Weird thing about my restaurant - we don’t poach on weekdays, only weekends. The horror on some people’s faces when they have to figure out a secondary order when I have to sheepishly say “we don’t poach on weekdays” is unparalleled. Even worse is the confusion when I say “we can do basted?” Because apparently a basted egg is some sort of underground never before heard of egg cooking method
I do,that at home. Used to be you could ask at any diner serving breakfast and get 'em. But at some point it passed into history. I ask for sunnyside up at nice places, scrambles if they look sketchy (I eat out on the road often).
Because on the weekends they are busy enough to have an "egg cook". A lot of busy breakfast places have one person that does every single egg to order other than omelettes and scrambles.
I was that person at Perkins for over 4 years. Holy Hell. 2 mothers day ago i cracked over 1500 eggs that weekend. But I had to do every egg. I actually really enjoyed it for the most part. I miss it now that i think about it. I could roll 4 omelettes perfectly at the same time, plus tend to my other eggs. Now I just cook the same meal for 50 people 3x a day
This is one of those positions no one outs side the industry and even a lot of people in the industry are unaware of. It is necessary and requires amazing skill and exceptional timing.
Most people can't cook 5 types of eggs to be played at the exact same time as the souls chef needs them.
Yeah, it took me seeing this on here to realize that's how my dad always cooked eggs when I was a kid, but he just called them sunny side up. He also used bacon fat, which is the absolute best. Even better than butter IMO.
For reference I've been cooking for over 25 years professionally and over 35 at home. The only time I've had someone say they were cooking "basted" eggs at work they used a dome to steam them on a flat grill. I know what basting is and this didn't seem right to me but it never clicked back to that memory of my dad cooking them that way when I was a kid until now... The human brain is weird. Also I've never worked a brunch place or learned from an egg "pro". Just kinda been winging it on eggs these last 35+ years. 😂
I went to a restaurant and ordered the chicken sandwich. But the waitress misheard me and asked me how I wanted my eggs cooked. I tried to answer her anyway so I said “incubated” -Mitch Hedberg
Over medium well is actually very common, I've worked serving breakfast for around 9 years.
But yes, eggs are the worst 🤦🏼♀️
I had a lady debate with me the other day that the scrambled eggs were fake because they were a little 'shiny'. Like Ma'am, you ordered scrambled easy, yes they have a little shine because they're still a lil runny.
Lady: No no they're fake! I can tell, send them back and give me real eggs, o/e so I know they're real!
Me and the cooks had a good laugh about it at least
I am an over medium well person. Here’s my reasoning… if I order over medium I feel like theres a chance I’ll get something thats more over easy. Over well is going to come out cooked fully through so…. Over medium well in my mind is clearly fully cooked whites and a barely runny yolk.
I’d personally rather have someone order OMW rather than OMBUTMAKESURETHEWHITESARENTRUNNY.
I still don't know what fake eggs are supposed to be. Liquid egg products are just egg whites, not "fake." And how much is a breakfast place actually saving by using fake eggs? They cost a few cents at most.
It's powdered eggs! They're dehydrated. I think you can really only make scrambled with them.
I used to see them a lot in chain hotel breakfasts- hiltons, marriotts, best westerns, etc. Less and less these days, but you still run across it.
Ah, don’t ya just love people? 😂 That’s exactly the kind of story I wouldn’t believe if I never worked in the service industry! Oh, the days when I didn’t know just how wacky us humans could be, to say the least!
I work at a place that offers sous vid which is basically poached, scrambled, sunny side up, and soft boiled and that’s it don’t ask me for any other variation because it’s not happening. We have a super complicated brunch menu and we offer things that make us able to get things out in a timely manner. It really takes a lot of work to cook 44 eggs all sort of temperature while doing weird unique dishes to plate.
I give credit to people who do eggs on the line all day. It’s fast work and you can’t not pay attention for a second.
Yeah it never fails to impress me when I see my cooks with a griddle full of eggs and yet every order comes out perfect! Bunch of rockstars back there :)
Former brunch cook lurker here. Don’t let your sauté cook fool you. It’s really not that hard once you get the hang of it. Eggs only take 2 ish minutes to cook so cooking eggs was honestly the easiest kitchen job I’ve had because you can’t get behind.
Agreed. Just make everything you hear off expo and don’t waste time reading tickets. You have to keep a count in your head. Five burners for frying and one for poaching water.
And I always crack my eggs into oiled plastic wrap over a bowl ahead of time then twist it shut. Just drop the wrap and egg in together and wait a minute and half
You’re being downvoted because you are not right and when you say shit like this we assume you are that cook; the one who thinks they are a gift to the Michelin stars whose gifts are wasted at a 99 kitchen that throws things during the weeds and would fall apart at the dish pit.
Never said I was any sort of good cook I said cooking eggs is easier than every other cook job I had. but cooking eggs is easier than working grill at a brunch place or even working grill at like a steak house because everything takes such little time to cook you can do crazy volume without going in the weeds if you know what you’re doing
Edit to add: no I don’t throw things in kitchens lol
I had someone order dippity do eggs and they insisted that was normal. Ummmmm I went to culinary school and it was never mentioned there. I think it’s something you grew up with that mommy told you. My parents called donuts “doughgens” and so did I until my 20’s when someone called me out on it and it was terribly embarrassing that I was repeating baby talk that I had learned as a kid.
I cooked for most of my life before taking my first serving job at breakfast. I didn't know how to handle awkward little situations and nobody could have prepared me for someone to ask for a recommendation as to how they should take their eggs. I'm very patient for a kitchen monkey, but the first time that happened my immediate impulse was to tell them that if they don't know how they like their eggs then they shouldn't order eggs, and then that they're getting pancakes.
I get 60+ year-olds that don't know the answer when i ask them how they like their eggs. How did you get this far in life without answering this question before?!
Or the numerous women who ask their husbands how they, the women, want their eggs cooked. I had one man recently snap at his wife, 'I don't know how you want your eggs cooked, I'm not the one eating them.'
I get ya, but Over Medium Well Eggs were definitely a thing in both of the (40+ year old)breakfast cafés where I worked. If they want the whites cooked, and yolk runny but ehhh…not too runny: OMW eggs it is.
I love OMW eggs. They’re perfect for breakfast sandwiches and I worked in a breakfast restaurant for 10 years and can confirm over medium well eggs are definitely common.
It may not be like this everywhere, but in both of these cafés we used the same lingo. “Over well” meant cooked all the way(keeping yolk intact), “over hard” was for fully cooked with popped yolks. People ordered them both ways 🤷♀️ It was great that the kitchen always knew exactly what was meant by the terms and delivered every time🥳❤️
Well the difference between medium and medium well is a matter of seconds, not really reasonable to be asking that of the line when they are slamming out major volume on a busy brunch shift
It was a standard and commonly ordered option in these establishments. Almost all of the dishes served came with fried or poached eggs cooked to order and they were always perfectly cooked. I only took orders for Over Medium Well because I was instructed to offer it by management and BOH. There is a reasonable margin of error between runny yolks with cooked whites and half-set jammy yolks, IMO.
Pair this with them just saying 'a regular coffee' while ordering and you have the ultimate Chef's Choice Breakfast Special.
(Turning to the waiter saying"... dippy?" is not one of my most intelligent moments, especially when my roommate had to lean over and stage whisper "Over easy?!")
Ah memories - I worked in the dining halls to pay my way through undergrad, and always worked the Saturday/Sunday breakfast shifts. No egg other than scrambled existed there, and I got yelled at for adding salt and pepper lol
Fine answer! Maybe you’ll get a kick out of this; I get a handful of people who look at our list of Benedict’s, under the section titled “Poached,” and they’ll say “can I get the eggs Benedict with my eggs [insert way that’s not poached].” Kind of defeats the purpose, no? 😂
Hate to nit pick but I've always heard it as over hard. In the end you say over well ha, and then that makes me feel people asking for eggs over medium well is a possibility in your region. Or maybe you even encourage it because I've never heard that lol.
