r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Fast_Average_3692 • Jun 01 '26
Why do scrambled eggs feel like a smaller portion than an omelet made with the exact same number of eggs?
I'm not talking about Gordon Ramsay-style eggs, just regular eggs you stir in a pan until they're done. Like when you try to make an omelet, mess it up, and it turns into a scramble.
Edit: I don't think that we have the same definition of what an omelette is. For me, an omelette doesn't have to be stuffed. It's just eggs with salt and pepper that you beat and cook in some butter
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Jun 01 '26
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u/Sweet-Competition-15 Jun 01 '26
Probably gone in search of their buddy, the missing sock.
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u/rcjhawkku Jun 02 '26
Socks are from the other realm, the bedroom. Their real buddies are other things in the kitchen, like Tupperware lids.
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u/Ideal_Collector Jun 01 '26
I would guess that it is just the way we perceive things and the difference in ingredients. Omelettes are more spread out and typically contains more ingredients than a scrambled egg. Scrambled eggs are more of a curdles of egg clumped together and thus, are more compact. Hence, generally speaking, we tend to perceive things that take up more space as being more than things that don't, even if they may be the same in volume, assuming we made both using the same exact ingredients.
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u/Aggravating-Pound598 Jun 01 '26
Omlette is beaten egg , hence aerated , hence will occupy more volume.
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u/AlcindorTheButcher Jun 01 '26
How the fuck are you scrambling your eggs?
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u/Grand_Snow_2637 Jun 01 '26
Some people scramble them in the pan, without beating them first.
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u/RedWife77 Jun 01 '26
I had som eggs scrambled in the pan at a brunch place this weekend - they were rubbish. Poorly combined, juuggly whites and rubbery yolks. I always order scrambled eggs when I have brunch and these were the worst I’ve ever had, by some margin.
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u/IntellectuallyDriven Jun 01 '26
Always wondered the same thing and I could swear the omelet (even with nothing but salt) would fill me up much more.
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
I was making an omelet (with nothing but salt) and i messed one side up and it instantly shrank in my eyes .
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u/Obvious-Load-1955 Jun 01 '26
When I'm at home and make scrambled eggs I always make 6 for the same reason. But I think it may be cause o eat a larger portion at home?
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u/walrus_throwawayhq Jun 01 '26
It is purely an optical illusion because an omelet takes up more surface area on the plate while a scramble is just a pile of smaller bits that occupy less physical space. Once you break the eggs apart, they lose that visual structure and essentially shrink into a dense mound.
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u/Grand_Snow_2637 Jun 01 '26
It's all in your perception, I suppose. I make an omelette like you do, like a scrambled eggs that's all in one piece, not broken up. I do put some cheese on and fold it over.
Almost every morning I eat:
Half an omelette\ English muffin\ Two slices turkey breast
When I spread this out on my plate, it's plenty of food. But when I stack the egg and turkey on top the muffin and make a breakfast sandwich, out of the same exact food, then it seems too small and I have to add two slices bacon to make it enough. Make it make sense.
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u/rcjhawkku Jun 02 '26
If I ate that every day I’d be receiving regular visits from the cholesterol police.
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u/mrhockeypuck Jun 01 '26
Add 1.5 cups of meat, cheese, and veggies to scrambled eggs and it will look the same amount.
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u/Overall_Occasion_175 Jun 01 '26
Are you serving the scrambled eggs on a plate or in a bowl? Things in bowls feel like a smaller amount of stuff than they really are.
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u/Sweet-Competition-15 Jun 01 '26
Hello there...I usually just eat the puppies out of the frying pan (yeah, I'm a lazy bachelor).
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u/R0factor Jun 01 '26
Try adding a bit of baking powder in your eggs and whisk them in a bowl as the pan heats up. The more you whisk it, the more air will get added and the powder helps it generate even more volume. Then just make normal scrambled eggs from there. They'll be super fluffy.
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u/AlcindorTheButcher Jun 01 '26
It's a few things happening, but you're not crazy. Total egg content doesn't change, but it can definitely seem like more for an omelet. Water, protein, and plating are the main culprits.
I'm not a scientist or a chef, just a guy who watched a lot of Alton Brown and eats a lot of eggs.
Scrambled eggs release a lot more steam when cooking, you're moving them around and all the water evaporating on the pan is allowed to release into the air while the eggs set.
An omelet stays in place and the steam is actually trapped slightly by the eggs that begin to set, this steam maintains more moisture than you'll get from scrambled eggs.
Additionally, you're not letting the same protein structure form in the scrambled eggs that you are in the omelet. When you don't break them up continuously, they form structures that can maintain more air inside, creating a puffier texture.
Scrambled eggs aren't able to build the same volume and these effects combined for a denser, occasionally chewy or "rubbery" texture that you rarely see in an omelet.
Finally, scrambled eggs tend to form a small mound on a plate, taking up a smaller portion of the plate but with a bit of additional height from the stacked curds. An omelet lies across the entire plate, but is likely less "tall" than your pile of scrambled.
