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The perfect runny fried eggs
Posted by Dawn
The perfect runny fried eggs November 12, 2016 11:56PM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 5,699 |
I'm a bit of a 'hit and miss Nanny' when I try to make the perfect fried eggs for our Grandsons for their 'Nanny's treat' breakfast - bacon and eggs on toast! They like their eggs runny and Nanny (me) doesn't and is not used to cooking runny eggs, so nine times out of ten Nanny's eggs end up non-runny much to the dismay of the Grandsons! The harder Nanny nervously tries not to produce firmly cooked eggs, the firmer they are. Much of this is attributable to speed and trying to produce breakfast in a hurry knowing the Grandies are waiting and wanting - hence the bottom of the egg cooks nice and crispy and the top still has raw white and is not acceptable to the young ones, and when I put the lid on to cause some steam to cook the white, I find by the time the white cooks 'white', there's very little or no runniness in the yolk.
Last weekend I came up with a trick: when the bottom of the eggs got crispy, I tossed into the frying pan a teaspoon of cold water, put the lid on, and caused a brilliant steam up - the raw whites immediately glossed over to white, and the yolks were still runny................perfect bacon and runny eggs were served to hungry young mouths. Happy Grandies/Happy Nanny! I'm so ashamed it's taken a life time of cooking to finally achieve a simple but desirable result!!
Grampa also likes his fried eggs runny, but my solution for him is to cook his own - which he does very ungrudgingly. Anyone been in the same boat as me?
Regards,
Dawn.
Last weekend I came up with a trick: when the bottom of the eggs got crispy, I tossed into the frying pan a teaspoon of cold water, put the lid on, and caused a brilliant steam up - the raw whites immediately glossed over to white, and the yolks were still runny................perfect bacon and runny eggs were served to hungry young mouths. Happy Grandies/Happy Nanny! I'm so ashamed it's taken a life time of cooking to finally achieve a simple but desirable result!!
Grampa also likes his fried eggs runny, but my solution for him is to cook his own - which he does very ungrudgingly. Anyone been in the same boat as me?
Regards,
Dawn.
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 13, 2016 12:29AM |
Registered: 12 years ago Posts: 3,422 |
After much time (and fat) wasted over the years from carefully basting fried eggs to cook the top, I now cook fried eggs "over easy", which means flipping them over in the pan just before serving so that the top gets just a few seconds on the heat. Serve them the original way up. They don't look at pretty as basted eggs but it is a much quicker way to produce perfectly runny eggs with an opaque top.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2016 12:30AM by TPANDAV.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2016 12:30AM by TPANDAV.
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 13, 2016 01:41AM |
Registered: 9 years ago Posts: 622 |
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 13, 2016 02:32AM |
Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 3,660 |
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 13, 2016 02:33AM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 5,699 |
Thank you both for your suggestions TPANDAV and Marylew. I should also have mentioned that flipping the eggs is very much hit and miss too! The initial flip goes OK, but it's not very often that I can get them from their flipped side and onto the plate sunny-side-up without ending up with a thin stream of yolk from frying pan to plate. I guess it's just one of those things I'm not good at and it doesn't seem to make any difference whether I use a metal or non-metal spatula.I think I need to stick with my cold water and steam trick for the Grandies! However, I can and do manage the flip trick beautifully for my own non-runny eggs.
TPANDAV, like you I used to try basting eggs with the bacon fat, but gave up on that too because there never was enough fat to get a decent result.
Regards,
Dawn.
TPANDAV, like you I used to try basting eggs with the bacon fat, but gave up on that too because there never was enough fat to get a decent result.
Regards,
Dawn.
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 13, 2016 02:38AM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 5,699 |
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 13, 2016 02:45AM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 5,388 |
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 13, 2016 07:01AM |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 21 |
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 13, 2016 10:10AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 2,228 |
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 13, 2016 10:20AM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 5,699 |
Thanks Irene and lizrick I hope you both have great success although I've found (as I thought) I'm not the first to do this lizrick, because I've since looked on the w.w.w. and found there are others that suggest this method (as I knew there would be), and, to be honest, it's quite an obvious one - it just took a long time for the penny to drop for me and I've only done it once so who knows I may very well botch it up next time!! I don't think cooking runny yolks and me agree to well! However, if it makes life easier for anyone else - then I say go for it!
