from zero. You can save a bit by buying inexpensive kids for pans that don't come with. There's no reason to pay the All-Clad premium for lids.
Is All Clad heavy?
It is a resounding yes for all clad. 10 inch. thanks.
We got some All-Clad stainless for our wedding.
We’ve been married almost 19 years!
One caveat: no stainless steel pan is “for life” if used a lot. Over time, deglazing hot pans with liquids when cooking will eventually cause oil-canning, which is when the bottom of the pan becomes concave and won’t sit flat. It’s worse with larger pans, so we’re probably going to have to replace our largest pan in the next few years.
If you prefer to cook over a glass top electric stove like I do, oil canning means the pans don’t sit completely flat on the burner, and can develop hot spots or spin when you try to stir.
On a gas range, it’s less of an issue (but I hate cooking on most gas ranges - in the US, high BTU burners are confused with high quality, so most gas ranges just dump a ton of heat AROUND the pan, and consequently into the kitchen, instead of concentrating on heating up the BOTTOM of the pan. Add all the issues with impacts on indoor air quality in our house full of asthmatics, and gas races are a big NO for us!)
Sorry, but I have to have my eggs well-done, so I always get scrambled. If I do flip them, I cook them until the yolks are hard.
My grandmother once served me very runny eggs (where the whites weren't cooked all the way) and ever since then, they have to be cooked well done.
I'm with you-- when I was little and we went out for breakfast when traveling, I didn't know what to call the eggs I wanted and didn't want runny yolks, (don't like the taste, texture, or the likelihood they will drip on my shirt). I figured out I should always order scrambled.
I don't fry eggs, do t like the texture. I'm a scramble or omelet girl. And I don't eat any kind of boiled egg, either. It's that texture thing. I often microwave a scrambled egg in a little round egg cooker I found at a bin store, then put it on a toasted, buttered English muffin with some sausage or bacon. It makes a perfect egg sandwich.
One thing I learned on some cooking show years ago (and I can't remember which one) was that to make sure food does not stick, you must properly heat a pan up first before you put the food in to cook. And that is true. Have a great Monday!
Joyce from Arkansas,
I remember the Frugal Gourmet saying "hot pan - cold oil - food doesn't stick".
I bought a sweet little heavy bottom SS pan a few yrs ago at an estate sale. It holds 2 eggs perfectly or 1 egg in hole toast. For family breakfasts we make eggs in toast on a sheet pan baked on roast convection. Easy peasy!
I Sprinkle my eggs with a pinch of bbq rub and finish with black pepper. I've been on a poached egg kick lately with fresh chives and parsley.
I thought you couldn’t cook eggs on a stainless steel pan until about six months ago. Now we make fried and scrambled eggs in our stainless steel pan on a virtually daily basis, and we got rid of our (toxic) nonstick pans. For anyone else who hasn’t tried this before, I just want to echo that it works. Total game changer in my kitchen!
Fried in bacon grease at a lower temperature so they don't get too browned. I crack the yolk after I flip it and then cook it alllll the way. I really dislike any kind of soft yolk, and runny yolks are a total no-go for me. I eat two eggs this way every morning, with salsa on top.
Oh, and I cook them in a cast iron skillet, as I do with almost everything.
talk to me about how you clean your cast iron skillet. I use mine more than any other pan I have but I always feel like I'm not cleaning it correctly. I often use too much soap/water and take off some of the seasoning OR I don't clean it enough and it seems sticky. The bottom also has some rust so I know I need to scrub, oil and re-season it. This is because I (gasp) wash it and let it air dry.
I am spoiled with my skillets, because several of them were my husband's great-grandmother's and so have 100+ years of seasoning on them. I can do anything with them. I have some newer ones, too, though, and they're also good. I seasoned them with animal fat, NOT vegetable oil. That just makes them sticky. The best way to season them is to fry in several inches of lard or tallow.
I wash mine with soap and if I need to, scrub them with a nylon scrubby. What I do not do, ever, is air dry them. 🙂 They have to be dried quickly, or they will absolutely rust. I just put them on a hot burner for a minute until the water evaporates. I don't simmer acidic things like tomato sauce in them, either. That's bad news. For things like that, I use stainless steel.
Team Cast Iron, I use the same method as Kristin. My small cast iron skillet is going on 25 years. I gifted each of my sons their own cast iron skillet when they moved out, they learned how to cook on cast iron and don't know any different.
