Adding stuff to eggs when scrambling

[Fat Guy]

I know a lot of people add milk, cream, water, and other liquids (and dry ingredients) to eggs when making scrambled eggs. What's the thinking behind this?

[Sandra Levine]

I usually add a little liquid to scrambled eggs. I usually scramble two eggs per person, a quantity that is a bit meager. Three eggs per person puts more cholesterol on the plate than I want to consume. The puddle of extra liquid stretches the amount a bit, so the portion seems more generous. If I use water or skim milk, I am not even adding any extra cholesterol.

[Wilfrid]

Milk, cream or butter surely change the texture and flavor in a way some people like; helps the eggs not to dry out as they set. Isn't it as simple as that? I haven't heard of adding water.

[fimbul]

I was always told it makes the eggs smoother, creamier, and fluffier. The addition of cream, I must admit, does seem to make the taste and texture fuller and richer, but I've not noticed a lot of benefit from adding water.

In class, by the way, I was told to add cream or milk to scrambled eggs but *not* to omelets. If I recall the reasoning was that you want your omelets more pancakey, and less fluffy. I've heard others dispute this, however, and I occasionally add cream myself.

[nerissa]

Huh, I never knew you were not supposed to add liquid. I usually add a splash of milk-- I always thought it helped it get whipped better. My mother adds a dash of Wortchershire (sp) sauce to scrambled eggs and omelets.

I love cilantro and or parmesean cheese in my eggs.

[Wilfrid]

Huh, I never knew you were not supposed to add liquid.

Let's not assume that from Fat Bloke's post. I think adding milk or butter is fairly normal.

Edited February 19, 2003 by Wilfrid (log)

[mamster]

Hmm. I don't add any liquid to scrambled eggs, but my father taught me to add water to eggs for an omelet (I think...memory is fuzzy here), perhaps with the idea that it's harder to overcook it that way.

[Ron Johnson]

So does this excess liquid (skim milk, water, etc.) evaporate during cooking or does it remain in the pan? I have seen scrambled eggs on a buffet that were sitting in this watery substance, perhaps thats why?

I usually have a fair amount of butter in the pan when I add my eggs. This usually coats the eggs nicely.

[Dave the Cook]

Added liquids create steam. The eggs cook, but the steam helps keep the temperature in check. The result is a soft, fluffy scramble.

Free liquid (especially in a steam table or on the plate) is an indication of overcooking. The proteins have been allowed to tighten excessively, squeezing out residual moisture. The eggs themselves will be dry and tight.

Butter is for lubrication and flavor. And because it's butter.

Edited February 19, 2003 by Dave the Cook (log)

[Jaymes]

I learned how to scramble eggs from my granny, who was in the restaurant biz.

This was decades ago. And through the years, I began to notice that the way she taught me to do it was NOT the same way that most other folks do.

So, imagine my suprise when I was reading in Larousse that the way to scramble eggs was to not add ANY liquid during the beginning of the scramble; but rather, to FINISH with cream.

And that's how I do it. I put butter in the pan, scramble away furiously, and then - at the penultimate moment - add heavy cream and keep scrambling until the cream is incorporated.

It stops the cooking, but the eggs are fully cooked - no slimy uncooked bits - and light, fluffy, creamy. Heaven.

[nightscotsman]

Hmm.  I don't add any liquid to scrambled eggs, but my father taught me to add water to eggs for an omelet (I think...memory is fuzzy here), perhaps with the idea that it's harder to overcook it that way.

I learned to add water, too - 1 Tbs for each egg. I also cook at a high temperature very quickly. When the eggs hit the pan the water boils instantly and causes the eggs to froth a bit so the end product is very light. And I think the added water keeps the eggs from overcooking in the high heat.

[Suzanne F]

I always add liquid to scrambled eggs, usually milk or water, mixed into the eggs before they go in the pan -- I'd add cream if I kept it around and if He Who Only Eats weren't looking. I learned that gives a softer product. Water makes it fluffier than milk or cream; but cream tastes oh so much better.

Sometimes I add cottage cheese, either whipped into the eggs or put in the pan first to melt down a bit before I pour in the eggs. This makes a very different kind of dish, though. Since it never totally melts, the eggs look more like dotted-swiss fabric. And the whey leeches out, as Ron has noted and D the C explained. Not a pretty sight, but to me it tastes good. Oh, yes, and I add a splash of Worcestershire too, which makes it both uglier and tastier.

[Dave the Cook]

Oh, yes, and I add a splash of Worcestershire too, which makes it both uglier and tastier.

Same here, and/or a shot of pepper sauce.

[Ron Johnson]

Louisiana Hot Sauce goes particularly well with eggs.

[Elissa]

I think it was Elizabeth David who recommended saving a lil bit of raw eggs to add at the end to stop the cooking. I have noticed that both duck fat and ghee make interesting alternatives to butter. Some tumeric is tasty, put in before the eggs with the fat, and even better if just after black poppy seeds have started to pop. Tumeric is also a secret cure for arthritis pain no matter where it's slipped in.