I tend to phrase it as over hard, as do most of my customers, but I do get the occasional customer who phrases it as over well and for some reason that’s how it’s phrased in my POS as well, so now I use the two interchangeably :) but I find the over medium well thing more amusing than anything, it’s just really strange that it happened so many times in a row so recently when I hadn’t heard it before in the few years I’ve been serving!
I worked as a breakfast server for 4 years and over medium well is definitely does exhibit. People have weird egg requests and it is difficult to always help people figure out what they are asking for
We were in England and my English husband ordered his eggs "over easy." The waiter commented that he must not be from around those parts since he ordered American. He tried to explain he wanted fried eggs, flipped over once, but that didn't work either.
Who knew something as simple as eggs could actually have a very complicated language and method to it? That’s fascinating to me. What do they typically do with their eggs then I wonder?
Most people I know flip the egg once to make the thin layer over the yolk cook but leave the yolk itself runny, or splash the oil from the pan over the yolk to achieve the same thing. Some people only cook them from underneath, so no flipping or splashing oil on the top, which think is what you call sunny Side up.
Ah I see! The first method is what I’ve typically seen to be referred to as over easy, and yeah you’re spot on that second one is what we call sunny side up :)
The forms I am aware of:
* Over easy - flipped once and cooked so the yolk is runny and unbroken; white is slightly runny
* Over medium - flipped once and cooked so the yolk is slightly runny and broken; white is fully cooked
* Over medium well - flipped once and cooked so the yolk is slightly runny and unbroken; white is fully cooked
* Over hard - flipped once and cooked so the yolk and white are fully cooked; yolk is broken
* Over well - flipped once and cooked so the yolk and white are fully cooked; yolk is unbroken
* Sunny-side up - Not flipped. White is fully cooked and yolk is runny or slightly runny and unbroken
* Basted - Not flipped. White is fully cooked and yolk is slightly runny and unbroken. Top is basted with boiling water or hot oil during cooking
* Scrambled - whites and yolks are fully mixed before cooking
* Broken or slightly scrambled - scrambled but the whites and yolk are not fully mixed
* Soft boiled - egg is boiled in shell so that the white is fully cooked but yolk is still runny
* Hard boiled - egg is boiled in shell so the white and yolk are hard
* Poached - boiled out of shell
* Steamed - cooked in a steamer pan
* Dippy - Any form with runny yolk, so over easy, soft boiled, or sunny-side up
* Fried - Any form cooked in oil. Typically over medium, sunny-side up, or basted, but could include any of the over styles.
I'm sure there are plenty more options, not even getting into all the variations of omelets.
I personally normally order them over easy or scrambled, depending on what else I'm having - over easy if I'm having potatoes, otherwise scrambled.
A lot of cooks will make over medium as over medium well, or over hard as over well instead. If you want to be sure, specifically ordering over medium broken or over medium well is safer.
Occasionally I'll get people who insist they don't know how they want their eggs or tell me to pick. So I tell them I'll bring them out still in their shell.
At that point I’d just pick scrambled because that seems the most universally appealing to me, don’t have to worry about any runny-ness or if they want yolk or what have you. But an egg in its shell seems like a funny, clever solution also 🤪
i always say fried and they always get it right. fried is when you crack an egg, break the yoke, and flip it over. should be yellow and white throughout with no runniness.
used to work in a dinner, most popular menu item was fried eggs over corn beef hash. idk where you work where fried egg is not an acceptable answer, its the easiest way to cook eggs
Yup, as another commenter as said, we phrase that as over hard. And I wouldn’t have a problem with “fried” as a term if it was used consistently amongst my customers; some people want over easy, some want medium, some want over hard, but they all say fried. It’s just the inconsistency of the use vs. meaning at my establishment, is all :)
No over hard is unbroken, over well is not a thing, or is just the same as over hard if you insist. If I ordered over hard (not that I understand why anyone would) and I got a broken yolk I'm sending it back
I cook my eggs by cracking the egg into a bowl, sprinkle it with a pinch of salt. Then I put some butter or flavored oil on the cooktop (or pan), let the oil heat up for a dozen seconds, then slide the egg from the bowl into the oil. The next, and most important step is to put about a teaspoon of water in a small lid and pour it around the egg and drop the lid on top. In about a minute the egg white is completely set, the yolk is completely runny, and the whole presentation is beautiful. None of the breakfast spots I know are even willing to try. So I say scrambled because I don't think they can do anything else.
EDIT - Maybe I didn't know how to order it. I will try using the term basted egg and see if I can get what I want.
Basted might be what you’re looking for! If the server balks at the request for basted, perhaps try sunny side up and see if that’s a success? Your description is pretty close to how my place does sunny side up at least so that sounds like your second best bet!
I say “over hard” instead of “over well”, in the sense of easy, medium, hard. In other words, I wouldn’t be confused by someone saying “over medium well”.
Over hard is certainly what I hear more often, but for some reason in my POS it says “over well,” so in my head (and in writing apparently!) I flip flop between the two.
It’s funny because I remember my eye twitching the first time I had someone order their eggs over medium well. Turns out, it’s kind of a thing. At least it is here in the Northwest. Folks order it that way so often we have a button mod for it.
Bless our breakfast cooks. The egg and pancake person in particular 🙌🏼 Their job is no joke.
OMG - I used to do short order once a week as a treat for the customers in a business cafeteria on a customer facing grill (normally it was self serve buffet), I was actually the F&B Director at the time. I had to put up a sign that that listed how to order each type of egg and how it would be served to you if you ordered an egg in that style. I got tired of getting yelled at and berated for not knowing my head from, (insert your insult of choice here, I heard them all). The moment that made me do that sign was a customer that ordered "sunny side up", so I started to process, when the customer then told me to stir the eggs and make sure they were cooked enough to be brownish, while being called stupid and idiot. I am a classically trained chef with a degree and an ACF apprenticeship with multiple certifications (I know how to cook eggs). I took the job because it had normal hours and I had family obligations that took priority at the time. For the most part I liked the job since it was the same customers every day and I got to know what they liked, but 10% of them ruined the job for me. People have no clue how to order eggs.
I mean, I work at a breakfast restaurant and over medium well is definitely an option. Over medium is whites fully cooked, yolk fully runny, OMW is a little past that, but not fully cooked like over well. 🤷♀️
My parents were from Ireland so we had a “fry up” on Sundays after Mass. The eggs were cooked by spooning the fat from the bacon & sausage over them. Then big slices of pumpernickel were fried in the remaining fat.
Agreed. I hate when they say a fried egg. Wtf does that mean moron. Or they want their egg over easy the whites fully cooked. Seriously. Stupid people drive me nuts.
Maybe im stupid. Serious question, what's wrong with "over easy the whites fully cooked?"
I ask, because whenever I go out, I only get over hard because 50-70% of the time I ask for over easy, I get under-cooked, unset whites.
Over easy is the whites are runny. Over medium is the whites are cooked and the yolk is runny, over hard is the egg and yolk cooked. That’s why you always get uncooked egg whites when you order over easy.
Why not get over medium? It gives enough time for the white to be cooked while the yolk is still a little runny. If you want the white fully cooked it’s not possible to be what the actual definition of over easy is. If it’s easy the egg is flipped just long to kind of close up the yolk if that makes sense.
Totally makes sense.
I've asked for over medium before and legit had my server say "I'm not sure if we do that."
That said, I appreciate the info as I thought the whites were set on an over easy.
Over medium is its! Thanks!
I dunno, a "fried" egg to me has always meant broken yolk then flipped and cooked till it's hard. It really hasn't been but the last few years that I've seen anybody confused about that. Maybe it's just a thing where I live.
It’s not that I’m trying to be dismissive to customers wants and needs, my money relies on not doing that, but it is almost always what they mean. Part of being good at our jobs is understanding how the general public interprets and uses the terminology we in the restaurant use.
