Fried eggs are a quick and delicious meal or snack at any time of day, but they can sometimes feel a bit of a chore, especially if they stick to the pan or you use too much oil or butter.
Fried eggs make for a speedy and tasty meal or snack at any hour of the day. What’s more, they’re reasonably priced and surprisingly healthy, delivering protein, fat and essential vitamins whilst remaining fairly low in calories.
However, they can occasionally feel like a bit of a hassle, particularly if they stick to the pan or, in attempting to prevent them from sticking, you end up using too much oil or butter. This can result in the oil or butter spitting and marking your clothing, as well as producing a final fried egg that’s overly oily or greasy. Many individuals also ruin their fried egg by attempting to turn it over to cook the upper side, reports the Express.
For some folk, cooking the egg in water provides the solution. Kaitlin, a chef and creator of Modern Vintage Cooking, explains she uses a dash of water to cook her eggs, calling it “kind of a cross between poaching and frying”.
Others recommend abandoning the frying pan entirely for a 60-second technique they claim is far easier. Tom Ferris, egg specialist from Roostys, a website for poultry care products, explains: “People are always surprised when I tell them you can make a fried-style egg in the microwave.”
Yet there’s an even more ingenious approach to cooking your eggs that maintains the frying pan but eliminates both the danger of sticking and the requirement to use oil, butter or water.
The solution? Baking paper. It might sound surprising but it’s a technique that numerous people champion. Leah Kate McDonnell, who runs the Leah’s Cookbook and Craft Ideas YouTube page, says: “If you don’t like cooking your eggs with oil, try some baking paper. This is a great hack. No oil needed and they won’t stick.”
Some even claim this technique enhances the egg’s flavour, with the yolk taste shining through more vividly and the white feeling airy and fresh.
How to fry an egg with baking paper
This approach really couldn’t be more straightforward.
1. Trim your baking paper to fit your frying pan’s shape and lay it inside.
2. Break your egg onto the paper over a medium heat, cover with a lid and prepare as usual to your preference.
You can still achieve crispy edges if the pan is properly preheated and you lift the pan lid briefly towards the end of the cooking time. Though take care the pan isn’t overly hot or your paper could catch fire. And once you’ve finished cooking, there’s no need to scrub charred egg from your pan or fret about any oil splashes on your clothing.
Why do eggs stick to the pan?
While a frying pan’s surface may appear sleek, it’s actually riddled with tiny fissures and grooves. When you introduce protein such as eggs or meat to a pan, it experiences a chemical change that fuses the food to the metal surface of the pan. It’s to stop this occurring that people incorporate fats like butter or oil into the pan.
