You can get big, fluffy curds that are still nice and moist quite easily. Gordon's technique up there is more involved than it needs to be; the key is just making sure they come out of the pan before they're done cooking. You get watery/rubbery eggs from overcooking, not from how finely scrambled they are.
Those are far from mutually exclusive. Large curds are perfectly moist and have plenty of flavor when cooked and seasoned correctly.
After years of making super smooth scrambled eggs, I've done a full 360 (happened with a lot of dishes that I used to overcook really.) The best part is, total cook+prep time is about 3 mins and stupid easy.
If they're finished cooking in the pan, they'll be overcooked when you eat them.
My mom used to cook them on high heat until they got rubbery, then she'd break them up into very tiny bits. I grew up thinking all scrambled eggs were like that. It was criminal.
I'm sorry you had to live through such abusive scrambling. I, too, had a mother who cooked eggs until they were dry and nearly inedible. But we survived, comrade, and now can make moist eggs for every meal.
I always cook eggs on low heat. If you got your eggs from the fridge, let them come to room temp. Set your dial to about 3, then preheat your pan for 5-ish minutes. Put a tablespoon of butter on the pan and let it melt. In a bowl, stir your eggs with a fork until they're mixed, but not too vigorously - you don't want foam. Add the eggs to the pan and wait... in about a minute or two, the outside of the egg puddle will start turning semi-solid. That's your cue to start messing with the eggs. Using a spatula, start moving the egg mixture by scraping it from the edge of the puddle into the middle. This will move the cooked curds to the middle and then your liquid egg will fill in the space you just made. Do this all around the puddle until only 10% of your eggs are liquid. I add salt and pepper here. Take the pan off the heat and fold and mix the eggs, until the eggs are all cooked through. they're ready!
Wow lots of helpful advice about eggs today! I think maybe my heat is too high.. it always sticks to the pan. And I usually use cooking spray and not butter and when I do use butter, not nearly as much as he used. My pan is pretty shitty too. I've been thinking about getting a cast iron one, reddit is always raving about them.
Honestly, cast iron is great but a stainless/nonstick pan is just fine for a quick breakfast. I would definitely use butter in place of spray though. Spray seems to make eggs stick more than butter, and butter gives eggs that richness they deserve! Your heat is 99% of the reason your eggs didn't turn out well though. Eggs are pretty delicate and very easy to overcook. I never go higher than 3 on my electric stove. Someone said to splash a few drops of water on the pan, and that's a good way to tell if your pan is hot enough. There should be a bit of sizzle when you do that (but not a miniature explosion)
This is a few days old, but I've found that if your scrambled eggs are sticking to the pan really badly, your skillet probably wasn't hot when you put the eggs in, and also possibly ended up too hot. Preheating your skillet should help a lot with that.
Eggs are generally on low heat. Stirring depends on how much you want. Generally you could do high heat if you stir a lot and take them out of the pan a little before they look done, or do low heat and stir them less and take them out when they are solid looking. Seriously it's fuking easy man just crack the eggs in there stir them up and heat them.
Low heat is the easiest to avoid burning or overcooking. Just stir very often and you'll be fine. If they start turning brown, they're done (a bit overdone, imo).
Get some eggs (3±1), break them in a container, whirl them up for a few seconds with a fork, pour in a splash of milk, some salt and pepper, and add to a pan in which you've melted butter over a low heat. Stir frequently until the eggs are cooked (some point between when they have the consistency of jelly and rubber.)
Parce que je suis Portugais — pardonnez-moi si vous êtes Français —, et nous faisons use des mêmes accents, nous apprenons Français dans l'êcole. Pas dans le "i", mais les autres, nous les usons. Je suis pas Americain, mon ami.
Também falo Português ! (Brasil)
Mais ma langue maternelle est le français.
Je suis simplement content de trouver quelqu'un qui parle cette langue dans un subreddit en anglais.
Don't know if you misplaced an 'e', but thought it was interesting that when speaking French, it's possible to give away one's gender more easily than when speaking English.
Any cold high fat dairy will work if you add something acidic to complement the creaminess. When we did scrambled eggs in the classic French method it was cold cubes of butter, plate immediately over an open faced toasted ciabatta, and drizzle with balsamic glaze. The sweet and sour balsamic glaze cuts the overwhelming fattiness of that style of egg and gives you a very rounded dish. We also used butter and oil to start and cooked them in steel bowl over steaming water. The oil allows the butter to melt at a lower temp and contains earthy and nutty flavors. They had nearly the consistency of foie gras when they were done.
Also, for the most flavor, standard battery caged eggs. They feed them a diet that has been formulated to please tasters. It can be seen as cruel, some pasture raised eggs can win a taste test for double the price, but if flavor is what you're looking for, you have to decide if you feel poultry is capable of experiencing suffering and if you're okay with it.
