How do you cook your scrambled eggs?

I just tried it right now, and in a cast-iron pan. About 30-40 seconds from start to finish, scrambled in-pan, with minimal sticking (I was able to wipe the pan clean with nothing but a paper towel.) With a non-stick pan, there is absolutely zero sticking.

For a three egg omelet, I separate one or two of the eggs and whip the whites, then fold them into the beaten part for extra fluff.

For scrambled eggs, it doesn’t matter if you use high, medium, or low heat. It’s the same as cooking with a wok. Low heat - stir slowly or less often. High heat - stir quickly or more often. Remove the eggs from the pan when the eggs reach the proper temperature.

I prefer to move scrambled eggs from pan to plate when they are still a bit “shiny” and let them finish cooking on the plate.

Probably not classic scrambled eggs, but I make this most days of the week for breakfast.
Cast iron frying pan - set on low and let it heat up for a good while - like five minutes or so. I use a small nugget of butter, just enough to coat the pan and add some flavour, and then crack the eggs in a bowl, swirl them a bit with the spatula and pour into the pan. As they cook, move the done bits and let the uncooked bits flow into the spot, until it’s all mostly done, then flip so the jiggle bits in the centre cook and add a slice of cheese to the top. Turn heat off, when the toast pops, add some HP, slide the eggs on top and that’s my go to breakfast.

That’s basically almost a French country style omelet. Here’s Jacques Pepin’s technique.

De gustibus non est disputandum

Eggsactly. :wink: That’s why I enjoy cooking–get to do it the way I want. :slight_smile: That said, the only scrambled eggs I really don’t like are the style that you usually get at hotel breakfasts.

Very hot frying pan, plenty of grease in it. Break the eggs into is, grind on plenty of black pepper, and stir around enough to get some mixing of white and yolk, and serve while still a substantial quantity of snot in the texture.

Crack the eggs over very hot bacon grease. Stir a few times close to the end. Add a little salt at the end. I like the little gobs of not quite cooked yolks.

If I’m making pancakes too I’ll add a little batter while the eggs are super runny. They’re fluffier that way.

I guess I should study up on the differences between egg dishes… to me, what I make are scrambled eggs, but could well be more like an omelet. I made what I thought was an omelet for a customer when I worked in a restaurant, and, in hindsight, it was probably closer to a frittata. It didn’t get sent back, so I guess it was edible, if not quite what was expected.

In the last couple of years, I’ve moved firmly into the bacon grease camp whenever I have any. And I don’t skimp on it: lost of bacon grease makes the eggs lots of delicious. I salt the eggs in advance (less salt than I’d use with oil, because the grease is salty) & fork-whisk them in a bowl, then pour them in the pan I cooked the bacon in, MAYBE pouring off a little of the grease in advance but not always. The pan is on medium-low heat, and they cook slowly, getting all those tasty brown bits of bacon stirred in from the bottom of the pan. The result is creamy and rich with porky flavor.

When I do fried rice, I do a high-heat scramble for the eggs, but otherwise I prefer the low-heat method.

There is a lot of overlap in terms in English usage, and the differences vary regionally, too. An American-style omelet is a good bit different than a classic French omelet (see the Julia Child video.) What I described as my method is somewhere between scrambled eggs and an omelet, too. And then we have the Asian style scrambled eggs (which are also more omelet-like), the creamy English or French-style scrambled eggs that can have cream or creme fraiche in them, etc. Then we have styles where the eggs are scrambled in the pan, styles where the eggs are mixed in bowl (some to a uniform liquid; others to having bits of identifiable white and yolk, etc.) It can get fairly murky. I go back and forth between scrambling in-pan and in a bowl, depending on my mood, but I have no patience for slow cooked eggs, and I want them done in the time it takes my toast to brown. And it happens to result in a style I prefer to the slower cooked ones.

Bacon grease is one of my preferred frying media for scrambled eggs. In my case, fry bacon crisp and then crumble and set aside. Reheat grease (maybe drain off excess first) to medium-high and pour in scrambled eggs (with milk and appropriate seasonings). Scramble continuously, reintroducing bacon crumbles after egg just begins to firm up.

Chorizo fat with a pat of butter to extend it is also good. Dice chorizo instead of crumbled bacon. Maybe go all-out with diced potatoes and veggies and some nice toasty tortillas.

Doesn’t anyone use the Ronco Egg Scrambler. :confused:

The method that I learned (don’t ask me where, I don’t know) goes something like this for a single serving;

Crack three eggs into a bowl. Add a dash of salt, a dash of black pepper, a generous pinch of finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, and about a tablespoon of heavy cream. Whisk until it’s as homogenous as you can get it to be (it’s all in the wrist.)

Heat a small pan on maximum heat. Add about a tablespoon of butter and tilt the pan while it melts to form an even coating. Pour the eggs in, immediately remove the pan from the heating element, and whisk with fork until curdled to your liking. Plate immediately.

This technique also works well for making a simple omelette, although in that case I usually add some herbs to the raw egg mix.

Bacon grease flavors eggs and omelettes too strongly, IMO, although I do like using it for fried eggs or eggs in a basket.

The key to cooking scrambled eggs is to do it over medium high heat and use a spatula to gently push the edges toward the center of the pan so that the liquid on the top has a chance to circulate. Otherwise you end up with a crusty bottom (eeeuuuwwwwwwww!!! :eek: ) and a runny top. You also avoid getting that “granular” effect from stirring them too much in the pan over high heat.

I don’t like runny eggs, but I don’t fry mine rock-hard either. Firm but still melt-in-your-mouth moist is how I like them. As a rule, I use unsalted butter to fry them in, but bacon grease and olive oil are good alternatives.

I use a whisk to mix them three at a time in a large bowl with evaporated or whole milk. I don’t salt them before cooking, as this can make them tough. I will, however, add a little paprika on occasion, or some chopped herbs (usually chives or dill). The eggs get salted and covered with freshly ground pepper as soon as they come out of the pan, and eaten immediately. (Unless you’re eating custard out of the fridge, cold eggs suck!)

If you want to add grated cheese, I recommend doing so while the eggs are still in the pan and you’re moving them around gently with the spatula.

This sounded suspicious to me, and a little Googling makes it sound like a kitchen legend:

This, however, is God’s truth. My greatest frustration is when I cook breakfast for my family, telling them it’ll be ready in five minutes, then when I call them to the table, they find a dozen things to do before sitting down. THE EGGS ARE HOT, PEOPLE! SIT THE HELL DOWN AND EAT! is what I think but don’t say while I watch their eggs get cold.

Just to add to the controversy, I often add a small squirt of brown mustard to the scramble, and if making breakfast burritos I add cream cheese and fold it in.

Also, salt does NOT make eggs tough. In fact, other than boiled corn, I can’t think of anything offhand that salt makes tough during the cooking process.

Yeah, I used to follow the “don’t salt your eggs–it makes them tough” cooking rule, and then I tried it for myself. It doesn’t make them tough at all, and it makes the eggs taste better than salting afterward, IMHO.

Yes. I’ve always added salt to the eggs before or during cooking. No toughening that I ever detected.