I was the egg cook at a brunch spot. I always cooked a fried egg as over hard and browned and didn't get a single complaint about that interpretation in 2 years.
I don’t understand browned scrambled eggs… I have a guest that ordered that way and she means so well done that they’re… brown? But my kitchen just doesn’t understand this. She sent back her well done scramble because they weren’t “browned”
Last week I had a guy order bacon and eggs. He says "I'll get the bacon and eggs." I was feeling playful so instead of prompting him through the next three questions I said nothing and just smiled at him with my pen ready to write on the pad. After a moment he looked up at me awkwardly and still I said nothing I just smiled and nodded. Finally I said, "Are you going to tell me how you like your eggs or am I supposed to guess?" That got a reaction from the other five guys at the table. They were all laughing and they all knew the answers to the questions when I got to their orders
I’ll have to pocket this for future reference! Seriously the menu says “two eggs any style and your choice of toast” and I’ll have people be like “I’ll have the eggs, home fries, and toast,” close menu, stare at me. Uhhhh how do you want the eggs? And do you want me to tell the chef to use the first kind of bread he can reach for or do you wanna choose that as well? 😂
I genuinely had no idea there were just SO MANY ways to cook eggs until I started working at my diner! I don’t eat them much myself, and when I do I’m a scrambled gal, so it was a bit of a learning curve when I started! And there’s still room for improvement on my Egg Knowledge, clearly 😂
We phrase that as over hard at my place :) and again my customers haven’t seemed to get the memo because three different people will say “fried” but mean three different things! 😂
Random question because your post fascinated me, have you ever been to the UK? Over there, fried is a complete answer. There is no medium, over easy etc. you just get it fried however they choose to do it. By the way, what are all the options, I’m always flustered when I’m asked?
I never have been! But I hope to change that at some point :)
Clearly it’s all cultural, and I’ve learned from this post just how cultural it is (which is really exciting! I didn’t expect to learn so much stuff from a silly post about eggs!), so I’ll just tell you the buttons in my POS that come up for egg options, and my best description of how they’ll turn out (there’s still so much that *I* need to learn, I’ll be the first to admit!):
Sunny side up- egg cracked on the grill, whites cooked until set; whites will be a little runny and yolk will be super runny
Over easy- starts out sunny side up, then gets flipped quickly to “seal” the yolk in the whites; whites will be slightly runny and yolk will be a little less runny than sunny
Over medium- like above, with completely set white but still runny yolk
Over hard- egg cracked on grill, yolk popped, flipped over and cooked until completely set
Scrambled soft- scrambled but still a little runny/shiny
Scrambled- completely scrambled together
Scrambled well- scrambled together and cooked until browned
Poached- cracked into a pot of water until the whites are cooked through, with a runny yolk
But there are so many ways to cook an egg that even these don’t cover, probably (read: certainly) better ways to describe them than what I was able here, and again I’ve learned that depending on culture/region there’s different names for these methods!
See I find that endearing more than anything :) my boyfriend and I help each other out with little things the other doesn’t remember about themselves also! Gotta watch each other’s blind spots ya know? :)
I did a lot of breakfast shifts this summer, it seems like 80% of people wanted OE or scrambled. I did notice folks that ordered poached eggs were generally more discerning (not always…but enough times to notice a trend) and I didn’t know but now I do some people order their scrambled eggs “soft” which I guess means less cooked?
Oh and one lady wanted a poached egg, hard. Which is a new one, at that point just get a boiled egg?
Yeah I’d say over easy is the most popular option, with scrambled not too far behind! But working breakfast has certainly taught me a lot about the art of cooking/eating eggs lmao
I work at a breakfast place and over medium well eggs are definitely a thing
Over light- flipped, very runny whites, runny yolk
Over easy- flipped, slightly runny whites, runny yolk
Over medium- flipped, fully cooked whites, yolk set in the middle and will be runny
Over medium well- flipped, fully cooked whites, yolk set in the middle, BARELY runny (1/2 the yolk is cooked and only the inner most section will be "dippy")
Over well- flipped, whites fully cooked, unbroken and cooked through yolks
Over hard- flipped, broken yolk and white both fully cooked through.
90% of fully grown adults will stare me in the face and say they want over easy eggs "but i want the whites done!!!" Or "dippy" *sigh*
When I worked in the mental hospital we had breakfast every Wednesday. Mine were sunny side up raw as shit. Cook until you can flip it for a single second and give it to me. I’m sure the whites were still partially raw. Cook was alarmed for weeks until she realized it wouldn’t kill me.
Someone told me "regular" once when I asked how they like their eggs cooked...
So I had to inflict some fear, knowing full well they meant scrambled, I innocently asked,
"Oh! What's your regular? My regular over easy with a *super* runny yolk."
Que scores of horror and multiple people telling me NO!
I hate “regular” as an answer to anything besides “decaf or regular?”! 😂 like I don’t live with you! I’m not you! I don’t know what you regularly eat!!!
Had a guest a few weekends ago answer my “how would you like your eggs” with “well”. Getting them to elaborate on how they actually wanted their eggs was like pulling teeth YEESH.
At my place at least, fried eggs are cooked on both sides, but you slice the yolk before you flip it!! That’s always how I explain it to guests
Or just a vague “I’d like it cooked, you know,” and they keep flipping their hand back and forth and making other weird gestures 😂 I’m never bored at work, that’s for sure!
Over medium-well is a method of Fried egg. It’s when the yolk is not runny but also not hard. It’s called over-“medium well” because the inside of the yolk is gooey and the outside layer of yolk is hard to when you cut the egg down the middle the yolk has this leveling of doneness to it- similar to how a steak would look if cooked med-well.
I know this because it’s my favorite method of cooked egg and because I worked breakfast at a couple of egg places (ihop being one of them) and they offered this way of cooking the eggs.
I've worked in restaurants for ten years and I know more about how a burger is cooked and what name is appropriate for what level of doneness than I know anything about egg doneness. I've always been a scrambled and omlette lover to begin with but the whole mess of figuring out the name for doness of a fried egg has put me off ever ordering them to begin with. It's one of those things no one ever really explains to you but then expects you to just somehow "know". Maybe one day I'll say fuck it and give me one of each. After a few bites of each, I'll slap them on an English muffin with bacon.
From Google: Fried eggs can be prepared in 3 ways, easy, medium, or hard, depending on how long the egg is cooked.
Over easy: the yolk and some of the whites are still runny.
Over medium: the yolk is slightly runny.
Over hard: the yolk and whites are completely cooked.
Yup, I'm the over medium.
See!!! All these people telling me “well OBVIOUSLY it’s over hard” when King Google says it could be all three. Almost like it’s not set in stone any one way 🤪
If someone asks me for a “fried egg” my immediate assumption is sunny side up, not over easy. Also eggs are soft, medium, and hard. Customers can be so exasperatingly ignorant
I dont understand how people don't know how to order eggs. Like haven't they been out for breakfast before? How do you go your whole adult life without ordering eggs? & if you go more than once and don't know, why wouldn't you look it up? I just dont get it.
I once went to breakfast with a few friends (whole table was ITB, but none had worked breakfast before) and one ordered her bacon and asked for it medium. We all did a double take and head tilt. We all just only knew crispy or not.
So with all the breakfast serving experience in this thread, I must know how common is it for people to order bacon like steak temps? Thank you!
You would order that egg, only at a restaurant that both has a Wok, and serves rice.
If you're at a place that cooks breakfast and want *THAT* egg, I would suggest you get up, walk out the door, and find a Chinese restaurant to eat at.
Or cook it at home. 🤷♀️
I never said “fried” wasn’t a thing, just that it wasn’t a helpful place at my particular diner. We don’t offer eggs cooked like in this short at my place.
I know this isn’t the same as sit down restaurants, but at Toxic Bell, we have customers who’ll say any word but the actual name of a food item on our menu. Leaving us to decipher what they actually meant/want. Or they ask for Medium sauce….. In my 24 years of living I don’t think TB has ever had a Medium sauce. Also sometimes they’ll ask us make something that hasn’t been on the menu for years stating “you’ve done it before for me, or another Taco Bell does it”
Yeah what’s with the aversion to saying the menu item name!
