FOOD NEWS
Alton Brown Always Fries Eggs On One 'Essential' Pan
BY Matthew Spina
In his 2022 cookbook “Good Eats: The Final Years,” Alton Brown revealed that years of cooking fried eggs with different equipment finally made him settle on carbon steel pans.
He says they're “an essential tool” that offers precision with heat, yielding perfect eggs. His recipe involves preheating the pan in the oven; carbon steel can withstand that.
Carbon steel features the same metals as cast iron but is more durable than the latter. Seasoned carbon steel is more non-stick than seasoned cast iron, so it gets better results.
Brown starts by preheating the pan in a 450-degree Fahrenheit oven, which gets the pan searing hot and evenly heated. He then removes it and places it on the stovetop without heat.
Finally, he drops the eggs into the pan and covers them for four minutes. Per Brown, the pan's residual heat is ideal for frying the bottom of a fresh egg without overcooking.