Pan should be hot, firstly. Secondly once the egg is in the pan, I gently take a fork and pull the white from the yolk. Perfect sunny side up eggs every time. I think this would be easier than separating the yolk from the egg.

I don't fry in butter; it burns. I use olive oil with a touch of butter for flavor sometimes. I cover the pan to cook the white over the yolk (slimy albumen is not my thing), and test the yolk's doneness with a gentle finger poke. Sometimes I like it runnier, sometimes just oozy; I can always tell by touch.

this is a funky way to fry eggs:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/03/perfect-sunny-side-up-eggs/

My roommate hit across the idea of doing the eggs in the sandwich press! Nice, even heat, you get a silky white and a nice runny yolk, and if you cut the bread thick enough, you can have your toast done at exactly the same time as the egg!

This is smart. I will say, I fry eggs BECAUSE they get done-r than poached or soft boiled. I know it completely obliterates my "foodie cred" but I can't stand runny yolks. So I am unlikely to try this method but I am impressed with the ingenuity!

OR just put a lid over it for a second so the white steams a little

Technically speaking, if you are going to put a lid on your pan, you are making a Basted Egg. I like basted eggs.
As for a perfect sunny side up egg, the best approach is to pierce the thick white around the yolk to allow it to cook faster. Many sunny side up recipes call for you to spoon hot butter or oil over the egg as it cooks, to help the white cook evenly. I find this a bit odd that this method isn't referred to as a "basted egg", as you are basically basting the egg with oil.

Separating the white and yolk doesn't make a sunny side up egg, it just makes a fried egg white with a yolk on top.

I think my version is from America's Test Kitchen. You heat a pan (non stick or cast iron skillet) over the lowest heat possible for 5 min. You then melt butter in pan. Once melted add egg(s) and cover. You cook them for 2 minutes and then check. If the white isn't quite done recover and wait another min. They always come out perfectly with a soild white and a runny yolk. Sorry no chewy brown edge on this version.

I think the thing that most people do wrong, me included sometimes is getting the pan TOO hot,then the whites will tend to brown too quickly on the bottom, and you run the risk of the yolk getting over done while the tops remain partially cooked.

I just add olive oil, sometimes butter (or both) to the pan while its heating, add the egg(s) and cook, making sure the heat doesn't get too hot and chances are, a well cooked sunny side up egg with runny yolk will be procured.

Pan should be preheated, over MEDIUM heat, and greased. If it is to hot, the bottom of the yolk will start to cook before the whites do. Also - try making your eggs over easy instead of sunny-side up, that way the whites get fully cooked while the much thicker yolk remains soft (or even runny) in the center.

Cooking over easy is also faster.

Whoa, that's a lot of work for eggs. Spooning oil over the whites but not the yolks, AND then over the yolks?

Thanks to @physical, I now know that my method is called «basted eggs», as were not fans of slimy albumen either, around my place. I do like my yolks runny sometimes, but mostly I like a custard-like texture best. I tend to overcook my eggs when I fry them over easy...

I can honestly say that I have never had this problem. You probably need to lower the heat and be patient.

I can't be the only one who gags at browned egg whites.

This is a bit much for a simple dish. The only thing you need to do is use a thick bottomed skillet and experiment with your heat setting, and possibly how much time you cook the egg after you flip. Lower heat"= white and yolk get cooked at about the same time. Higher heat= white cooks before the yolk is set. Even higher heat= crispy bottom on the white, yolk is still runny.
On my new electric stovetop, I experimented for about a month (we eat eggs a lot) before learning that I cook "over hard" eggs for the baby at 3, once white is set, flip and cook on second side for just 90 seconds; my own "over easy" egg cooks at 3.5 to set white, flip and cook for only 30 seconds; husband's "over medium" egg cooks at just shy of 4 until set and edges crispy, flip and cook for about a minute. This is all anyone else needs to do, tailored to their own idiosyncratic cooktop.

LOVE my eggs over easy...

I think the type of pan you use matters quite a bit. I'm an omelette, scrambled or over easy kinda guy but my girlfriend likes sunny side up exclusively. The lazy/less beautiful way is a nonstick pan with a lid if you want to steam it to cook the top. That said if you have a well seasoned cast iron man this works really well. The cast iron seems to hold onto a lot more heat energy and has no trouble cooking the white through from the bottom up before the yolk browns. Stainless is a pain and requires too much oil IMO.

Oh god I just flagged my post as offensive by accident when trying to edit "man'' to "pan"...

LOL - we did this to make "green eggs" (to go with ham.) That way, you get a perfectly green white and perfect yolks.

WHY have I never done this?! So clever!