But you can do that with all sorts of eggs, including the basic sunny side up, can’t you? Or is the idea that the yolk better holds its shape when compromised? Still, for me, I think of soft boiled eggs for dunking.
Awwwww, this reminds me of my grandpa. He taught me how to baste an egg in bacon grease (no water, no lid). He showed me how to shovel/spoon/spatula the hot grease over the egg and let it run down the surface of the yolk to cook that morsel to perfection… culinary shamanism. Basted egg is my preferred way to go, but I’m surrounded by friends/family that only see this as a egg swimming in grease. That said, I generally only have these when I’m dining alone, but it’s all good!
And as the OP mentioned… no one in a restaurant knows what a “basted” egg is these days.
This is how my mother always cooked eggs when I was growing up. It was just the way she did it and I didn’t even know the cooking method had a name until I was a waitress in a restaurant and someone ordered basted eggs.
I can cook eggs this way but I have carefully cultivated a preference for scrambled eggs in my family because it’s easier to cook a pan of scrambled eggs than it is to do individual orders.
When I fry eggs, I use a lot of butter or margarine. They’re swimming in it. But I tend to flip the eggs. That way, I ensure that the yolk doesn’t get hard.
I have also used a lot of butter or margarine and covered the pan without flipping the eggs; but flipping achieves the same effect without dirtying a cover. If I do a good old-fashioned American breakfast fry-up (cook bacon, cook diced potatoes and onions in the grease, and add the bacon back) or make hash, I crack the eggs on top and cover them and cook until the whites are set and the yolks are nice and runny.
Since I got the food processor though, I haven’t made the fry-up. I make hashbrowns with quasi-basted eggs as described above, with bacon on the side.
What’s the difference (in, uh, eating experience) between a basted egg and an egg cooked over easy? I have an egg sandwich every morning, and I always cook it over easy since I shudder in horror at uncooked egg-whites but want the yolk still runny. What is a basted egg going to do for me that an egg over-easy can’t? 
In my opinion, nothing. For me, it’s a shortcut for getting over-easy style eggs without having to do the flip.
I was introduced to basted eggs by my first husband’s grandmother. I learned to make them from and for her, using bacon grease as described in the OP. I make them for myself occasionally.
My ex made a point of ordering eggs basted in places like IHOP and Denny’s where they weren’t on the menu and the cooks likely hadn’t heard of them. He did this to be a dick. He never asked me to make them at home, he preferred scrambled or omelets. His active pursuit of making people uncomfortable is one of the reasons we were only married for three years.
I was sent by my wife years ago to do some plumbing for a lesbian couple that were friends of hers. As my reward one of them cooked me some fried eggs on toast. They were the best fried eggs I had ever had so I asked her to show me how she cooked them and that was the trick. A really hot frying pan, tip it and baste the eggs with the oil so that the top is done perfectly without the bottom being overcooked.
I have done them that way ever since.
Oh, those clever lesbians and their egg tricks.
Americans have an obsession with bacon, and bacon grease these days but I consider it a bit of an occasional treat. I don’t want my eggs swimming in fat all the time, nor do I like spooning hot grease around, nor will I even attempt an “over easy” maneuver if I actually want to eat the egg. A non-stick pan and a sprinkle of water gives a nice clean egg and steams the slimy stuff quickly while leaving the yolk nice and warm and liquid, without burning the egg white or half the yolk by the time the runny stuff is cooked.
I never knew they had a name. My husband likes his eggs over easy, and I have a tendency to break the yolk, so I make basted eggs with water. He seems happy enough with them, and I don’t break the yolk. If we are out to eat, he orders over easy.
I didn’t know there was a name either, but that’s how I always fried my eggs. A little gratified that it’s a common enough cooking technique to have it’s own name.
I generally plate my eggs on top of toast, so that the bread soaks up all that yummy runny yolk and it’s just heaven
I’m American and haven’t ever heard the term “basted eggs” before. Spooning hot bacon grease over frying eggs is definitely part of the frying process. The rest is foreign to me.
that “cracked” me up
I too have never heard the term before and now will try. I love poached eggs with sauteed spinach and garlic…
My grandmother only made sunny-side up using oil basting. That was her favorite way of making them. I for one find it easier to do over easy for those who want runny eggs. (I’m not a big fan. Maybe a little bit of a gel occasionally, but not actually runny.) Only once do I remember breaking the yolk while flipping, and that was because I let the egg cook to long and it got stuck. I’ve never had them actually break from the flipping process itself. And I don’t always use a non-stick pan.
BTW, anyone try microwave poached eggs? It’s what I do when I need to boil an egg quickly. You put it in a coffee mug about 1/3 full of water. It takes around a minute, depending on the size of the egg. You use a fork to get the egg out.
I used to do that when I was into making my versions of Egg McMuffins. Perfect sized little darlings.
There’s an amazing number of delicious things you can nuke-cook in a coffee mug.
Interesting number of replies. I haven’t actually tried to order basted eggs in years if not decades. When I was a kid it was probably last on the list of suuny side up, over easy, scrambled, over hard and then finally basted but short order cooks and waitresses all knew it.
With spring coming our hens have started laying. Digging up this thread, I decided to give basted eggs a go. WOW!! Easier than poaching! Fresh eggs, basted, served with turkey sausage links from our local turkey farm. Marmite on the toast in honor of Mangetout.
(I found marmite locally recently. The trick is in not slathering it on like jam.)
ETA: toast compliments of a little Italian restaurant we like. We always take our leftover bread home with us for breakfast use.
Looks delicious, kayaker! And the marmite is the icing on the cake. Marmite, toast, and eggs with liquid yolks are just meant to go together.
What’s the hot sauce you’re using?
This AM I had poached eggs and sausage on english muffin with marmite, butter, 5 year old cheddar and chipotle sauce. Also onion. Next time maybe I’ll baste the eggs.
Just rooster sauce on the eggs. Maybe tomorrow I’ll pull out the stops and make poached eggs in a tomato/onion/okra casserole dish…
ETA…gotta get some good cheddar.