I’m thinking of cutting down on cholesterol and therefore am scrutinizing my egg intake. I wonder about using Egg Beaters as a substitute:
How do they cook up in terms of a “two-egg” omelette-type deal? I sometimes make this with a slice of cheese for an egg sandwich. How about for scrambled eggs? Do they have the consistency of beaten eggs cooked as omelettes or scrambled?
If I add plenty of salt-substitute and pepper, will they taste like eggs?
Are they reliable to use in baking desserts? or casseroles that call for eggs (mac and cheese, lasagna)?
I think they’re absolutely yummy. They’re a little bit thinner in texture than eggs, or perhaps smoother, so they don’t make perfect omelettes. But they’re really good for say, a breakfast pizza.
???They taste like eggs to me already. And you can get different flavors, like MExican, or whatever.
1- They make a better scramble than they do an omelette. Like Anaamika said, the consistency isn’t quite there for a real, God’s honest Denver omelette. I usually do a three egg scramble as opposed to the two with egg beaters—you’ll find out how filling the yolks are when you make the switch.
2- Umm…they are eggs. With no yolk. I think some nutrients are added, but yeah, since they’re just egg whites they, um, taste like egg whites.
3- I wouldn’t use them for deserts. Baking is such a fickle mistress—if the recipe needs a yolk, you should probably go ahead & use it.
Ah, but if the recipe calls for egg whites, could I use Egg Beaters? Because I’ve got to tell you, I’m very good at many things cooking and baking related, but I couldn’t separate a damned egg white if my life depended on it.
I was thinking of trying these, but I LIKE the yolk, is that what the secret is here, there’s no yolk?
Tell me there’s some semblance of yolk-ish flavor or texture before I take the plunge. And flavored eggs? Huh? I mean, come on, I can flavor my own eggs - chop some jalapeno into the pan, pour some salsa verde on it when I eat it…
There is a little bit of yokey flavor and the texture is somewhere between scrambled egg whites and real scrambled eggs. I like them.
They are better than Better than Eggs brand - those taste more like the whites dyed yellow.
I tried the flavored ones once. I think they were supposed to have peppers & onions, but I couldn’t find them except for a few tiny red & green spots. I’ve only bought the plain ones since then.
I love me some egg yolks too - if I’ve had to separate eggs and only use the whites for baking, I save the yolks - and scramble them up and eat 'em. Talk about RICH…it’s yummy!
I agree, my cholesterol is better than just fine right now. I think I’m off to get me some Jumbo eggs and make a big old omelet for breakfast/dinner tonight.
I used to do the “crack the egg and pass the yolk back and forth between the shell halves” method of separating, with mixed results. Then I saw “The Hours” and adopted Meryl Streep’s character’s method: empty the egg into your hand and gently cup the yolk in your hand, letting the white slide away. Works great, and there’s no chance of shell shards getting involved.
Thanks for the info on the Egg Beaters; for some reason I thought they were somehow different from egg whites.
Don’t use them, or use them with caution in things like Pecan Pie. They seem to have more water in them than real eggs, and bubble up oddly. The end result was fine, though I think the pies overflowed their crusts during the baking process.
Real baked mac & cheese and lasagna, yes, of course. Not the stovetop stuff. Don’t you? If not, what emulsifies your fats and waters? Doesn’t the final dish separate and run?
Nope. There are egg yolks in there, and if a recipe calls for the white only you could mess it up. For instance, meringue = NO YOLK because the fat in the yolk will not allow the white to puff up properly.
If you want a really good consistency, hit your egg-beaters and milk (what I put into omlettes) mixture with a stick blender for a half-minute or so. Puffy!
Huh! Okay, I’ve been using my eggbeaters to make omelets with, and they’ve been turning out just fine. Well, instead of folding the omelet, I simply flip the entire thing. Maybe it’s just how I like my omelet to be, but for me, the eggbeaters work fine. Tip: do not try the ham and egg Better than Egg. It’s nasty! I did make an omelet with the southwestern Egg Beaters last weekend; I added some colby jack cheese and served it with a bit of mild salsa and some low-fat sour cream, and boy was it yummy. It was not true omelet consistency, though, I’ll admit. I’ll also admit that yolks are my favorite part of the egg; I do miss being able to have a fried egg over easy or a soft boiled egg, and in fact will still have them occasionally (cholesterol be damned … shhh!). I love dipping toast into the yolks!
Egg whites and yolks are easy-peasy to separate! And I am not a wonderful cvook - just average.
Just crack a hole in the shell, and then gently hold it over a bowl. the whites will drain out first. When 90% of the white is drained, you can open the egg more and remove the rest of it with ease.
I don’t use eggs in either, myself. My mac & cheese is based on a bechamel, as is my white layer in lasagne (I make mine Bolgnese style with alternating layers of a beef ragu and besciamella).
I use the hand method of separating eggs, too. Just put them in the curled fingers part of a cupped hand, let the whites drip out between the fingers into one bowl, then toss the yolk into a different bowl.