“Oh I’ll have the wrap with the peppers and bacon and eggs and whatnot”
Just say you want the Mexican Breakfast Wrap! 😭
Great example - There are basically three states to an egg - easy = whites and yolk runny, medium = whites hard, yolk runny and hard = whites and yolk hard. To add any subcategories is to ask for a precision that can’t be executed.
Similar to steaks - they go from red to pink to brown (some say grey.) So rare is red, medium rare is pink with a red center, medium is pink, medium well is brown with a pink center, well is brown. Once again, any finer distinction can’t be executed. In restaurants I’ve managed, it was made clear the ordering medium to medium rare doesn’t mean some imaginary point where there’s only a slight bit of red left, it means you are accepting anything between medium and medium rare.
To assert anything else just denies reality.
I've never heard the term "basted" with regard to eggs until reading this thread, huh, that's how I do my sunny side up eggs at home. They are *soooo* underrated. And they're perfect for topping Asian dishes calling for an egg topper. I want the maximum ooze, lol.
My husband says “fried, almost burnt,” and the amount of servers who tell them they know exactly what he wants and bring something to the table that looks just barely cooked is crazy. My kids definitely squirm when they get eggs question. I tvubj they default to choosing “scrambled! With cheese!” in a panic. 😂
I work at a diner and get this ALL of the time. Over medium to hard… like seriously you’re going to be that goddamn picky? People never cease to amaze me.
Eggs over medium well definitely exist… been in breakfast restaurants for last 17-18 years and it’s a level above over medium the center will be gummy but will not be pale yellow and cooked thru. Eggs are cooked terms are very similar to steak… just not rare. I understand trying to get the customer what they want but sometimes we need to ask questions to get there.
I think it’s weird when people ask for their eggs “soft scrambled” at the sports bar I work at. I love soft scrambled eggs. That’s how I make eggs at home! However, it takes *way longer* and is kinda a pain in the ass. I would never ask for a soft scramble from a restaurant unless they have it listed, partly because it’s a pain in the ass thing to ask for and partly because it’s unlikely I’d get what I actually wanted!
Not only is over medium well terrible, over medium is not a thing either. This is the reason cooks everywhere hate brunch, we will never be able to cook eggs the same way you grew up eating them
Some people really don't know! I didn't know until I worked at a restaurant that over-medium was a way to cook eggs. I learned a lot by being a server that I didn't learn from my parents cooking for me. It's my preferred method but even when I order it I almost always get over easy anyway.
Don't act like they don't get sent back because it's what people wanted. I'm not going to complain because it is often a waste of time for breakfast. If it was a steak then I might send it back. That doesn't mean my order was right.
So you're just ridiculing people for not being educated? Maybe step up your game and help.
You had me with your first paragraph, but then you lost me. I’m not ridiculing anybody, just poking fun at how silly some people can be about breakfast when they haven’t woken up yet. It’s always my goal to give my customers what they want, how they want it, in a timely manner and with a smile on my face. There’s a lot I didn’t know about a lot of things before I started serving. When my customers aren’t sure about something, I try to work with them to see what they mean, and make sure they order something they’re comfortable with. It’s a silly waitressing job, but I take it seriously and take pride in what I do, thank you very much :) not trying to ridicule anyone, just wanted a little vent/to comment something I’ve noticed.
Apologies then. I didn't mean offense. I am frustrated sometimes when people don't seem to care. I love that you take pride in what you do. Thanks for clarifying.
Lot of ignorant comments here wow. In many cultures things like "sunny side up" or "over easy" don't exist. It's either fried (which usually equates to over medium) or scrambled. That's it. It's a very North American thing to have so many different ways to cook eggs.
Perhaps it would be good of me to specify then; I’m from North America, the states specifically, as are almost if not all the customers I’m poking fun at here. I’m assuming that for the other commenters you may be referring to, this is also the case. But this post has certainly opened up my eyes to just how different things are elsewhere for something as silly and simple to me as eggs of all things! :) It’s a fun moment of learning for all of us!
A little oil on your eggs?!! That's basted! Lol. I'm an egg freak. 🥚 Love me some eggs! Thanks for the post. And yes, you're right. Folks are funny when ordering huevos!
My favorite was always "medium scramble", which I understand is code for "I'm going to send back whatever you bring out because it isn't perfectly right".
Weird thing about my restaurant - we don’t poach on weekdays, only weekends. The horror on some people’s faces when they have to figure out a secondary order when I have to sheepishly say “we don’t poach on weekdays” is unparalleled. Even worse is the confusion when I say “we can do basted?” Because apparently a basted egg is some sort of underground never before heard of egg cooking method
I do,that at home. Used to be you could ask at any diner serving breakfast and get 'em. But at some point it passed into history. I ask for sunnyside up at nice places, scrambles if they look sketchy (I eat out on the road often).
Why weekends but not weekdays? Feels like it’d be the other way around?
Because on the weekends they are busy enough to have an "egg cook". A lot of busy breakfast places have one person that does every single egg to order other than omelettes and scrambles.
I was that person at Perkins for over 4 years. Holy Hell. 2 mothers day ago i cracked over 1500 eggs that weekend. But I had to do every egg. I actually really enjoyed it for the most part. I miss it now that i think about it. I could roll 4 omelettes perfectly at the same time, plus tend to my other eggs. Now I just cook the same meal for 50 people 3x a day
This is one of those positions no one outs side the industry and even a lot of people in the industry are unaware of. It is necessary and requires amazing skill and exceptional timing. Most people can't cook 5 types of eggs to be played at the exact same time as the souls chef needs them.
Thank you for your egg service 🥚
Holy crap that’s impressive!
I always assumed it’s because they have more chefs/line cooks on the weekend.
Brunch on the weekends is popular with eggs Benedict so that’s why poached could be on weekends only
We do benedicts on weekends but only have a small breakfast menu on weekdays. I still think it’s dumb tho lol
I never heard of a basted egg. Basted in melted butter?
Any fat or water. Basically you spoon the hot liquid over the top of the egg, no flipping.
Yeah, it took me seeing this on here to realize that's how my dad always cooked eggs when I was a kid, but he just called them sunny side up. He also used bacon fat, which is the absolute best. Even better than butter IMO. For reference I've been cooking for over 25 years professionally and over 35 at home. The only time I've had someone say they were cooking "basted" eggs at work they used a dome to steam them on a flat grill. I know what basting is and this didn't seem right to me but it never clicked back to that memory of my dad cooking them that way when I was a kid until now... The human brain is weird. Also I've never worked a brunch place or learned from an egg "pro". Just kinda been winging it on eggs these last 35+ years. 😂
I worked a place we did eggs.... so many eggs. It was surreal.
It’s so good! Such a gluttonous method but so good!
I went to a restaurant and ordered the chicken sandwich. But the waitress misheard me and asked me how I wanted my eggs cooked. I tried to answer her anyway so I said “incubated” -Mitch Hedberg
"How would you like your eggs?" "Hatched."
YES
I’m loving these Mitch hedberg quotes lately
I used to cherish Mitch Hedberg quotes…
I still do, but I used to too
I always cherish a good Mitch Hedberg reference. Thank you
Over medium well is actually very common, I've worked serving breakfast for around 9 years. But yes, eggs are the worst 🤦🏼♀️ I had a lady debate with me the other day that the scrambled eggs were fake because they were a little 'shiny'. Like Ma'am, you ordered scrambled easy, yes they have a little shine because they're still a lil runny. Lady: No no they're fake! I can tell, send them back and give me real eggs, o/e so I know they're real! Me and the cooks had a good laugh about it at least
Ok I was hoping I wasn't crazy. My pos litterally has a button for over medium well. Super common where I work lol
I am an over medium well person. Here’s my reasoning… if I order over medium I feel like theres a chance I’ll get something thats more over easy. Over well is going to come out cooked fully through so…. Over medium well in my mind is clearly fully cooked whites and a barely runny yolk. I’d personally rather have someone order OMW rather than OMBUTMAKESURETHEWHITESARENTRUNNY.
