Author Topic: How do you make scrambled eggs?  (Read 20389 times)

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #25 on: 19 September, 2020, 08:41:33 pm »
What I really hate are the simultaneously dry and wet eggs you get in hotel buffets. Probably a result of being kept steaming under cloches after cooking.
That stuff really is yak.
Scrambled yak eggs. My mind boggles (and my stomach too).
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

ian

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #26 on: 19 September, 2020, 08:54:57 pm »
Slow, slow, slow.

Big cow-sized pile of butter in pan, on a low, low heat, wait for it to melt but not get hot, you don't want to fry the eggs. Crack in the eggs and start stirring, keep stirring, then stir some more, then stir a bit more, and then keep stirring. The eggs will eventually start to curdle, keep stirring, the aim to keep a smooth, veloute texture. Once they start to come together turn off the heat and keep stirring. The result shouldn't be too wet, it's not custard, but it also shouldn't be dry clumps of eggs. It should have an even texture, indeed not the curious alien sex gloop that serve in hotel breakfast buffets. Never eat the hot stuff in hotel buffets anyway, it's always odd. I usually make a giant cheese sandwich. It's like a mission for me, if it's going to cost $35, I'm going to construct a sandwich that really would cost that much. I start by taking the entire tray of cheese and work up from there.

Salt and pepper will do the trick. I sometimes go off-piste and add oregano and chopped tomato at the end. I normally support the addition of cheese to everything, but I don't think it adds much to good scambled eggs.

The butter makes everything better is a truism. If you've been in a proper kitchen you'll note two things: whereas you'd use a little pat of butter, proper chefs use butter in quantities that would make your arteries run like the A40 at rush hour in sympathy. The other thing is salt. They're not scared of salt. They're serious about seasoning.

You can go a bit crazy, of course, and turn your scramble into nasi goreng (which, Chez Asbestos, we call nasty orang utan). Toss in some cooked rice, ginger, shrimp paste, any meaty bits, kecap manis, tamarind, and chilli (and season it with MSG). It's one of the best and easiest meals to make.

Adam

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Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #27 on: 19 September, 2020, 10:39:10 pm »
Cream & lots of cheese.
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” -Albert Einstein

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #28 on: 20 September, 2020, 07:50:03 pm »
A la Peter T Hooper...

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #29 on: 20 September, 2020, 08:01:33 pm »
I once stayed in a b&b (in extremis, I couldn’t get home due to snow) and they served microwaved scrambled egg. Well, that was what they said it was. What I actually got was an egg frisbee.  ::-)
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slope

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Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #30 on: 20 September, 2020, 08:29:00 pm »
Slow, slow, slow.

Big cow-sized pile of butter in pan, on a low, low heat, wait for it to melt but not get hot, you don't want to fry the eggs. Crack in the eggs and start stirring, keep stirring, then stir some more, then stir a bit more, and then keep stirring . . .

+ 1

Can take 15 patient minutes - AND use the freshest eggs

Plus for added protein and ridiculousness, crumble over some crispy fried black pudding and a few small dobs of XO sauce = divine creamy gloop + crunch + zing

Edd

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #31 on: 21 September, 2020, 02:43:56 pm »
Similar to others above, butter in pan until almost melted then add the eggs, mix and cook over a low(ish - I'm probably hungry, therefore impatient) heat with some salt. Add pepper and some more salt when serving. Black garlic is good with scrambled eggs, I wish I had discovered black garlic earlier in my life (although that could be said of many ingredients)

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #32 on: 21 September, 2020, 03:58:02 pm »
Those who do add milk, what does it bring to the party?

An appropriate amount of milk makes it lighter, creamier and fluffier than egg on its own. It is more noticeable when making an omelette than scrambled, in my view. If you want to be poncey, add the milk at the end to stop cooking.

