Oil or Butter for Fried Eggs?

Sunny side up or over easy isn't the only important decision hounds make when frying eggs. Which fat the eggs are fried in affects both taste and texture.

Many go traditional and fry eggs in butter. srsone allows the butter to brown first, for extra flavor. Using clarified butter gives concentrated butter flavor with a higher smoke point than whole butter, notes rjbh20. rabaja uses a combination of butter and oil. "I heat the oil, then swirl in a nob of butter before sliding in the egg," she says. "Something about the oil gives you the nice crispy, lacy edges and the smidge of butter adds aroma and flavor."

"I started using olive oil when I went to a Greek diner and they were like my mom made, with some crunch on the edges and I could tell it was olive oil," says Floridagirl. Frying eggs in oil "is especially nice with some minced herbs tossed in the oil," says eight_inch_pestle.

For lots of hounds, the ultimate fried eggs are cooked in bacon fat, duck fat, or goose fat for wonderful flavor. lynnlato loves eggs fried in bacon fat. "And spooning the rendered fat over the yolk until it gets a little hazy creates the most amazing dippy egg ever," she notes.

Discuss: Fried Eggs – Oil or Butter?