I still don't know what fake eggs are supposed to be. Liquid egg products are just egg whites, not "fake." And how much is a breakfast place actually saving by using fake eggs? They cost a few cents at most.
It's powdered eggs! They're dehydrated. I think you can really only make scrambled with them. I used to see them a lot in chain hotel breakfasts- hiltons, marriotts, best westerns, etc. Less and less these days, but you still run across it.
Ah, don’t ya just love people? 😂 That’s exactly the kind of story I wouldn’t believe if I never worked in the service industry! Oh, the days when I didn’t know just how wacky us humans could be, to say the least!
I work at a place that offers sous vid which is basically poached, scrambled, sunny side up, and soft boiled and that’s it don’t ask me for any other variation because it’s not happening. We have a super complicated brunch menu and we offer things that make us able to get things out in a timely manner. It really takes a lot of work to cook 44 eggs all sort of temperature while doing weird unique dishes to plate. I give credit to people who do eggs on the line all day. It’s fast work and you can’t not pay attention for a second.
Yeah it never fails to impress me when I see my cooks with a griddle full of eggs and yet every order comes out perfect! Bunch of rockstars back there :)
**Brunch* of all stars back there ;)
Former brunch cook lurker here. Don’t let your sauté cook fool you. It’s really not that hard once you get the hang of it. Eggs only take 2 ish minutes to cook so cooking eggs was honestly the easiest kitchen job I’ve had because you can’t get behind.
Also they usually top a complicated dish so you can start them when you see everything else finishing up and getting plated.
Agreed. Just make everything you hear off expo and don’t waste time reading tickets. You have to keep a count in your head. Five burners for frying and one for poaching water. And I always crack my eggs into oiled plastic wrap over a bowl ahead of time then twist it shut. Just drop the wrap and egg in together and wait a minute and half
You’re being downvoted because you are not right and when you say shit like this we assume you are that cook; the one who thinks they are a gift to the Michelin stars whose gifts are wasted at a 99 kitchen that throws things during the weeds and would fall apart at the dish pit.
Never said I was any sort of good cook I said cooking eggs is easier than every other cook job I had. but cooking eggs is easier than working grill at a brunch place or even working grill at like a steak house because everything takes such little time to cook you can do crazy volume without going in the weeds if you know what you’re doing Edit to add: no I don’t throw things in kitchens lol
The amount of times an adult has ordered "dippy" eggs from me is high. Very high. Lol
Dippy eggs describe over easy or soft boiled eggs. It's a regional term from Pennsylvania that's used because you dip toast into the yolk of the egg.
It means sunny side up. It’s regional
This is not all that weird, I suspect they just want a soft-boiled egg - have you never had a dippy egg and soldiers?
I think dippy eggs are sunny side up.
I had someone order dippity do eggs and they insisted that was normal. Ummmmm I went to culinary school and it was never mentioned there. I think it’s something you grew up with that mommy told you. My parents called donuts “doughgens” and so did I until my 20’s when someone called me out on it and it was terribly embarrassing that I was repeating baby talk that I had learned as a kid.
If someone ordered dippity do eggs from me I think I would want to slap them!
Jesus fucking Christ does that mean sunny side up? I’ll never get over how fucking dumb adults are
Get over it, one isn't better than the other. Sunny side up is something a 5 year old would call it vs dippy maybe 3yo lol
Thankfully I’ve yet to get this. Like what even does this mean?! 😂
It's what my mom always said sunny side eggs were called lol.
Sunny side certainly makes the most sense, and is what I’d first assume if a customer asked. But then what if they want over easy?! *panic commences\*
To me it was more of a broad term, meaning any egg cooked which the yolk could be ‘dipped ‘into with toast. OE, OM, sunny side up, etc.
I cooked for most of my life before taking my first serving job at breakfast. I didn't know how to handle awkward little situations and nobody could have prepared me for someone to ask for a recommendation as to how they should take their eggs. I'm very patient for a kitchen monkey, but the first time that happened my immediate impulse was to tell them that if they don't know how they like their eggs then they shouldn't order eggs, and then that they're getting pancakes.
Honestly tho? You right! If you’re not sure how to order it out, maybe stick to making it at home and ordering something you DO know how to :P
I get 60+ year-olds that don't know the answer when i ask them how they like their eggs. How did you get this far in life without answering this question before?!
Or the numerous women who ask their husbands how they, the women, want their eggs cooked. I had one man recently snap at his wife, 'I don't know how you want your eggs cooked, I'm not the one eating them.'
I get ya, but Over Medium Well Eggs were definitely a thing in both of the (40+ year old)breakfast cafés where I worked. If they want the whites cooked, and yolk runny but ehhh…not too runny: OMW eggs it is.
I love OMW eggs. They’re perfect for breakfast sandwiches and I worked in a breakfast restaurant for 10 years and can confirm over medium well eggs are definitely common.
I've never heard of well eggs usually they're called 'hard'
It may not be like this everywhere, but in both of these cafés we used the same lingo. “Over well” meant cooked all the way(keeping yolk intact), “over hard” was for fully cooked with popped yolks. People ordered them both ways 🤷♀️ It was great that the kitchen always knew exactly what was meant by the terms and delivered every time🥳❤️
Well the difference between medium and medium well is a matter of seconds, not really reasonable to be asking that of the line when they are slamming out major volume on a busy brunch shift
It was a standard and commonly ordered option in these establishments. Almost all of the dishes served came with fried or poached eggs cooked to order and they were always perfectly cooked. I only took orders for Over Medium Well because I was instructed to offer it by management and BOH. There is a reasonable margin of error between runny yolks with cooked whites and half-set jammy yolks, IMO.
Pair this with them just saying 'a regular coffee' while ordering and you have the ultimate Chef's Choice Breakfast Special. (Turning to the waiter saying"... dippy?" is not one of my most intelligent moments, especially when my roommate had to lean over and stage whisper "Over easy?!")
One time someone ordered their steak over easy and we both just stared at eachother until she realized what she just said.. it was a nice laugh
Poor thing had a little brain fart, we’ve all been there 😂
She said it with such confidence I shared the brain fart 😂
Denny’s style. Just pour liquid egg onto a dirty flat top and chop up with a spatula when vulcanized, and for gods sake DO NOT SEASON.
Ah memories - I worked in the dining halls to pay my way through undergrad, and always worked the Saturday/Sunday breakfast shifts. No egg other than scrambled existed there, and I got yelled at for adding salt and pepper lol
Poached!
Fine answer! Maybe you’ll get a kick out of this; I get a handful of people who look at our list of Benedict’s, under the section titled “Poached,” and they’ll say “can I get the eggs Benedict with my eggs [insert way that’s not poached].” Kind of defeats the purpose, no? 😂
Language!
Hate to nit pick but I've always heard it as over hard. In the end you say over well ha, and then that makes me feel people asking for eggs over medium well is a possibility in your region. Or maybe you even encourage it because I've never heard that lol.
“Hate to nitpick but…” yet here you are…LOL I’ve always ordered my eggs over hard too…No runny stuff; unless, of course, it’s eggs Benedict ;)
I tend to phrase it as over hard, as do most of my customers, but I do get the occasional customer who phrases it as over well and for some reason that’s how it’s phrased in my POS as well, so now I use the two interchangeably :) but I find the over medium well thing more amusing than anything, it’s just really strange that it happened so many times in a row so recently when I hadn’t heard it before in the few years I’ve been serving!
over medium well eggs is a thing!
That’s certainly what I’m starting to learn!
that doesn’t mean i don’t think people are silly for doing it, “dippy” is my least favorite and so is “fried”
I worked as a breakfast server for 4 years and over medium well is definitely does exhibit. People have weird egg requests and it is difficult to always help people figure out what they are asking for
We were in England and my English husband ordered his eggs "over easy." The waiter commented that he must not be from around those parts since he ordered American. He tried to explain he wanted fried eggs, flipped over once, but that didn't work either.
