Robert Irvine's Pro-Tip For The Perfect Fried Egg Every Time

Despite the dish's simplicity, fried eggs are difficult to perfect. There are many mistakes you might make when frying eggs, but we have a major pro-tip that can help you get it right.

In a Food Network post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Chef Robert Irvine demonstrates his technique for frying an egg properly. He starts by heating grapeseed oil in a small, non-stick pan. He strongly notes that "eggs cannot be cold," so you should allow them to sit out for a few minutes to bring them closer to room temperature so that all parts of the egg cook evenly.

In the video demonstration, Irvine cracks the egg and drops it into hot oil, noting how the white immediately begins to set up. He then removes the pan from the heat because it was getting too hot, which he could tell by how the outside of the egg yolk changed color. Finally, he carefully spoons the hot oil over the yolk to cook it, rather than flipping it in the pan, and he doesn't add salt and pepper to his fried egg until he plates it.

Robert Irvine isn't the only celebrity chef who has provided tips on how to fry the perfect egg. In a YouTube video posted by American Masters PBS, you can watch Chef Jacques Pépin frying two eggs. The first pro-tip he provides is to crack the egg on a flat surface. He explains that a pointed surface, like the edge of a bowl, will push some of the shell inside, potentially breaking the yolk and introducing bacteria. His second tip is to fry the egg at a low temperature so that the white remains tender and has no crustiness around the edges. Thirdly, Pépin recommends an extra step: putting the lid on the pan to glaze the egg's surface. He puts 1 teaspoon of water around the outer edges sometimes to create steam in the pan to get the right glaze, which takes about two minutes.

Chef Michael D. Symon provides a similar demonstration in a Food Network Kitchen video on Facebook. He recommends putting the egg in a small bowl first if you have trouble keeping the yolk intact when dropping it into the hot pan. Also, he notes that you want the butter to be bubbling slightly, not frothing, when you put the egg into the pan.

The fat you use to fry your eggs can make all of the difference. Many chefs like to use butter, including Chef Andrew Zimmern, as seen in an Instagram video on his account. As he begins to sear two fried eggs in a cast iron skillet to make them crispy around the edges, he notes that you can use bacon fat instead of butter. Zimmern also cautions against moving your eggs around because it only risks the yolks breaking.

Another thing to keep in mind is the type of oil to avoid when frying eggs. Don't use oil that has been infused or flavored, because it will overpower the eggs' natural taste. Plain olive oil (not extra-virgin) will work nicely if you don't have grapeseed oil like Chef Irvine. Because of its high smoke point, olive oil holds well while frying eggs and won't break down or produce smoke that changes the flavor.

Rather than just changing the fat, consider frying your eggs with pickle juice, which will impart a tangy kick on behalf of the brine. If you want to step even further outside the box, try an unexpected sauce for frying eggs and cook them in barbecue sauce, which caramelizes and thickens in the pan and gives the egg sweet, tangy notes and crispy edges.