Edited February 19, 2003 by lissome (log)

[Suzanne F]

C'mon -- hot sauce goes well with EVERYTHING!

What I want to know for everyone is: how do *you* scramble them? Just a light mix in a bowl and a gentle stir in the pan, so they come out streaky yellow-and-white? A thorough whisking blend in the bowl? And what about the degree to which you cook them -- oh so many questions, for such a seemingly simple food.

[Fat Guy]

We've got a How do you scramble your eggs thread going, so it's probably worth reviving it for general scrambling talk. Here, I'm particularly interested in the addition of stuff. I thought of this topic after hearing, over the past few weeks, about ten different totally unsupported quasi-supestitious theories of what you should add to eggs when scrambling.

[Varmint]

Touch of milk. Whisked with a fork, but not to homogeneity. Butter in pan over medium-low heat. Turn very infrequently. Lightly salt. Crank up heat at end for just a few moments to finish. Serve.

Never watery. Large, soft curds. Good on a freshly made buttermilk biscuit with Maple View Dairy butter, grits, and bacon. Good on their own, too!

[pixelchef]

For scrambled eggs: a touch of milk.

For omelettes: 1 tbsp. water per egg. I've found that with an omelette, adding water as opposed to milk helps them stay firmer, and far less liquid-y.

In addition to any liquids, I usually add some Tabassco to my scrambled eggs and any number of other leftover ingredients I have laying around (ham, cheese, scallions, etc.)

I once scrambled eggs in duck fat, and cooked them with shredded duck confit - very good eggs.

[fimbul]

I thought of this topic after hearing, over the past few weeks, about ten different totally unsupported quasi-supestitious theories of what you should add to eggs when scrambling.

Eggs bring this out in people. They're sort of storybook mystical in a _Wind in the Willows_ way. I think they're too closely associated with home and with family. There are all sorts of facts about eggs and egg cookery, but a lot of people cling to their way of cooking the things, and to the anecdotal explanations passed down with the methods. I think most folks want eggs the way their mom cooked them, with little regard for the experts and with little desire to try new variations.

I find cooking eggs for others to be very difficult. It's often hard to overcome others' preconceptions about what a plate of scrambled eggs ought to be.

[Elissa]

three minutes always good.

or coddled over dandelion greens & arugula with shallots and anchovies. as in caesars: full leaves eaten with washed hands and fresh dressing. warstishire much better here than on steak.

it was julia about adding raw eggs at the end to stop the cooking, i think.

mme. david says scrambled ought be well beaten, taking one white out for every four, but that au contraire an omlette's eggs not beaten but stirred, "a few firm turns with two forks."

she also recommends w. parsley tarragon chives and chervil. add half with s n p with raw eggs and other half when in pan.

let us not forget raw: in Tampopo, one japanese mouth to another; or with in John O'Hara's BUtterfield8, to cure hangvers.

mine i often scramble w onions.

the spanish have the best way of flipping tortillas, the omelettes they make to last in a tapas case, inches thick oft w potatoes. let it set, then put a plate over the top of the pan, flip and slide it back on over.

Bunuel said, or was it Fellini: Sex without sin is like eggs without salt.

I wonder how Bunuel made his eggs in Mexico: with tomatos, onions, chilies and cilantro, mole? tomatillo sauce?

Edited February 20, 2003 by lissome (log)

[JAZ]

Since I was planning on scrambling some eggs anyway, I just took the opporutnity to do a little experiment. I whisked three eggs separately: one plain, one with a tablespoon of water and one with a tablespoon of whole milk, then cooked them separately. I used the same pan with a little butter.

The egg with milk didn't blend very well -- when I poured it into the pan to cook, there were big streaks of unwhisked whites.

The egg with water blended quite well, and turned very very pale.

They seemed to cook at about the same rate. The egg with the water was fluffier than either the plain one or the one with milk, but felt and tasted watery. The one with milk was fluffier than the plain one. The texture was nice and creamy, but the flavor was weak.

Usually when I scramble eggs I blend in a little butter right as the eggs are finishing (unless I'm adding cheese), so the plain egg seemed a little dry compared with my usual eggs, but it was definitely the best tasting of the three.

The only time I add liquid to eggs for scrambling is when I make what I call quiche lorraine eggs. In that case I add quite a lot of half and half, whisk the eggs constantly until they're just set, then fold in some diced cooked bacon or ham and gruyere cheese. In that case I want more of a custard taste and less of a plain egg taste, which is exactly what I get.

[bigbear]

People have to add something or they don't feel like they're cooking. That pig caught in that house-fire might have been perfection, even without a cook.

[beachcove]

The Sopranos like their scrambled eggs with sour cream mixed in. It was Ralphie's last meal, in fact!

[scamhi]

My recipe for great scrambled.

3 eggs throw away 1-2 yolks..come on its still yellow with the fat saved add about a 1" piece from a creamy chevre log.

mmmm.