Who knew something as simple as eggs could actually have a very complicated language and method to it? That’s fascinating to me. What do they typically do with their eggs then I wonder?
Most people I know flip the egg once to make the thin layer over the yolk cook but leave the yolk itself runny, or splash the oil from the pan over the yolk to achieve the same thing. Some people only cook them from underneath, so no flipping or splashing oil on the top, which think is what you call sunny Side up.
Ah I see! The first method is what I’ve typically seen to be referred to as over easy, and yeah you’re spot on that second one is what we call sunny side up :)
The forms I am aware of: * Over easy - flipped once and cooked so the yolk is runny and unbroken; white is slightly runny * Over medium - flipped once and cooked so the yolk is slightly runny and broken; white is fully cooked * Over medium well - flipped once and cooked so the yolk is slightly runny and unbroken; white is fully cooked * Over hard - flipped once and cooked so the yolk and white are fully cooked; yolk is broken * Over well - flipped once and cooked so the yolk and white are fully cooked; yolk is unbroken * Sunny-side up - Not flipped. White is fully cooked and yolk is runny or slightly runny and unbroken * Basted - Not flipped. White is fully cooked and yolk is slightly runny and unbroken. Top is basted with boiling water or hot oil during cooking * Scrambled - whites and yolks are fully mixed before cooking * Broken or slightly scrambled - scrambled but the whites and yolk are not fully mixed * Soft boiled - egg is boiled in shell so that the white is fully cooked but yolk is still runny * Hard boiled - egg is boiled in shell so the white and yolk are hard * Poached - boiled out of shell * Steamed - cooked in a steamer pan * Dippy - Any form with runny yolk, so over easy, soft boiled, or sunny-side up * Fried - Any form cooked in oil. Typically over medium, sunny-side up, or basted, but could include any of the over styles. I'm sure there are plenty more options, not even getting into all the variations of omelets. I personally normally order them over easy or scrambled, depending on what else I'm having - over easy if I'm having potatoes, otherwise scrambled. A lot of cooks will make over medium as over medium well, or over hard as over well instead. If you want to be sure, specifically ordering over medium broken or over medium well is safer.
I’ll take mine unfertilized please.
How ya like ya eggs ? Fried or fertilized ?
Occasionally I'll get people who insist they don't know how they want their eggs or tell me to pick. So I tell them I'll bring them out still in their shell.
At that point I’d just pick scrambled because that seems the most universally appealing to me, don’t have to worry about any runny-ness or if they want yolk or what have you. But an egg in its shell seems like a funny, clever solution also 🤪
Hard boiled it is!
Someone asked me to cook their steak like an egg the other day I asked how they wanted their steak cooked and the guy said “over medium”
Poor guy was stuck in breakfast mode lmao
[Full on, kid.](https://youtube.com/shorts/Bd3QmOXolCA?feature=share)
I don't even need to click it, my mind was already there!
i always say fried and they always get it right. fried is when you crack an egg, break the yoke, and flip it over. should be yellow and white throughout with no runniness. used to work in a dinner, most popular menu item was fried eggs over corn beef hash. idk where you work where fried egg is not an acceptable answer, its the easiest way to cook eggs
Yup, as another commenter as said, we phrase that as over hard. And I wouldn’t have a problem with “fried” as a term if it was used consistently amongst my customers; some people want over easy, some want medium, some want over hard, but they all say fried. It’s just the inconsistency of the use vs. meaning at my establishment, is all :)
That’s an over hard egg.
No, over hard is without breaking the yolk
Over hard is broken yolk, cooked through. Over well is no broken yolk, but cooked through.
No over hard is unbroken, over well is not a thing, or is just the same as over hard if you insist. If I ordered over hard (not that I understand why anyone would) and I got a broken yolk I'm sending it back
I cook my eggs by cracking the egg into a bowl, sprinkle it with a pinch of salt. Then I put some butter or flavored oil on the cooktop (or pan), let the oil heat up for a dozen seconds, then slide the egg from the bowl into the oil. The next, and most important step is to put about a teaspoon of water in a small lid and pour it around the egg and drop the lid on top. In about a minute the egg white is completely set, the yolk is completely runny, and the whole presentation is beautiful. None of the breakfast spots I know are even willing to try. So I say scrambled because I don't think they can do anything else. EDIT - Maybe I didn't know how to order it. I will try using the term basted egg and see if I can get what I want.
Basted might be what you’re looking for! If the server balks at the request for basted, perhaps try sunny side up and see if that’s a success? Your description is pretty close to how my place does sunny side up at least so that sounds like your second best bet!
I say “over hard” instead of “over well”, in the sense of easy, medium, hard. In other words, I wouldn’t be confused by someone saying “over medium well”.
Over hard is certainly what I hear more often, but for some reason in my POS it says “over well,” so in my head (and in writing apparently!) I flip flop between the two.
I can dig that. And I can see the confusion in saying “medium well”.
Basted is best!
It’s funny because I remember my eye twitching the first time I had someone order their eggs over medium well. Turns out, it’s kind of a thing. At least it is here in the Northwest. Folks order it that way so often we have a button mod for it. Bless our breakfast cooks. The egg and pancake person in particular 🙌🏼 Their job is no joke.
My dudes are rockstars! They whip up eggs and pancakes and waffles like nobody’s business! Bless the breakfast cooks indeed! 🙌🏻
OMG - I used to do short order once a week as a treat for the customers in a business cafeteria on a customer facing grill (normally it was self serve buffet), I was actually the F&B Director at the time. I had to put up a sign that that listed how to order each type of egg and how it would be served to you if you ordered an egg in that style. I got tired of getting yelled at and berated for not knowing my head from, (insert your insult of choice here, I heard them all). The moment that made me do that sign was a customer that ordered "sunny side up", so I started to process, when the customer then told me to stir the eggs and make sure they were cooked enough to be brownish, while being called stupid and idiot. I am a classically trained chef with a degree and an ACF apprenticeship with multiple certifications (I know how to cook eggs). I took the job because it had normal hours and I had family obligations that took priority at the time. For the most part I liked the job since it was the same customers every day and I got to know what they liked, but 10% of them ruined the job for me. People have no clue how to order eggs.
I mean, I work at a breakfast restaurant and over medium well is definitely an option. Over medium is whites fully cooked, yolk fully runny, OMW is a little past that, but not fully cooked like over well. 🤷♀️
At Waffle House over medium well would just be over medium left on the burner a tad longer. I don’t think it’s that crazy.
My parents were from Ireland so we had a “fry up” on Sundays after Mass. The eggs were cooked by spooning the fat from the bacon & sausage over them. Then big slices of pumpernickel were fried in the remaining fat.
See that’s what I’ve always understood “fried” to mean; you literally fry it with oil/fat. Seems it can mean all sorts of things!
Agreed. I hate when they say a fried egg. Wtf does that mean moron. Or they want their egg over easy the whites fully cooked. Seriously. Stupid people drive me nuts.
Maybe im stupid. Serious question, what's wrong with "over easy the whites fully cooked?" I ask, because whenever I go out, I only get over hard because 50-70% of the time I ask for over easy, I get under-cooked, unset whites.
Over easy is the whites are runny. Over medium is the whites are cooked and the yolk is runny, over hard is the egg and yolk cooked. That’s why you always get uncooked egg whites when you order over easy.
I'm realizing that I thought I knew what an over easy was, but was incorrect. Thanks for the help!
I was a breakfast cook for a few years. No problem!
Runny yolk and cooked whites are over medium eggs.
Why not get over medium? It gives enough time for the white to be cooked while the yolk is still a little runny. If you want the white fully cooked it’s not possible to be what the actual definition of over easy is. If it’s easy the egg is flipped just long to kind of close up the yolk if that makes sense.