The onset of my culinary journey dates back to the (late sixties) when I and some friends found ourselves juxtaposed with a chef during some odd hours of the night as he was preparing for a sit down meal for a large number of people. He prepared some omelettes for us, and the difference between that and what were generally thought of as omelettes amazed me. That technique could make so much difference to a flavour and experience was an education.

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #33 on: 21 September, 2020, 04:05:44 pm »
I use milk.

Whisk the eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl - glass not metal until you get bubbles. melt better in the pan, reduce heat, pour slowly into the nearly melty butter and stand there stirring for ages and it will all come together. By which time your commis chef has made the coffee, toasted the bread and if feeling decadent grilled the sausages.
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ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #34 on: 21 September, 2020, 04:31:31 pm »
very slow, controversially I use olive oil.
Frying pan, whisk the eggs first, plenty of S&P
Plenty of stirring, until just setting

Additions if I'm feeling luxurious or can be arsed
- maybe fold in the chopped greens of spring onion
- smoked salmon or mackarel
- sauteed mushrooms
- a dash of cream

I don't like the smell of cooking in butter  :sick:
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #35 on: 21 September, 2020, 04:33:10 pm »
I use milk sometimes, but there's no rhyme/reason to it. When I do it has to be full fat - anything less is horrible. But usually it's just (like many) eggs broken up and stirred in butter in a non-stick pan, as slow as you like, salted and served with toast, semi-solid, not set.

Smoked salmon for high days, holidays and lovers.

Mine are done with chorizo ...

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Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #36 on: 21 September, 2020, 05:17:54 pm »
Eggs, salt & pepper, dash of milk; beaten.  Marge/butter melted in non-stick pan.  Not overdone. 

Diluting eggs with milk (or other liquid) apparently raises the coagulation temperature, so probably just means more leeway & one is less likely to end up with egg-rubber, if the pan's a bit hot.
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Valiant

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Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #37 on: 05 October, 2020, 08:49:57 pm »
Butter, egg, splash of milk, cheese, diced green chillies, paprika and chopped parsley.
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Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #38 on: 06 October, 2020, 09:21:18 am »
With cress

ian

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #39 on: 06 October, 2020, 09:37:00 am »
As small children, me and my best friend Jason sat under the slide during the school dinner break and – evidently unimpressed with the lunchtime fayre – ate loads of cress. Except, our childish minds untrained in the taxonomic arts of botany, didn't pick up on the fact that it was actually clover. I really have no idea why small children were willingly eating vegetables. But anyway, we scoffed it like hungry goats. School dinner must have been really bad that day.

Earned us a free trip to the hospital.

(That was the same school where I faked school poisoning so well to get out of eating pilchards that I also got taken to hospital. Never fessed up to that one. My mum still thinks she fed me poisoned breakfast.)

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #40 on: 06 October, 2020, 10:49:37 am »
Eggs, salt & pepper, dash of milk; beaten.  Marge/butter melted in non-stick pan.  Not overdone. 



 :sick:

Always butter

ian

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #41 on: 06 October, 2020, 11:08:58 am »
Marg is coagulated demon love gravy. It's sensibly avoided. Butter makes everything better isn't theory, it's fact.

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #42 on: 06 October, 2020, 11:13:39 am »
Damn you all. I really want some scrambled eggs now.
(I live with someone who can't stand the smell of eggs cooking.)
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citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #43 on: 06 October, 2020, 11:26:30 am »
Diluting eggs with milk (or other liquid) apparently raises the coagulation temperature, so probably just means more leeway & one is less likely to end up with egg-rubber, if the pan's a bit hot.

I think constant stirring is the key to avoiding overdone, dry and/or rubbery eggs, and never leaving the pan unattended.

Although I find slow and low is the easiest, most reliable way to get good results, I sometimes use the Jamie Oliver method - heat the pan up to very hot, then take it off the heat, add the eggs and stir vigorously. The eggs cook in the residual heat of the pan and are done to perfection in under a minute.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #44 on: 06 October, 2020, 11:37:23 am »
An appropriate amount of milk makes it lighter, creamier and fluffier than egg on its own. It is more noticeable when making an omelette than scrambled, in my view. If you want to be poncey, add the milk at the end to stop cooking.

