Making Great Eggs

Our farm-fresh eggs are quite delicious, but they taste even better when they’re cooked just right. Although lots of people eat eggs for breakfast every day, very few of us have success every time. It’s hard to get the yolk just right, or keep those scrambled eggs from getting dry. Here are a few tips for making eggs just like the short-order-cook at your favorite diner.

Scrambled Eggs:

First off, when you beat your eggs for scrambling, make sure you beat them enough. A few stirs won’t do the trick. Stir your eggs until they’re frothy and evenly colored. You want air to mix with the protein for fluffy eggs. Try to whisk in a tilted wheel motion in order to get more air into the mix. You can use just eggs, but Alton Brown adds 1 Tablespoon of milk per egg, and some salt. Next you want to heat a pan over medium-low heat and melt a pad of butter in it (sorry calorie-counters!). Once the butter is melted, add the eggs to the pan. You might even want to turn the heat down to low so the eggs don’t cook too fast. Let the eggs rest until they first start to set. Once this happens, use a nonstick spatula or wooden spoon to gently push the eggs toward the center, while tilting the skillet with your other hand to keep the runny parts touching the heat. Keep gently stirring until you reach your desired type of scrambled, soft or hard.

Sunny Side Up Eggs

We’ve been told the key to this is using low heat. If the pan is too hot, the white will cook before the yolk has a chance to set. Put your pan on low or medium low and add butter. Once the butter melts, crack the egg into the pan and cook until the white and yolk reach your desired consistency. To ensure the yolk gets cooked, you can also start with a higher heat, medium or medium hot and cook the egg for 1 minute covered, then remove it from the heat and allow it to sit for 3 to 5 minutes until the white around the yolk turns opaque. True chefs don’t consider this a sunny side up egg because it’s been cooked covered, but its an easy way to make sure the yolk is cooked.

Over Easy

For this one we’ll defer to The Incredible Edible Egg. The egg experts here use a high-low method. They also provide suggestions for over medium and over hard.

Also try the steam-basted method at the bottom of the Incredible Edible Egg Page. The finished product will be similar to sunny side up eggs, but with a slightly more cooked yolk.

Poaching

For the perfect poached egg, try the great Martha Stewart’s technique. She knows her stuff. Enough said.

* Chef’s tip: If your whites are spreading out when you add your eggs to the pan, add about 1 tsp. of vinegar. It will help to pull the whites together.

For Kids

Martha’s also got a great recipe for Scrambled Egg in the Hole. Lots of people save and toast the cutout of the bread that Martha says to discard and toast it, then serve it on top of the egg in the center of the bread. We’ve seen this served to kids as “top hats” or “toads in the hole.” Either way, it’s a fun way to serve toast with a surprise in the center.