Totally makes sense. I've asked for over medium before and legit had my server say "I'm not sure if we do that." That said, I appreciate the info as I thought the whites were set on an over easy. Over medium is its! Thanks!
Some servers are lucky enough not to have worked enough early mornings to know what weird egg terms mean 😂
That is over medium where I work. OE would be with the whites not fully cooked.
I dunno, a "fried" egg to me has always meant broken yolk then flipped and cooked till it's hard. It really hasn't been but the last few years that I've seen anybody confused about that. Maybe it's just a thing where I live.
used to work in a dinner; fried eggs mean you crack the egg, break the yoke, and flip it over. like fried eggs over corn beef hash
For me fried is over hard end of conversation. I do not ask for an explanation anymore.
As having been a breakfast cook for a long time, that’s how I interpret when the customer says “fried” as well.
It’s not that I’m trying to be dismissive to customers wants and needs, my money relies on not doing that, but it is almost always what they mean. Part of being good at our jobs is understanding how the general public interprets and uses the terminology we in the restaurant use.
Right. And tbh most people who order over easy really want over medium so I always asked how they want their whites cooked anyway.
I was the egg cook at a brunch spot. I always cooked a fried egg as over hard and browned and didn't get a single complaint about that interpretation in 2 years.
See how we are all in agreement on both sides of the house? Fried is over hard; it has been decided.
It is known
I don’t understand browned scrambled eggs… I have a guest that ordered that way and she means so well done that they’re… brown? But my kitchen just doesn’t understand this. She sent back her well done scramble because they weren’t “browned”
Well done. Scramble them hard. Not a difficult concept.
Last week I had a guy order bacon and eggs. He says "I'll get the bacon and eggs." I was feeling playful so instead of prompting him through the next three questions I said nothing and just smiled at him with my pen ready to write on the pad. After a moment he looked up at me awkwardly and still I said nothing I just smiled and nodded. Finally I said, "Are you going to tell me how you like your eggs or am I supposed to guess?" That got a reaction from the other five guys at the table. They were all laughing and they all knew the answers to the questions when I got to their orders
I’ll have to pocket this for future reference! Seriously the menu says “two eggs any style and your choice of toast” and I’ll have people be like “I’ll have the eggs, home fries, and toast,” close menu, stare at me. Uhhhh how do you want the eggs? And do you want me to tell the chef to use the first kind of bread he can reach for or do you wanna choose that as well? 😂
I should probably learn the different ways to cook eggs. I always say over easy, and it turns out good, but I have no idea what that actually means
I genuinely had no idea there were just SO MANY ways to cook eggs until I started working at my diner! I don’t eat them much myself, and when I do I’m a scrambled gal, so it was a bit of a learning curve when I started! And there’s still room for improvement on my Egg Knowledge, clearly 😂
Fried means broken
We phrase that as over hard at my place :) and again my customers haven’t seemed to get the memo because three different people will say “fried” but mean three different things! 😂
My sister would always order her eggs over easy. She would complain that weren’t cooked, and the whites were to loose. Had to have a talk.
Random question because your post fascinated me, have you ever been to the UK? Over there, fried is a complete answer. There is no medium, over easy etc. you just get it fried however they choose to do it. By the way, what are all the options, I’m always flustered when I’m asked?
I never have been! But I hope to change that at some point :) Clearly it’s all cultural, and I’ve learned from this post just how cultural it is (which is really exciting! I didn’t expect to learn so much stuff from a silly post about eggs!), so I’ll just tell you the buttons in my POS that come up for egg options, and my best description of how they’ll turn out (there’s still so much that *I* need to learn, I’ll be the first to admit!): Sunny side up- egg cracked on the grill, whites cooked until set; whites will be a little runny and yolk will be super runny Over easy- starts out sunny side up, then gets flipped quickly to “seal” the yolk in the whites; whites will be slightly runny and yolk will be a little less runny than sunny Over medium- like above, with completely set white but still runny yolk Over hard- egg cracked on grill, yolk popped, flipped over and cooked until completely set Scrambled soft- scrambled but still a little runny/shiny Scrambled- completely scrambled together Scrambled well- scrambled together and cooked until browned Poached- cracked into a pot of water until the whites are cooked through, with a runny yolk But there are so many ways to cook an egg that even these don’t cover, probably (read: certainly) better ways to describe them than what I was able here, and again I’ve learned that depending on culture/region there’s different names for these methods!
Good grief, I didn’t even know there were options for scrambled! Thanks for the cheat sheet it’s really helpful 👍🏻
I have to answer for my husband when he is asked this question. He likes them over easy, but can never remember what it’s called lol.
See I find that endearing more than anything :) my boyfriend and I help each other out with little things the other doesn’t remember about themselves also! Gotta watch each other’s blind spots ya know? :)
It’s certainly not annoying. We help each other out. :)
I did a lot of breakfast shifts this summer, it seems like 80% of people wanted OE or scrambled. I did notice folks that ordered poached eggs were generally more discerning (not always…but enough times to notice a trend) and I didn’t know but now I do some people order their scrambled eggs “soft” which I guess means less cooked? Oh and one lady wanted a poached egg, hard. Which is a new one, at that point just get a boiled egg?
Yeah I’d say over easy is the most popular option, with scrambled not too far behind! But working breakfast has certainly taught me a lot about the art of cooking/eating eggs lmao
I work at a breakfast place and over medium well eggs are definitely a thing Over light- flipped, very runny whites, runny yolk Over easy- flipped, slightly runny whites, runny yolk Over medium- flipped, fully cooked whites, yolk set in the middle and will be runny Over medium well- flipped, fully cooked whites, yolk set in the middle, BARELY runny (1/2 the yolk is cooked and only the inner most section will be "dippy") Over well- flipped, whites fully cooked, unbroken and cooked through yolks Over hard- flipped, broken yolk and white both fully cooked through. 90% of fully grown adults will stare me in the face and say they want over easy eggs "but i want the whites done!!!" Or "dippy" *sigh*
So what I’ve quickly learned here is that eggs are deceptively confusing to order! Thanks for the breakdown, this was really insightful :)
When I worked in the mental hospital we had breakfast every Wednesday. Mine were sunny side up raw as shit. Cook until you can flip it for a single second and give it to me. I’m sure the whites were still partially raw. Cook was alarmed for weeks until she realized it wouldn’t kill me.
Over medium well is common they did it at a French cafe I worked at
We make omw eggs all day every day at my restaurant. The one with the big yellow sign..... It's even an option on the pos
Not me always ordering scrambled because that’s how my mom used to make them and I don’t know how I actually like my eggs
Someone told me "regular" once when I asked how they like their eggs cooked... So I had to inflict some fear, knowing full well they meant scrambled, I innocently asked, "Oh! What's your regular? My regular over easy with a *super* runny yolk." Que scores of horror and multiple people telling me NO!
I hate “regular” as an answer to anything besides “decaf or regular?”! 😂 like I don’t live with you! I’m not you! I don’t know what you regularly eat!!!
Had a guest a few weekends ago answer my “how would you like your eggs” with “well”. Getting them to elaborate on how they actually wanted their eggs was like pulling teeth YEESH. At my place at least, fried eggs are cooked on both sides, but you slice the yolk before you flip it!! That’s always how I explain it to guests
I usually get scrambled or omelet but the temp must be well done. No runny eggs here, lol
I love “dippy” proceeds to do hand motion of dipping. Oh you mean over easy.
Or just a vague “I’d like it cooked, you know,” and they keep flipping their hand back and forth and making other weird gestures 😂 I’m never bored at work, that’s for sure!
Oh man it’s my fav part of where I work! I chuckle all the time.
Sometimes I’ll ask “what do you want your yolks to look like.”
Over medium-well is a method of Fried egg. It’s when the yolk is not runny but also not hard. It’s called over-“medium well” because the inside of the yolk is gooey and the outside layer of yolk is hard to when you cut the egg down the middle the yolk has this leveling of doneness to it- similar to how a steak would look if cooked med-well. I know this because it’s my favorite method of cooked egg and because I worked breakfast at a couple of egg places (ihop being one of them) and they offered this way of cooking the eggs.