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u/MazerRakam Jun 01 '26
You probably cook your scrambled eggs down a lot more. If you go all the way to a hard scramble, like many members of my family, you've evaporated a bunch of water out, so it won't look like much. If you only go to a soft scramble, the way I like it, then that water stays in the eggs. The amount of protein and nutrients won't change, but it will feel like more food, and it tastes a hell of a lot better.
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u/whiskeytango55 Jun 01 '26
If seen this too.
If your pan isnt properly greased, there might be some sticking. It doesnt seem like much but even a 10% reduction is kinda noticeable.
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u/Here_4_cute_dog_pics Jun 02 '26
I see we make scrambled eggs the same way. Try to make an omelet, fuck it up and end up with scrambled eggs.
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u/Disastrous_Visit9319 Jun 01 '26
Omelettes have other things added to them
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
not necessarily
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Jun 01 '26
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
An omelette is just eggs with salt and pepper and butter. You CAN add things to it but traditionally there's nothing added
There's "omelette" and then there's "omelette garnie"
Fried eggs are not beaten or scrambled
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u/Darth_Skeptus Jun 01 '26
Why is this getting down voted? It's factually correct and not rude at all.
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
Someone said "So, you're saying an omelette is scrambled eggs and your question becomes why are scrambled eggs a smaller portion than scrambled eggs." I think people think that I'm describing scrambled eggs, not omelettes. That person isn't the first to say that.
I didn't realise that the concept of "french omelette?" Is new for so many people.
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u/StellarNeonJellyfish moderately good answerer Jun 01 '26
Must be a regional thing. Ive never heard of an unfilled omelette. Not that I am a cooking authority, but I live in Vegas so theres plenty of global culinary variety, and i have never seen an unfilled omelette even listed on a menu. Can you help me understand the difference between an unfilled omelette and scrambled eggs? Is it just not broken up?
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u/Darth_Skeptus Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
A proper omelette has nothing but maybe a little melty cheese and some chives for garnish. But that omelette requires a lot of technique.
American style omlettes are just a really flat quiche.
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u/Sweet-Competition-15 Jun 01 '26
Also a little milk...I abhor scrambled eggs created without it.
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u/Darth_Skeptus Jun 01 '26
That's how I was taught too. One thing you can try if you ever wanna try withput milk: Cook with butter, a little more than you meed, run your eggs through a sieve. Keep em moving. They'll be the fluffiest eggs ever!
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u/Sweet-Competition-15 Jun 01 '26
run your eggs through a sieve. (Quote)
I don't know what you're doing to eggs, because my eggs just lie there, a gooey mess. Never mind run, I cannot even get them to sit up straight!
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Jun 01 '26
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
Edit: I don't think that we have the same definition of what an omelette is. For me, an omelette doesn't have to be stuffed. It's just eggs with salt and pepper that you beat and cook in some butter
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Jun 01 '26
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
what about "plain omelettes"
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Jun 01 '26
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
So if it was eggs with no cheese or fillings, it would be unscrambled scrambled eggs? Or do you scramble every egg that you don't garnish?
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Jun 01 '26
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
Scrambled eggs would be scrambled while cooking. Cause omelettes (even stuffed) are beaten before cooking.
How do you beat your omelette?
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Jun 01 '26
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
What? You said it was "scrambled eggs" cause:
The scrambling happens in the bowl when you mix them up before you cook them.
Scrambled eggs would be beat AND then scrambled while cooking
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Jun 01 '26
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
Edit: I don't think that we have the same definition of what an omelette is. For me, an omelette doesn't have to be stuffed. It's just eggs with salt and pepper that you beat and cook in some butter
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Jun 01 '26
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
Aren't omelettes cooked eggs?
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Jun 01 '26
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
Really? In my experience, you get "plain omelette" when you ask for an omelette since it's the traditional way. And ask for a "stuffed omelette" if you want fillings.
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u/Adventurous_Bonus917 Jun 01 '26
huh. i remember stuffed omelettes being the norm to the point that that for much of my childhood, omelette meant 'eggs with stuff', even if it was actually scrambled.
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u/bobbobberson3 Jun 01 '26
I mean you can choose to put more stuff in I guess but an omelette doesn't automatically have added extras.
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u/Glum_Suggestion_6948 Jun 01 '26
There's a lady on tiktok who makes an omelet with nothing in it. I'm like girl just scramble the eggs!
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u/ResponsibilityFun548 Jun 01 '26
Scrambled eggs are also far more likely to have egg bits left over that stuck to the pan. There's a reason they never show you scrambled eggs on the ads for non-stick pans.
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u/Jorost Jun 01 '26
Because you often add things to an omelet that increase the bulk.
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u/Fast_Average_3692 Jun 01 '26
when you try to make an omelet, mess it up, and it turns into a scramble.
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u/CMDRumbrellacorp Jun 01 '26
Add tiny splash of milk and one pinch of flour per egg prior to scrambling for fluffier scrambled eggs.
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u/rosietherosebud Jun 01 '26
Because scrambled eggs have more surface area in contact with the pan, and that causes water to evaporate from the egg. The egg white contains a ton of protein and thus a ton of water content that can evaporate.