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If you like your fried egg with the yolk fully cooked, then an over hard egg is for you. My husband’s favorite fried egg is one that is cooked over hard and I’ve learned everything you need to know about frying a perfect over hard egg.
The key to making certain the egg is fully cooked is piercing the yolk. This allows the yolk and the egg white to cook evenly.
My method includes:
- Cook the egg low and slow. Too high of a heat and the egg white will become crispy and overcooked before the yolk is cooked.
- Pierce the yolk. Don’t keep the yolk intact. It will take too long to cook.
- Flip twice. An over hard egg takes a bit longer to cook. Flipping the egg twice makes certain everything cooks through without burning one side of the egg.
Over Easy vs Over Hard
A fried egg is such a perfect and simple food, but knowing exactly how to fry an egg to your liking can sometimes be a bit tricky.
There are four main types of fried eggs; sunny side up, over easy, over medium and over hard. Everyone seems to have their favorite type of fried egg.
A sunny side up egg is an egg that isn't flipped. It's only cooked from the bottom side up. The top looks like a beautiful little sun that's facing upward!
Over easy is my favorite way to eat fried eggs! They are cooked first on one side, then flipped, cooked lightly, and flipped back again. The egg white is fully cooked, but the yolk is nice and runny.
Over medium is cooked much the same way as over easy eggs, but they are cooked a bit longer. The yolk is mostly cooked through but is still a bit runny in the center.
Over hard eggs means there is no runny yolk. You can still have a bit of just slightly undercooked firm yolk or you can make certain every bit of the yolk is fully cooked through.
The yolk in an over hard egg is usually broken to make certain the yolk is cooked through.
Fried eggs are perfect served with crispy oven roasted country potatoes!
Ingredients
Fresh eggs are the best eggs to use for fried eggs. The egg is taking center stage here, so the better the egg, the better the fried egg!
I use my farm fresh eggs from my chickens. Purchased eggs are fine too, just try to find the freshest ones possible.
How to Make Over Hard Eggs
- Heat a pan over low heat
- When pan is warm, add a ½ tablespoon of butter. Allow butter to melt and get bubbly.
- Crack egg into pan over melted butter
- Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper
- Cook over low heat until most of the white has set
- Carefully flip egg over and cook for 1-2 minutes
- Flatten egg down with the spatula so the yolk breaks. You could also puncture the yolk with the corner of the spatula.
- Flip egg back to original side up and press down again on the yolk and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes more or until yolk is fully cooked to your liking
- Remove egg from pan and place on plate
Over Hard Egg Recipe Tips
- Heat pan over low heat. This creates a more even heat in the pan.
- Use butter or olive oil or rendered bacon grease.
- Cook over low heat. If the heat is too high, the white of the egg will overcook before the yolk has a chance to cook.
- Be certain to pierce the yolk so it fully cooks. You can pierce the yolk at any time during the cooking process.
- If you pierce as soon as you add the egg, the yolk tends to run into the pan and oozes over the sides of the egg.
- If you pierce after the first flip, the yolk tends to stay more in place.
- Use a thin spatula to slide under the egg.
- The yolk can be cooked until it's not runny or until it's fully cooked all the way through.
- Cook just one or two eggs at a time. Don't overcrowd the pan.
- Wipe out pan between each batch of eggs if cooking multiple batches.
More delicious breakfast recipes
- Oatmeal banana muffins
- Blueberry banana muffins
- Cinnamon french toast
- Overnight oats
- Fruit and veggie smoothie
- Ham and cheese strata
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Be certain to check out all my delicious breakfast recipes!
Over Hard Fried Egg
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon butter
- 1 egg
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Heat a pan over low heat
- When pan is warm, add a ½ tablespoon of butter. Allow butter to melt and get bubbly.½ tablespoon butter
- Crack egg into pan over melted butter1 egg
- Sprinkle with a bit of salt and peppersalt, pepper
- Cook over low heat until most of the white has set
- Carefully flip egg over and cook for 1-2 minutes
- Flatten egg down with the spatula so the yolk breaks. You could also puncture the yolk with the corner of the spatula.
- Flip egg back to original side up and press down again on the yolk and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes more or until yolk is fully cooked to your liking
- Remove egg from pan and place on plate
Notes
- Heat pan over low heat. This creates a more even heat in the pan.
- Use butter or olive oil or rendered bacon grease
- Cook over low heat. If the heat is too high, the white of the egg will overcook before the yolk has a chance to cook.
- Be certain to pierce the yolk so it fully cooks. You can pierce the yolk at any time during the cooking process.
- If you pierce as soon as you add the egg, the yolk tends to run into the pan and expands over the sides of the egg.
- If you pierce after the first flip, the yolk tends to stay more in place.
- Use a thin spatula to slide under the egg
- The yolk can be cooked until it's not runny or until it's fully cooked all the way through
- Cook just one or two eggs at a time. Don't overcrowd the pan.
- Wipe out pan between each batch of eggs if cooking multiple batches
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
David @ Spiced says
You hit the nail on the head with egg sandwich! I love (!) egg sandwiches for a quick and easy lunch, and I often toss in some shredded cheese. This guide is perfect!
Kathy says
You just can't go wrong with an egg sandwich!