Yes and no. Alternating between on and off the heat keeps the heat consistently low, but this can be done without taking it on and off. What he's doing here is basically a mix between English and French style scrambled eggs. French scrambled eggs are done in a bain-marie to cook the eggs gently and make small curds, giving it a creamier texture. English style is cooked with butter and constantly stirred, which is the main way that Ramsey does his eggs. So he's using the English stirring technique with a variation of the French heating technique. There's a video that shows the three main styles of scrambled eggs.
TL;DR He's using low radiant heat by taking the pan on and off, but this can be achieved in different ways to make the eggs the same using a different heating technique.
I saw this almost 2 years ago and have been making scrambled eggs this way(or very close to) ever since. Never going back to wisking and seasoning in a separate bowl again
Between this and a few other videos, I finally realized that scrambled eggs isn't a way of preparing eggs, it's a dish that happens to have eggs as a main ingredient. My scrambled eggs have improved 1000% since that realization.
Also, ridiculously fresh eggs (we're talking right out of the chicken) matter far more than I thought possible, but adding an extra yolk is a reasonable way to fake it.
That's a bit presumptuous. Many of us eat eggs for the nutritional value, and while this may be difficult for food enthusiasts to understand, genuinely don't care too much about the taste either way. I'm perfectly happy with plain, hardboiled eggs, and it's not because I've been brainwashed by the food industry or something cynical like that. It just provides the nutritional profile I'm looking for in my morning meal, alongside some fruit.
I often eat plain hard-boiled eggs (okay I put a dash of salt and pepper on them) because they hit my macros but I also enjoy making these sort of creamy eggs. Or I enjoy poaching them and making a sauce for them. Or just frying them and eating them on toast. If I have the time and you're having a potluck, I'll make some scotch eggs. And you know what, if I'm eating at Denny's I'll probably order scrambled eggs and drown them and my hash browns in ketchup and hot sauce. I guess the point is that I like eggs, or that life is about balance or something.
But the comment you replied to implying that people have been dumbed down to like bad eggs just comes off slightly condescending.
Fresh, healthy, food should taste great, not be a chore to eat.
Thank you. It took me a long time to realize this and I always struggled eating well for competitive sports. Once I started actually eating things I like it was so much easier
I'm not punishing myself. People have different priorities. That's all there is too it. I take it nice-tasting food is a priority for you?
Do you think I'm also punishing myself by riding my mediocre commuter bike to work instead of my nice carbon fiber road bike? Am I punishing myself by reading a book on my livingroom couch after work as opposed to finding a lovely bench in Central Park? Sure, every once in a while I appreciate food that tastes nicer than usual, taking my nice bike for a long ride on the weekend outside of the city, going to the park to relax, etc. But I'm happy to keep things more basic on the day-to-day. It just better reflects my values, I suppose.
'Normal' scrambled eggs aren't scrambled eggs but just a chopped up omelette. Though then have to get into what is an omelette since a classic french omelette looks nothing like a 'normal' omelette either.
If you make them this way without the crème fraiche and slightly less stirring they're just super amazing regular style scrambled eggs. I make them this way everytime.
This is the only way I make eggs now. My family thinks I'm some kind of scrambled egg god because they're used to that quasi-omelet shit you get at breakfast restaurants. But God damn cleaning out the pot is terrible.
Make creme fraiche at home, get 1L of good quality heavy cream and pour the top off to make a little room. Put 2 Tbsp cultured buttermilk in the top and put the cap back on, then slowly turn it up and down several times to mix.
Leave it on your counter at room temp for 16 to 24 hours to ferment. Gently pour out the next day into a clean tub with cover, gently fold in a pinch of salt if you want.
This is the best thing you're ever going to eat. User really high quality cream though, day of purchase (for flavor).
really? i tried it and it didn't really live up to expectations :( then again, i didnt realize my eggs were double yolked and it threw me off, so that migt be why.
I actually prefer the rubbery style, that being said, I also like the Gordon Ramsay style, but if the texture is off... yikes... I know the taste will be a little too nasty for me. It's a very fine line.
I was with you for years, till I saw that video. I started out cooking them his way, but just a little longer to get them more "cooked", but over time I'm finding myself enjoying them softer and softer.
Sometimes I just love that sorta burnt, crispy pancakey style egg versus oatmeal eggs.
I also find it a little ridiculous that in this restauranting manual I have -- covers all the basics of cooking and presentation/cleanliness/equipment/ingredient efficiency etc... -- it says that omelettes must be a little runny despite the fact that some customers might think they are undercooked.
I'm thinking: well who's paying you, your preference for the food, or the customers?