Don't know about poncey but I add the butter at the end of cooking - cold butter, cut into small pieces and stirred in just as they reach the point of being done. Not entirely sure why I adopted that habit, the reason is lost in the mists of time, but it seems to give good results so I continue doing it that way. It may well be to do with stopping them cooking.

Lightness is not something I would consider a desirable quality of scrambled eggs, tbh - for me, part of the appeal is their luxurious richness. But that's just a matter of personal taste, I guess.

I never add milk to omelettes either, and certainly not water, which someone mentioned upthread - but I looked it up and apparently adding a splash of water to the eggs for an omelette is a thing. Well I never.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

ian

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #45 on: 06 October, 2020, 11:39:35 am »
Yes, never stop stirring and keep the heat low. It helps to have a decent heavy pan that distributes that heat, but the idea is that it doesn't stick and you don't get big clumps of egg (but don't overdo it, unless you want school dinner custard), otherwise you end up with something that looks like a disastrous attempt at an omelette. Equally, the butter isn't there to fry the eggs (oh the horror, the horror) it's to add flavour and texture. If it's a heavy pan, of course, take it off the heat when it starts to turn and keep stirring, the pan will do the rest.

I'm not sure I'd ever add milk, the point is surely eggs.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #46 on: 06 October, 2020, 11:46:27 am »
I'm not sure I'd ever add milk, the point is surely eggs.

Yes and no... I broadly agree but it's not something I feel the need to be dogmatic about, and really there is no definitive truth.

I've done a bit of research (ie looking in some cookery books) and there are many different methods, some with milk, some with cream. Delia Smith (butter, no milk) cites Escoffier for her recipe. There's poncey for you.

Really I was asking the question to see if people had genuine culinary reasons for adding milk/cream, or if it was just learned behaviour. My conclusion is that it's mostly a matter of personal taste.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #47 on: 06 October, 2020, 11:52:14 am »
I sometimes use the Jamie Oliver method

This is something I saw him do on the telly once. I just looked it up to see if I could find a video for reference but instead I found a different video where he demonstrates cooking scrambled eggs three ways (English, French, American):
https://youtu.be/s9r-CxnCXkg

I've tried the 'French' method before and it's good, but frankly, life is too short.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #48 on: 06 October, 2020, 11:57:00 am »
As most on the thread - break up/lightly whisk with a fork the eggs in a bowl. Add S&P. Melt butter in pan. Cook eggs slowly over a low heat.

My mother used to add milk - like others upthread, I think that was just to stretch the eggs.
I used to add cheese when I lived on my own. Mr fimm isn't a fan of the addition of cheese. He can make poached eggs, I can't, but I'm the maker of scrambled eggs.

When we visit our friends up north we often have scrambled eggs because she likes them and he doesn't; I usually get to make them, but once I've served mr fimm and myself nice, soft, just cooked to perfection eggs, I have to hand the pan back to my friend to cook her portion to the state of dryness she prefers...

Edited to add: I recall reading a Heston Blumenthal method where he scrambled the eggs in a bowl over a pan of water for 40 minutes... life is way too short for that.

ian

Re: How do you make scrambled eggs?
« Reply #49 on: 06 October, 2020, 12:00:58 pm »
I think it depends on the desired eggyness – I like them eggy so I'm not sure what milk brings to that party. Decent eggs, butter, and a pan work for me.

I think my scrambled eggs fall between the English-French, it's the constant stirring and low heat. I'm not sure I could be bothered with a bain marie, but if you keep the heat low and the stirring constant you get something similar. Warning: this does take several minutes.

I do add a splash of milk to my omelette mix though, that's because it should have a slight crisp to the bottom and edges, but you want the top to just set. I find that without the milk there's a danger of ending up with a chewy overcooked egg discus.

I always fuck up poached eggs. They are my kitchen nemesis.