Never heard of adding water to frying eggs.

I'm a little puzzled by that, too.

I use a non stick pan and butter- enough to coat the pan and bubble before adding the eggs. I let the butter get very hot but not brown. Add the eggs, don't cover and don't add water, and use two plastic spatulas to flip. If doing more than two, my typical amount of fried eggs, then I would loosen the bottoms, place a plate on top and flip over the pan and slide everything back in.
And the term flipping is rather broad, I actually do more of a very gentle flop than a lift and flip.
Fried eggs are tricky, my Dad likes them ( dippy eggs) and if I don't pay careful attention, I will break them. Heck, I might as easily break them while cracking!
I use the plate technique all the time for omelets, chunky quesdillas, etc.
I hope you find something that works well for you!

I use a non-stick skillet, spray with Pam before heating, turn stove on to medium, break eggs and cook slowly. No problem with sticking or breaking.

I don't like any brown crispy edges on my fried eggs. I fry at a lower temperature than most and once everything is pretty well set, I also add a bit of water (one or two tablespoons) to the pan and put the lid on. It only takes a few seconds for the egg to develop a "cataract", LOL. Just enough to not be called sunny-side up and not enough to be called over-easy. And I didn't have to flip it.

I also fry my eggs and add a tiny bit of water and cover until the yolk is partially cooked. Mostly they come out of the pan fine but sometimes they break no matter what I do. I use a non stick pan and a little butter as well. I don't think there is anything you can do other than what you are already doing.
Joann

What Pink is describing is called a basted egg. You add a tiny bit of water and cover it immediately. It comes out like an over easy egg . White done, yolk still runny and no flipping involved.

Pink - try lower heat - slower cooking. Once the white is almost firmed up add the water and cover - with a glass lid if you have one. That way you can watch the yolk so it does not get over done.

I love basted and soft boiled eggs!

This post was edited by teresa_mn on Thu, Feb 28, 13 at 18:47

I also do a low, slow, basted egg because I don't like any brown on my eggs and I don't want them flipped. I use a non-stick pan and just a swipe of Pam because I find this helps them not to brown at all. I really, really don't like brown on any kind of eggs. I can even smell when someone else cooks eggs and browns them.
Jane

Funny, the only way I like eggs is browned and crispy !

Eggs are best when fried in the bacon grease. ;-)

Basted egg, huh? Never have made them, I guess I always think fry is fry.

Sushipup, you can make basted eggs with bacon fat. In fact until this thread I'd never heard the term basted used for a steamed egg.

To make a "basted" egg, you heat the butter or bacon fat, crack in the egg and then gently spoon the butter or bacon fat over the egg until it is "basted".

Ann

Ann's description is what I understand as basted eggs -- the eggs are basted with the fat they are being cooked in. That's what you often see on cooking shows. Someone pan fries a piece of fish or whatever. They tilt the pan so the fat settles in a pool on one side and then spoon the hot fat over the top of the item being cooked. Adding a bit of water and covering the egg would be steaming. However, basting eggs with hot fat lightly cooks the top of an egg without the need to flip. You get the best of fried eggs (the flavor of butter) and the best of over easy eggs (cooked top of egg) but avoid the pitfalls of flipping or undercooked whites.

Ann T, that's what we always called a basted egg too, an egg cooked in enough fat to spoon over the top, the hot fat cooks the egg without flipping it. An egg cooked in a skillet with a bit of water is something I also call a steamed egg.

PWM, I had a couple of dozen eggs that I broke every single yolk on. Some broke as I was breaking the egg into the pan, before I ever touched it with a spatula. I don't know why, maybe they were a bit more stale (they were store bought eggs, not farm eggs) or perhaps there was a nutrition problem, but I couldn't cook an egg without breaking the yolk. Elery had the same problem. Lately, though, they've been fine. So, unless this is a long standing and ongoing problem, it could be the eggs.

If not, here is the "method" is use. I have a very well seasoned cast iron skillet, it's got nearly 40 years of seasoning. I don't want a lot of fat, so I brush it with a bit of fat, I like bacon grease best. Let the pan heat up enough to melt the fat, then crack the egg in. I try to move it around a bit with the spatula to make sure it doesn't stick. You can see that there's not a lot of fat in the pan:

When the whites have set and are nearly done, then I flip the egg carefully and turn off the heat. The hot pan will cook the egg with residual heat. I leave the egg in the pan for another 30 seconds, maybe, and it looks like this:

As you can see, it's set, the white is not slimy, it's slightly browned in this picture, but they aren't always, and they are never crunchy. Not that I care, I like them that way too.

Nothing sticks, this is my pan afterward:

Oh, and it's easier to gently flip an egg if your pan isn't too deep, shallow sides make it easier for me to maneuver the egg. No matter what pan, I can't flip eggs in the pan without a spatula, I've gone though dozens of eggs trying. I have made a heckuva mess, though!

If your pan isn't well seasoned, it might be easier to use a non-stick, I know people who keep a single nonstick pan just for eggs. I think the trick is to not let them stick in the first place

Steamed or basted eggs are both good too, though...