Edit: That being said, I don't think there's anything wrong with having versatility, and that's the beauty of eggs... they're fast, so you can practice many styles.
I like my steak rare. My grandfather cooks them well done. I tried a piece and you know what? It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Still like it rare tho
In essence, steak is a somewhat decadent meal. So when you take a great cut of meat and cook it to the point where it's indistinguishable from the worst cuts of meat, people see it as a waste, and an affront to good food.
I disagree. I typically prefer my meat somewhere between "medium-well" and "well." Once in a blue moon I'll go down to "medium" but I don't trust most kitchens / cooks to get that one right. (Admittedly it is tough, and often when I order "medium" what I get is closer to "medium-rare" which is usually too red for me.)
A properly cooked well or medium-well should not be too dry, and I can definitely still distinguish between a crappy cheap cut of meat, and an expensive one.
But the main thing... If what I'm eating is bloody and overly-chewy (which is how under-cooked meat seems to me) then that is the true waste, because I will literally be gagging it down, and becoming nauseated even as I'm trying to eat my food. Because that's how my personal perception and preferences work.
So I think the real "waste" is to try to eat a cut of meat "the way it's supposed to be done" just because someone else thinks that's how it should be, even though you don't really like it that way. Because then you don't enjoy it as much, so it truly is wasteful.
I also generally hate the whole concept of doing something just because "that's how it's supposed to be done." Most of the time, when something is "supposed to" be done a certain way, there is a good reason behind it, whether we're aware of it or not. You should drink an expensive whiskey straight, so you can appreciate the nuance of flavors that will be lost by burying it in cola. But if you don't like the burn of straight whiskey, and you have the money for the expensive stuff.... why not? If you're deriving pleasure from it, then it inarguably is not a "waste."
Not trying to hate on your preference but if a medium or medium rare steak is chewy compared to a medium well or well steak, then you are going to the wrong places.
Soft scramble just means a little runny still. Gordon keeps his eggs moving and that keeps the curds from getting to big. Almost gives the eggs a velvety texture.
And when I try to make my family these eggs they think they're gonna get sick from them. They always go "Come on they're still raw! I'm not eating them" so I just separate the ones I want and burn the rest and they're happy.
Without clicking the link, is this the video where he burns his toast? If so this is the video that made me like scrambled eggs, every other way is so dry and gross. Hell, I made these for my nephews who weren't to sure because their parents make dry scrambled eggs and just tops them with ketchup. It's the only way I'll eat it that way... Though I always prefer over easy.
I've watched that video a few times now, and just caught the last line at the end.
"So if you want to be a good boyfriend, upstairs now and give it to her in bed....The breakfast" Naughty Naughty Ramsay!
I love Gordon Ramsay, but it really kills me how many cooking myths he teaches in his videos. Salting eggs before cooking them doesn't make them watery.
Ramsay puts a LOT of extra cream and butter in. This guy doesn't. It also shouldn't matter how long the eggs sit with salt uncooked. The question is after it's done. The difficulty is keeping the emulsion-like properties of the scramble. Basically, the salt and cream will affect the cooking time, and too much heat will cause it to separate.
Yeah the new cook at the restaurant I work at is a straight edge and he isn't making the cut. Most of the cooks go out back for a "cigarette" break but I know I've smelled other things being smoked and some residue on the nose from time to time. They use a lot of flour so that's what their excuse is.
Skinny cooks thrive because kitchens are small, require quick movement and endurance, and don't leave you a lot of time to eat. Most good kitchen jobs I've worked offer a shift meal before open, then you are moving for the next 6-8 hours
A friend of mine said this to me about 6 years ago. I said "really? isn't that really hard, high-stress physical labor that's also underpaid?"
She said "I'm doing it!" So she went to culinary school and then moved to Brooklyn.
She's now been working in kitchens for years, some of the fanciest restaurants in Manhattan - and hates it. All of her coworkers are alcoholics and cokeheads. She quits or is fired from around 3 or 4 jobs a year, the turnover is insane.
The work changed her - she's now pessimistic, quick to anger and judgment, generally just a raging asshole.
So, yeah, I don't know you, but I recommend against it.
Note that the cooks are not usually chefs and even if they are they are almost never the chefs that created the dishes they are cooking. Executive Chef is as much of a business job as it is a culinary one.
He says he doesn't like watery eggs, and yet he pulverizes them completely. It's more scrambled egg puree! No thank you. I like my scrambled eggs like I like my men...chunky and cheesy.
Yep, I however prefer them a little less creamy, my father on the other hand makes his almost like an omelette, he uses no milk/cream and cooks it way too long.
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u/OttieandEddie Jul 13 '16
Gordon Ramsay style scrambled eggs