The great scrambled egg debate. Milk or Not?

[Somnolent]

I've always melted the butter, added a splash of milk (no more volume than the melted butter), added the eggs and whipped.
St Delia says adding milk is a no-no.

I've tried her way, and a) it needs more attention to stop it catching on the bottom of the pan, even with the gentlest of heat and b) I don't like the taste as much.

What do other folks think?

[pcolbeck]

I'm with you. a bit of milk is needed but only a splash. The quality of the eggs is the thing with scrambled eggs. As fresh as possible. When we kept our own hens we had fantastic scrambled eggs.

[menthel]

Little splash of milk in with the eggs, or if you are feeling posh an even smaller amount of cream.

[toontra]

Add milk when beating the eggs.  Makes the result lighter & fluffier.

Wouldn't bother listening to "experts" on these matters.  They all disagree with each other anyway.

[andrewc]

Just a big knob of butter here 

[ElyDave]

butter, seasoning, herbs if you like.

If I'm feeling really indulgent, maybe a splash of cream while cooking and a bit of smoked salmon

The secret for me is a low heat, and just set the eggs.

[Basil]

I add the splash of milk to scrambled eggs, but never to omelette.

I love scrambled eggs, but am put off a bit by difficulty of the washing up.

[Paul H]

Splash of milk and no butter for me, then in the microwave to save the washing up 

[Torslanda]

Ely Dave has it. A non-stick pan and a plastic whisk help considerably but a low heat is the key.

Clarissa Dixon-Wright made scrambled eggs in an improvised bain marie by sitting a glass dish over a pan of boiling water. I tried it and the results were excellent but took nearly half an hour to cook. Life's too short for that!

Eggs in the pan, knob of butter, salt and black pepper, splash of milk or cream and whisk it all together on a very low light. Keep whisking until the eggs set then remove from the heat and allow them to finish cooking in the residual heat from the pan. That way you don't need a belt sander to clean the pan.

[Wobbly John]

Milk, butter & seasoning, here.

Delia needs to be controversial to sell books/TV...

[Ben T]

My brother puts cheese in it which my mum thinks is a travesty 

Never even tried putting milk in it, or thought of it.

[Ben T]

Ely Dave has it. A non-stick pan and a plastic whisk help considerably but a low heat is the key.

Clarissa Dixon-Wright made scrambled eggs in an improvised bain marie by sitting a glass dish over a pan of boiling water. I tried it and the results were excellent but took nearly half an hour to cook. Life's too short for that!

Eggs in the pan, knob of butter, salt and black pepper, splash of milk or cream and whisk it all together on a very low light. Keep whisking until the eggs set then remove from the heat and allow them to finish cooking in the residual heat from the pan. That way you don't need a belt sander to clean the pan.

or get a non stick pan

[dim]

2 free range eggs, 2 tablespoons of milk, salt, fresh ground black pepper

whisk, add to a microwave bowl, microwave on high for 40 seconds, mix then cook for approx 30 seconds

serve on hot buttered toast, with a dab of Tomato Ketchup

[rafletcher]

Adding milk is something my mother did, maybe to stretch the eggs. For me it’s just butter and eggs. And a non-stick pan  .

[Jaded]

Milk

[andrewc]

I have been known to add a dollop of chilli sauce to the mix as well....

[nicknack]

Butter only. If I added milk to Mrs n's scrambles, divorce would ensue.

[hellymedic]

(click to show/hide)

We do our scrambled eggs in the microwave.
With milk.

[ian]

A splash of milk to loosen it up.

If you can't be bothered with indirect heat/bain marie, which takes nearly forever, try a (very) low heat and keep stirring until the egg curdles. Do not stop stirring. Once it's started to go, off with the heat. And keep stirring. Add some butter and a pinch of salt to serve.

The result is perfectly smooth and velvety scrambled eggs. Don't rush it, it should take several minutes. Longer is better (as Lady Sanderstead said to Boggins the footman). Too many attempts at scrambled eggs are just mangled (and overcooked) omelette.

Please no, not the microwave.

[pcolbeck]

The microwave works OK for scrambled eggs but to get good results its not any quicker than a pan. You have to give it 20 seconds take it out and stir and then do it in 10 second bursts stirring in between.
Only advantage is you can use a glass bowl which is easier to wash up. I prefer a pan but Mrs Pcolbeck prefers I use a bowl as she doesnt trust my washing up skills (we don't have non stick pans).

[ian]

Trust me, once you've cooked them low and slow in a pan there's no going back. That's how scrambled eggs are supposed to be. Anything else is just mutilated omelette.

[ElyDave]

no microwaves please, ends up like cheap hotel rubbery scrambled eggs.

I nearly always order an omelette at breakfast when travelling, unless I can guarantee getting there just as the eggs have been scrambled

[JonB]

Milk added to the beaten eggs before going into the frying where the butter has melted, keep stirring but don't cook too much. All good 

Interesting, someone mentioned a Bain Marie to me yesterday and I had no idea what they were talking about, I'd really never heard of them and now I'm seeing them referenced today as well so at least I know what you're on about (sounds a tremendous faff).

[Jakob W]

ISTR that Gordon the Sweary just uses eggs and butter, but adds salt and a dollop of creme fraiche at the end, which stops them from overcooking.

Microwaves are the best way to make lemon curd or custard, so I don't see why you couldn't do scrambled eggs like that, though as pcolbeck says it's not that much less faff than doing it low and slow the trad way.

(Edit: usually without milk, mainly because I can't be arsed beating the eggs and just crack them into the pan and stir; a splash of milk if I am beating them.)

[ian]

It's the constant stirring over a low heat that makes the difference. It's like making ice cream, rather than big chunks of omelette, it keeps the eggy clumps small so the result is smooth and creamy rather than a pile of omelette scrapings. It's also important to leave them juicy rather than dry, which means stopping cooking earlier than you might and keeping up the stirring. Too late and they'll continue to cook to dryness. Trust me, I'm a Professor of Scramblology.