There are two types of people in this world: those who like their yolks runny, and those who don’t. While we understand the preferences of the side of the latter, runny yolks are undeniably for us, which means we have had a lot of trial and error when it comes to cooking them. So, if you are part of “team over easy” too, we have a great tip for you today!

It’s no secret that cooking up that perfect sunny-side-up egg takes a very particular set of skills—i.e. steady hands and patience! Heck, even though we make them pretty much every single morning, we find that our eggs only turn out to be really good about half of the time.

Not breaking the yolk is the first battle, but ensuring that both the egg white and the egg yolk have the perfect texture is a whole different animal altogether. It’s rare that the white is fully cooked and firm and the yellow is rich and oozing with flavorful goodness.

view of broken egg yolk with fried eggsEdsel Little via Flickr

To avoid similar heartbreaking situations—and get stellar results every time—you need to think outside of the box— or rather, the shell.

Separate, Separate, Separate!

Now, we know that this new way of making perfect sunny-side-ups might make you feel a bit nervous, but the mouthwatering results will leave you hooked!

To get started, you will need to gather holding containers for your eggs—two for each. You will be separating the whites from the yolks, so it is best if you opt for one deep ramekin or plastic storage container and one shallow one. This will help keep your yolk, in particular, to hold its shape, and not spread.

person separates yolks from eggsKitchen Basics

Once all of your eggs are cracked and separated, heat up your frying pan of choice. For this step, it’s important that you add sufficient grease to the cooking surface because if you don’t, your effort will be all for naught!

Now that your frying pan is hot and ready to go, pour your first egg white directly onto the surface. We recommend cooking the white slowly—on a medium-low setting—until its color is ALMOST completely opaque.

Now, “almost” is the operative word in the above sentence, because if you wait too long, the white will be too slippery to have a yolk successfully stick to it. So, pay attention, and when you land on that moment, carefully transfer the egg yellow onto the middle of the white. Cook for a couple of minutes, depending on how firm you like the yolk and—voila—you’re all finished!

To master the 2-step egg frying technique for yourself, be sure to watch the full tutorial in the video below. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll never go back to rolling the dice with your old egg-cooking method!

We’d love to hear what all of you egg-lovers have to say about this genius frying technique. Have you tried this one before? If so, were you happy with the results? What is your favorite way to cook eggs?