Regards,
Dawn.
Regards,
Dawn.
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 13, 2016 10:51AM |
Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 2,935 |
I have to try the water/steam/lid idea out.
It's not so much the runny vs firmer egg yolk but I get so squeamish if a portion of the albumen is still in it's gelatinous state.
Cooking the perfect egg can be rather challenging when one size definitely does not fit all.
Thanks for sharing that tip, Dawn.
It's not so much the runny vs firmer egg yolk but I get so squeamish if a portion of the albumen is still in it's gelatinous state.
Cooking the perfect egg can be rather challenging when one size definitely does not fit all.
Thanks for sharing that tip, Dawn.
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 14, 2016 02:26AM |
Admin Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 7,920 |
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 14, 2016 03:43AM |
Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 1,979 |
Heat the pan to medium, add the eggs, put the lid on.. leave for 1-2 minutes then remove from the heat to finish cooking. I find this doesn't overcook the bottom or yolk, while still setting the top. Most of the time I'm doing too many things at once and end up taking the lid off a bit early and flipping them over for a moment just to ensure set white.
People talk about eggs like they're a super easy thing to cook - but getting it right, and everyone has a different version of "right" can be quite tricky.
I'm glad you found a method that works for you and your grandchildren, Dawn
People talk about eggs like they're a super easy thing to cook - but getting it right, and everyone has a different version of "right" can be quite tricky.
I'm glad you found a method that works for you and your grandchildren, Dawn
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 14, 2016 11:31PM |
Admin Registered: 10 years ago Posts: 1,131 |
I like my eggs runny too, but I would always opt for Poached eggs. I find its a bit hit and miss dependant on the age of the eggs - not that I really know their age. But I now make sure I buy eggs and wait a week before I use them. Its seems to do the trick and rather than spread out in the pan, they seem to hold their shape!
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 15, 2016 01:07AM |
Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 1,332 |
We are all keen and competent cooks and eggs can cause the most stress!!
I struggle with boiled too (like a firm white and runny yolk) and my poached eggs are unreliable.
I will tolerate a cooked yolk but cannot eat an uncooked white.
I am not keen on raw egg full stop - I am okay with the flavour disguised but find egg nogs etc almost impossible to stomach.
I struggle with boiled too (like a firm white and runny yolk) and my poached eggs are unreliable.
I will tolerate a cooked yolk but cannot eat an uncooked white.
I am not keen on raw egg full stop - I am okay with the flavour disguised but find egg nogs etc almost impossible to stomach.
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 15, 2016 01:27AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 2,228 |
Keen to know why you keep your eggs for poaching Ingrid. I make mine with the freshest eggs I can find, if the eggs are getting a bit old then I would scramble or make an omlette. As eggs get older the albumen (white) protein gets watery and less inclined to cling to the yolk, so you get the yolks popping out of the whites when poaching (if that happens here my dogs get them!), so keeping them a week before poaching makes no sense to me.
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 15, 2016 02:20AM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 5,699 |
I tend to agree with Griz. If you crack a really fresh egg into a saucer or plate you can see how firm the white (albumen) is and it sits up around the yolk whereas if you crack an 'older' egg into a saucer the white part is flatter and more spread out around the yolk. So as I understood it, for easier handling, when you can it's better to use the freshest eggs to fry or poach. Ha, it's a bit like us humans - when we're young we are well formed or proportioned, then as we age changes occur which result in differences to our function and appearance, well, speaking for myself that is!
Does anyone know the length of time from when commercially produced eggs are packed into their carton to their use-by date? Could it be something like 2 or 3 weeks? Working back from their use-by date we would then know how old the eggs are.
Regards,
Dawn.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2016 03:11AM by Dawn.
Does anyone know the length of time from when commercially produced eggs are packed into their carton to their use-by date? Could it be something like 2 or 3 weeks? Working back from their use-by date we would then know how old the eggs are.
Regards,
Dawn.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2016 03:11AM by Dawn.
Re: The perfect runny fried eggs November 15, 2016 06:04AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 2,228 |
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