I Found the Best Fat for Fried Eggs — But There's One Problem

Butter, ghee, beef tallow or olive oil — which fat fries the most nonstick egg in a carbon steel pan? A lot of you told me I've been frying my eggs wrong, so I tested all of them. Same brand-new carbon steel pan, straight out of the box with only the factory pre-seasoning. These were the first eggs it ever cooked. Five grams of fat each time: olive oil, butter, ghee, beef tallow, and a 50/50 mix of butter and olive oil. Two rounds: 130°C (265°F) for a soft fried egg, then 180°C (355°F) for crispy edges. A brand-new pan hides nothing, so if the fats really are different, this is where it shows. And it did. Butter released best. The butter and olive oil mix came a very close second, then olive oil, then ghee, and beef tallow stuck the most. Here's the twist. Rank those same fats by smoke point and you get almost the exact opposite order. Butter has the lowest smoke point of the lot. At 180°C it started smoking straight away and turned brown, and it still released best. Ghee stayed perfectly clean at the same heat, but it lost butter's release. Turning the heat up didn't change the order at all. My working theory: smoke point and nonstick are two different things. Smoke point tells you how much heat a fat can take before it breaks down. It tells you nothing about how well the egg lets go. Butter is only about 80% fat, and the water and milk solids seem to help it stay under the egg instead of getting pushed out of the way. Ghee is butter with exactly those parts taken out, and tallow is pure fat, and they were the two that stuck the most. It fits everything I saw, but it's a theory, not a lab result. The real lesson: the fat matters, but the cook matters more. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 The fats you told me to try — and why a brand-new pan 2:15 Round 1 at 130°C: five fats, one clear ranking 9:12 Round 2 at 180°C: butter burns, ghee stays clean 11:19 Smoke point vs nonstick — why the order never changed 12:55 Which fat should you fry your eggs in? 🔎 WHAT THIS VIDEO ANSWERS • What's the best fat for frying eggs? • Butter or olive oil — which makes a more nonstick fried egg? • Is ghee or beef tallow good for frying eggs? • Does a high smoke point fat stop eggs sticking? • How do you fry eggs in a carbon steel pan without sticking? • Why does butter release better than ghee? 🍳 THE SHORT ANSWER • Most nonstick: butter. Use a generous amount for an instant release and a buttery egg. • Don't love the butter taste? Half butter, half olive oil. You keep most of the release and the butter flavour drops right back. • Cooking hot for crispy edges? Ghee stays clean where butter burns. A little more sticking, but nothing terrible. • Beef tallow came last both times. Save it for steak, that's where it shines. • Whatever fat you use: enough to cover the surface, not too hot, and leave the egg alone until it's ready to let go. 🔗 LINKS • The pan in this video is my own brand: Yahgan — one piece of 3 mm nitrided carbon steel, no rivets, no joints, no coatings to wear off. We ship worldwide, and if your country isn't on the website, get in touch and I'll sort it out: https://yahgan.com.au • Why I built Yahgan: Why I Built Yahgan: The Problem With Most ... • The Double Fat Trick — oil vs butter vs both, in depth: I Tested the Oil and Butter Method for Egg... • Why your eggs stick — the temperature test: I Tested Every Temperature — Here’s Why Yo... 👉 If this helped, subscribe — it's free and it gets me a little closer to making pans and content full time (which means more, and better, videos): @papa_mau