Hi Kristen, thank you for responding to my divorced moms/ finances question/. blog post. It’d be great if you could do follow up posts 🙏. I’m thinking about gifting your Patreon link to my 2 friends. Is it ok to share with them or should I buy 2? They’re not as lucky as you were, one of them has no parents/ family, and the other one’s parents/ family is pushing her to stay in the abusive marriage to maintain their social status ( super wealthy and deranged, obviously). Both of them will be in an unhoused situation the minute they leave. Thank you so much for all your help.
Farhana,
Prayers going up for your friends. What a terrible situation to be in! Can they get help from a domestic violence shelter?
I cook mine in a nonstick skillet with a lid, with some oil, spinach and tomatoes and add a spoonful of cream cheese or cottage cheese when it's done:) I eat it with buttered toast for lunch.
I love your tip of using the chili crisp oil. My latest jar is way more oil than crisp, and I never thought to use that for sauteeing. I'm also impressed that you get your whites to set without a lid. I avoid frying eggs because 2 dishes (pan and lid) is one dish too many to me. 🙂
I don't. Not a fan of fried eggs. I either poach in pan or do in microwave (where I can separate out the yolks as needed.)
I love that you get such great looking fried eggs. (It almost makes me want to fry one! ) And how many uses you have for them.
Here's the way I've been doing my eggs recently. I usually do scrambled, since I have only about a 50% rate of breaking eggs without breaking the yolks. (This is just me being a klutz as usual; I've heard most of the suggestions.) I scramble them in a pan that I've used to saute $2.99/lb. salmon scraps from Wegmans, and add spinach or other greens to the eggs once they're in the pan, as a way of getting more vegetables into myself. On the occasions when I actually don't break the yolks, I do conventional over-easy.
The biggest issue people have with stainless steel pans is the cooking temperature. If you heat your pan to get the "Leidenfrost effect" it is too hot, and food will burn and stick. Kristen likes those crispy egg edges and doesn't attempt to move her eggs until they are set, but when the pan is too hot AND you try to move proteins too quickly they stick like glue. The key is to modulate the heat by preheating low and slow--the Leidenfrost is fun, but not required. Use the fat of your choice and put your protein in the pan and don't attempt to move it until it forms a sort of "skin" on the surface touching the pan, then you can move it without sticking. I can make thin, French style omelets in my stainless steel pan, but prefer cast iron for other egg dishes. The multi-clad pan like the one Kristen shows is pretty heavy. That spreads the heat evenly, but someone was saying it's hard to lift heavy pans, and a good SS pan weighs a lot, too.
Lodge cast iron pans tend to be very heavy--they work great, but they are thick and weigh a lot. We have a set of old, very inexpensive (purchased from KMart 50 years ago) cast iron pans made in Taiwan. They are much thinner and lighter than Lodge, and cook very well. You can find pans like this at thrift stores. I use my lodge or the Taiwan pans for most egg dishes.
The frugal part of cast iron, stainless steel, and carbon steel is that you buy the pans ONCE and they will still be usable by your grandchildren when they are adults and have grandchildren of their own. Once you learn to cook with them you will find they don't have to be babied (yes, you can use soap, no you don't have to constantly season them) and work so well.
I was sick and tired of constantly replacing non-stick pans every few years, and even worse was realizing the deteriorating non-stick coatings were being ingested by our family in microscopic amounts. They are finding microplastics in human blood, urine, and breastmilk, in our waterways and soil. We don't know for certain if that's truly harmful or not, but we do know that microplastics don't belong in any of those places.
You don't have to spend a lot for cast iron in particular and you have a pan that will work great and last forever.
Not a fan of eggs period but if for some reason I have to have them, scrambled or in an omelet.
I have invested in two Our Place brand pans. They are pricey but nontoxic. I have given my daughter in law 2 as gifts as well. I have a Lodge brand cast iron/ceramic dutch oven love it. I love doing scrambled eggs with onion and bell peppers 1 to 2 tablespoons of cheese!
Your eggs always look beautiful! I do min in a cast iron pan.
Cast iron is lovely for cooking, but the arthritis in my hands makes it too hard for me to pick up. I have a 1988 set of stainless steel copper-bottom Revereware that is lightweight but so good for cooking. Also splurged a few years ago and bought two pots in Revere's short-lived professional line that can go in the oven.
I a SO glad you use a stainless pan-- me too!
Before his television career ended because of accusations of sexual abuse, Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet, had a saying that I've followed ever since I first heard it. It was "hot pan, cold oil, food never sticks." I follow that whenever I use my Revere Ware pans.
I always wondered how you fried them to get those crispy edges. Yum!
crispy edges - a definite Yes
bacon grease - yes
sometimes I add garlic and 'Hatch' diced green chiles, the mild ones - yum