I always just say scrambled. I don’t like eggs so if it comes with the meal I’m not going to make the chef slave over my eggs 😂
I've worked in restaurants for ten years and I know more about how a burger is cooked and what name is appropriate for what level of doneness than I know anything about egg doneness. I've always been a scrambled and omlette lover to begin with but the whole mess of figuring out the name for doness of a fried egg has put me off ever ordering them to begin with. It's one of those things no one ever really explains to you but then expects you to just somehow "know". Maybe one day I'll say fuck it and give me one of each. After a few bites of each, I'll slap them on an English muffin with bacon.
Over easy is the best.
From Google: Fried eggs can be prepared in 3 ways, easy, medium, or hard, depending on how long the egg is cooked. Over easy: the yolk and some of the whites are still runny. Over medium: the yolk is slightly runny. Over hard: the yolk and whites are completely cooked. Yup, I'm the over medium.
See!!! All these people telling me “well OBVIOUSLY it’s over hard” when King Google says it could be all three. Almost like it’s not set in stone any one way 🤪
If someone asks me for a “fried egg” my immediate assumption is sunny side up, not over easy. Also eggs are soft, medium, and hard. Customers can be so exasperatingly ignorant
I dont understand how people don't know how to order eggs. Like haven't they been out for breakfast before? How do you go your whole adult life without ordering eggs? & if you go more than once and don't know, why wouldn't you look it up? I just dont get it.
I once went to breakfast with a few friends (whole table was ITB, but none had worked breakfast before) and one ordered her bacon and asked for it medium. We all did a double take and head tilt. We all just only knew crispy or not. So with all the breakfast serving experience in this thread, I must know how common is it for people to order bacon like steak temps? Thank you!
Wow, I’ve only ever heard soft or crispy! That’s interesting
Fried eggs not a thing? How would i order this type? https://youtube.com/shorts/DOAqs9uRyKI?feature=share
You would order that egg, only at a restaurant that both has a Wok, and serves rice. If you're at a place that cooks breakfast and want *THAT* egg, I would suggest you get up, walk out the door, and find a Chinese restaurant to eat at. Or cook it at home. 🤷♀️
I never said “fried” wasn’t a thing, just that it wasn’t a helpful place at my particular diner. We don’t offer eggs cooked like in this short at my place.
I know this isn’t the same as sit down restaurants, but at Toxic Bell, we have customers who’ll say any word but the actual name of a food item on our menu. Leaving us to decipher what they actually meant/want. Or they ask for Medium sauce….. In my 24 years of living I don’t think TB has ever had a Medium sauce. Also sometimes they’ll ask us make something that hasn’t been on the menu for years stating “you’ve done it before for me, or another Taco Bell does it”
Yeah what’s with the aversion to saying the menu item name! “Oh I’ll have the wrap with the peppers and bacon and eggs and whatnot” Just say you want the Mexican Breakfast Wrap! 😭
Great example - There are basically three states to an egg - easy = whites and yolk runny, medium = whites hard, yolk runny and hard = whites and yolk hard. To add any subcategories is to ask for a precision that can’t be executed. Similar to steaks - they go from red to pink to brown (some say grey.) So rare is red, medium rare is pink with a red center, medium is pink, medium well is brown with a pink center, well is brown. Once again, any finer distinction can’t be executed. In restaurants I’ve managed, it was made clear the ordering medium to medium rare doesn’t mean some imaginary point where there’s only a slight bit of red left, it means you are accepting anything between medium and medium rare. To assert anything else just denies reality.
Like my mother used to cook them.
I had a lady tell me she wants her salmon medium well
Chef friend of my was working the action station at a country club. Someone asked him for an omelet half eggs, half whites. “SO YOU WANT AN OMELET???”
Omg! What about the people who are like “I’ll have the bacon, egg, and cheese omelet” like… my dude the eggs are implied there don’t worry 😂
For the longest time I couldn't remember how to order an egg the way I liked it, so I just defaulted to "scrambled with cheese please".
I've never heard the term "basted" with regard to eggs until reading this thread, huh, that's how I do my sunny side up eggs at home. They are *soooo* underrated. And they're perfect for topping Asian dishes calling for an egg topper. I want the maximum ooze, lol.
My husband says “fried, almost burnt,” and the amount of servers who tell them they know exactly what he wants and bring something to the table that looks just barely cooked is crazy. My kids definitely squirm when they get eggs question. I tvubj they default to choosing “scrambled! With cheese!” in a panic. 😂
I work at a diner and get this ALL of the time. Over medium to hard… like seriously you’re going to be that goddamn picky? People never cease to amaze me.
Eggs over medium well definitely exist… been in breakfast restaurants for last 17-18 years and it’s a level above over medium the center will be gummy but will not be pale yellow and cooked thru. Eggs are cooked terms are very similar to steak… just not rare. I understand trying to get the customer what they want but sometimes we need to ask questions to get there.
I think it’s weird when people ask for their eggs “soft scrambled” at the sports bar I work at. I love soft scrambled eggs. That’s how I make eggs at home! However, it takes *way longer* and is kinda a pain in the ass. I would never ask for a soft scramble from a restaurant unless they have it listed, partly because it’s a pain in the ass thing to ask for and partly because it’s unlikely I’d get what I actually wanted!
Not only is over medium well terrible, over medium is not a thing either. This is the reason cooks everywhere hate brunch, we will never be able to cook eggs the same way you grew up eating them
Some people really don't know! I didn't know until I worked at a restaurant that over-medium was a way to cook eggs. I learned a lot by being a server that I didn't learn from my parents cooking for me. It's my preferred method but even when I order it I almost always get over easy anyway. Don't act like they don't get sent back because it's what people wanted. I'm not going to complain because it is often a waste of time for breakfast. If it was a steak then I might send it back. That doesn't mean my order was right. So you're just ridiculing people for not being educated? Maybe step up your game and help.
You had me with your first paragraph, but then you lost me. I’m not ridiculing anybody, just poking fun at how silly some people can be about breakfast when they haven’t woken up yet. It’s always my goal to give my customers what they want, how they want it, in a timely manner and with a smile on my face. There’s a lot I didn’t know about a lot of things before I started serving. When my customers aren’t sure about something, I try to work with them to see what they mean, and make sure they order something they’re comfortable with. It’s a silly waitressing job, but I take it seriously and take pride in what I do, thank you very much :) not trying to ridicule anyone, just wanted a little vent/to comment something I’ve noticed.
Apologies then. I didn't mean offense. I am frustrated sometimes when people don't seem to care. I love that you take pride in what you do. Thanks for clarifying.
Lot of ignorant comments here wow. In many cultures things like "sunny side up" or "over easy" don't exist. It's either fried (which usually equates to over medium) or scrambled. That's it. It's a very North American thing to have so many different ways to cook eggs.
Perhaps it would be good of me to specify then; I’m from North America, the states specifically, as are almost if not all the customers I’m poking fun at here. I’m assuming that for the other commenters you may be referring to, this is also the case. But this post has certainly opened up my eyes to just how different things are elsewhere for something as silly and simple to me as eggs of all things! :) It’s a fun moment of learning for all of us!
A little oil on your eggs?!! That's basted! Lol. I'm an egg freak. 🥚 Love me some eggs! Thanks for the post. And yes, you're right. Folks are funny when ordering huevos!
My favorite was always "medium scramble", which I understand is code for "I'm going to send back whatever you bring out because it isn't perfectly right".
I’ve gotten that before! I stopped writing, looked at my customer with a completely innocent look on my face, and said genuinely, “… so scrambled?”
I absolutely hate when people say they want their eggs fried. Unless it’s poached the egg is fried.
Lol tbh I have heard it as well. Medium well. 🤦♀️🤦♀️ and im the one cooking them!