How to Fry a Perfect Egg (Without it Sticking)

So me? I suck at eggs. Most of them, no matter what the initial intention was, end up being scrambled.

As a server, if I’m lucky, I get to watch people who make delicious things all day long. And sometimes they teach me a trick or two. I asked a chef how to cook an egg on a stainless steel pan without it sticking.

So he told me.

And it worked.

And now I’m sharing it with you.

What You Need:

However many eggs you want (Mark likes two), salt, pepper, butter, pan.

First things first: do you use a gas stove or electric? For gas, just set the pan on and turn it on low. If you use electric, get the burner to just under medium and then put the pan on.

The reason for that is because you want to melt the butter, but not get it super hot. The electric stove will heat the pan up with the stove, which will make the butter hotter than it should be, or if you put it on at the right time before the stove reached the right temperature, the egg won’t cook fast enough. Cool? Cool.

The melted butter should look like this:

All over the pan, not bubbling, only just having melted. If the butter starts bubbling, it’s too hot, and when you put the egg on it’s going to slide underneath the butter and stick. When you put it on as the butter has just melted, the egg will float on top, and voila! No sticking.

Add the egg.

When it’s cooked a little bit, add salt and pepper.

Now. This is where it comes down to preference. Mark likes his eggs pretty runny, so I just cover the pan with a lid for about a minute, turn the heat down, and when it’s cooked the way he wants it, slide it off. You can also flip it (requires skills I can’t say I have.) The butter that was there will still keep it from sticking as long as it doesn’t hit the pan super hard.

Plate it (egg sandwich for us). It fell apart because the bread wasn’t totally underneath it buuuut slid right of the pan.

And one of the best parts is there is no scrubbing involved afterward!

Would it impress Gordon Ramsey? Probably not. But it will impress your friends (and your taste buds).

P.S. This should work with basically any oil, too, just follow the same principle of not letting it get too hot first.