Annie

Annie and Ann are right I guess, but with an eye to heart health, we do the basted egg with water. Steamed doesn't sound as good but we like them this way!
Jane

Ann, yes, I've done that with the butter or fat, but the use of water just threw me for a loop. I didn't think that I was basting! doh!

edited for clarity

This post was edited by sushipup on Fri, Mar 1, 13 at 0:06

Yep, a little water thrown in the pan to steam the tops of the eggs is an age-old method of cooking eggs, especially when you want them cooked hard or semi-hard. I really enjoy an egg cooked hard but like a well-done steak, it's difficult to do properly. Some just thing you cook it until it's a hockey puck with skin on the bottom. Properly cooked, the yolk is so fluffy and tender, it's really a treat especially with a very fresh egg.

I know of only two restaurants that can reasonably consistently make a basted hard egg and only one that is spot on 95% of the time or better. I like eggs many different ways but when I want to truly enjoy an egg, I like it hard.

The other problem I have is with people who think "scrambled" means crack the egg in the pan and stir it around a little bit. Nope, that's not scrambled. Jumbled, maybe, stirred, yes, but scrambled, no.

Sounds like you're looking for over easy or over medium or a soft basted or steamed egg. I always start with bacon fat if possible, otherwise butter. Medium heat, if I'm going to steam them, I crank the heat a bit, toss in the water and cover it, then turn off the heat and if an electric stove, remove it from the burner. Doesn't take more than a few seconds of steaming to set the tops. Otherwise flip the eggs. The secret to turning eggs is first, remember to not drop them from 2' in the air; and secondly, you're gonna bust a yolk now and then, acknowledge it. Practice a while. The more you do the more proficient you'll become. You can keep the broken ones and add them into a salad or casserole if you have your heart set on soft yolks.

not a problem for me as I like a hard yolk so I cook them "over, broken"...I purposely break the yolk from the get go.

One important key to not breaking the yolks is, when using a spatula, make sure it is completely under the yolk and the yolk is fully supported...if half on/half off it will break for sure.

I like my eggs over easy and my FIL likes sunny side up. FIL lives with my SIL and I take care of him once or twice weekly and I use their nice curved wall non-stick pan to do his eggs perfectly every time as they simply slide out of the pan onto the plate. While I have a couple of non stick Calaphalon pans; I like to improve my cast iron skills. I sometimes find that without a little extra grease that the flipped eggs might stick and break on removal. Today, I covered the bottom of pan with bacon grease (draining the excess) and found the eggs completely free to flip, and before doing so, slid them completely around the pan to maintain grease throughout the surface. I have a regular size spatula so a pair of extra large eggs cannot be supported but they held together as each was equally one half supported during the flip. After cooking, the edges remained completely free but the yolks were slightly anchored, but slight movement of whole egg mass released the eggs. I transferred them to the plate by inverting the pan.

Annie, my cast iron pan is not as well seasoned as yours but I was so pleased that upon completion, my pan looked just like yours and my plate looked like yours as well--except for the missing pork chop.

I will admit. I can't cook an egg to save my life. Eggs are my bane to cook. Maybe because I can't eat them anyways so never really learned the proper way.

My family loves eggs and every person wants them cooked differently. I have to "try" and cook them often. I can scramble a mean egg but sunny side up, over easy forget it, I end up with some type of egg mash. I have cast iron skillets, Analon non stick, stainless steel you name it.

I have actually at one point got so frustrated with them that I threw a temper tantrum in the middle of the kitchen took the rest of the dozen eggs and smashed each one on the floor. Stupid on my part because smashed egg is not fun to clean up but I felt better and had the excuse not to make eggs as we didn't have any left.

LOL, aprile. I stopped having temper tantrums when I realized that I had to clean up my own mess and pay for anything I broke!

Annie

LOL @ Aprile. Have done the same thing, but I smashed them in the sink and crammed them down the garbage disposal! LOL

Haven't thought of basted eggs in forever. They were real popular at a diner I worked out years ago.

This thread has me craving a fried egg sandwich for lunch. LOL

I found that since I switched to buying the freshest farm eggs I could get that it almost eliminates the yolks breaking. The older they are the less firm the white holding the yolk together gets and allows it to break more easily. Also, the thinnest firm spatula I can find (small works best for me) helps. I have a very small silicone covered one that works great to get under the edge and the egg doesn't stick to it. It's small enough to easily fit between the edge of the egg and the edge of the pan.

I have a non-stick pan that I purchased just for cooking eggs. I have used it for almost 2 1/2 years, nearly every day, and I can still cook an omelet and flip it without tearing, or a fried egg without it breaking without using any oil, grease, butter or Pam. Just crack the egg into the room temperature pan, turn on the heat and cook it.

My dear grandmother always fixed me eggs with the white runny, and I've never forgotten it! Whether it's termed fried, steamed or basted matters not to me as long as the white is firm and the yoke soft. Surely with all these great responses I will be able to conquer the problem. Many thanks to all.

I use a non-stick pan, too. I got a new one, and the big problem now is that it's so non-stick, the yolk separates from the white if I'm not careful. But otherwise, the egg I allow myself to eat every week comes out just right.

I also got a super-thin spatula, and it really helps keep the egg together and keeps the yolk from breaking.

Here is a link that might be useful: super thin turner