Q&A: All About Eggs --Omelettes & More

[NickMach007]

One more praise message. Thanks a ton for the egg-courses over the week. Now I'm really looking forward to the rest of this semester of eCGI. What a great start!

To report in, my 1st omlette, with just some fresh thyme and parsley, came out slightly overdone and quite toasty on the outside, so I tried it again. The second time (just a plain omlette) it came out near perfect, but just slighty browned on the outside. The inside though was so fluffy and delicious! Next time I think I'll have it.

I wish I had a digital camera (well, maybe for my birthday...only a month and a half away...) Thanks FG

Edited February 16, 2004 by NickMach007 (log)

[Fat Guy]

I think I may have mentioned in the course materials that my personal preference runs towards letting the butter go a little towards brown before I add the eggs. So you'll find that the omelettes I make for myself run similar to you description of "it came out near perfect, but just slighty browned on the outside. The inside though was so fluffy and delicious!" I like the slight nuttiness that comes from that departure from the textbook method. I think you'll find it rewarding to make an omelette by the book, but you may very well find yourself going back to your earlier result by choice.

[slkinsey]

If I may make a plug for my omelette-making implement of preference, a French steel purpose-designed (and cheap) omelette pan, this pan almost always provides a very light browning.

[NickMach007]

If I may make a plug for my omelette-making implement of preference, a French steel purpose-designed (and cheap) omelette pan, this pan almost always provides a very light browning.

Well, as much a purist as I am, I still love my Calphalon Pro. nonstick. I don't cook my eggs in anything else. I might not be ready for a French steel.

On the other hand, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with slighty browned omlettes. I am going to keep trying until I master the "unbrowned" omlette, then I can go back to the toastier one...

[chromedome]

One minor quibble about the meringues...

I believe the basic "hard" meringue, as described, is not "Swiss" but "French." To make a Swiss meringue, one heats the egg whites and sugar gently in a bain-marie before whipping them. Accordin' to my textbooks, anyway.

In practice they're more or less interchangeable, but the Swiss meringue is somewhat more stable.

[Fat Guy]

Forgive me. I was going by the American Egg Board's terminology, which I see from looking in a couple of pastry books is incorrect. In my (sort of) defense, here's where I got my (seemingly incorrect) info from:

http://www.aeb.org/recipes/basics/soft_mer...d_meringues.htm

[Sailor Stan]

Rachael, what a beautiful omelette! One thing I've found with my "mid-western" omelettes is that it's best to precook the additives before adding egg. I used to whip my eggs and add them to the pan first, then throw in the peppers, onions, mushrooms, bacon, cheese, etc. I found that after folding the omelette, I too often ended up with what looked like uncooked egg in the middle. It's hard to know if it's uncooked egg or excess moisture from the 'cold' additives.

To overcome this, my "brutish" effort is to saute all my ingredients (except the cheese) in the pan first and then add the whipped eggs to the, now warmed, ingredients. This seems to allow the egg to absorb more heat more quickly. I next sprinkle on the cheese and 'flip' over in half, allowing a brief amount of time for both sides to cook through. Having the additives precooked and warm allows for faster cooking of the egg, lessoning the need to cook longer and eliminating the 'browning affect'.

[helius]

Help!

From what I understand (from the online lesson and the animated images), I'm supposed to flip the omelette such that the 1/3 part that's furthest away from the pan's handle ends up on the other two-thirds. I can do complete flips when it comes to over-easy eggs, but this seems to be beyond me.

Suggestions would be much appreciated.

Tom

Edited May 19, 2004 by helius (log)

[Fat Guy]

Don't think of it as a flip. Think of it as a push and a jerk. You just want to push so the egg mass to slide away from you towards the far side of the pan such that it starts to climb the side, at which point you want to jerk and tilt the pan so that the leading edge of the eggs keeps climbing and then falls back on the main mass of eggs.

Language just isn't great for some things.

[helius]

Don't think of it as a flip. Think of it as a push and a jerk. You just want to push so the egg mass to slide away from you towards the far side of the pan such that it starts to climb the side, at which point you want to jerk and tilt the pan so that the leading edge of the eggs keeps climbing and then falls back on the main mass of eggs.

Language just isn't great for some things.

Thanks for the reply, FG. I do agree that it's some times really hard to explain these things in words. Reminds me of my adventures in learning how to make puff pastry.

I'll have to get a few more dozen eggs tomorrow.

[Rachel Perlow]

Eggs are cheap. Practice, practice, practice.

The leftovers can be stored in the fridge for egg sandwiches for breakfast. You can also roll them in tortillas with cheese and salsa and freeze them for microwavable breakfast burritos.

[cake]

Two years late to this lesson but it was great nonetheless!

I used the Julia method on some poached eggs, but they didn't come out as neatly as I thought they would. When out of their shells and in the water they still looked like jellyfish. Of course, it may have to do with the fact that I couldn't find the white vinegar and thus had to use white wine vinegar instead...who knows if this mattered.

But, as I was hungry and didn't want to experiment at that moment and already had two failed attempts at poached eggs, I decided to use the saran wrap trick mentioned above. Boy, do I like that trick!

So much so, that I've used it several times in the past week instead of practicing the regular way.

One thing I found out the hard way, today, while making my lunch, is that spraying oil on the saran wrap is REALLY important! Otherwise the egg really sticks!

Anyway, thanks for this great course--my eggs are a lot more appetizing looking now, and easy to make!

~Cindy