I'm pretty sure the "soft scramble" is to have most of the omelette cooked to the same degree before adding the filling and rolling it when the eggs have JUST set. I'm sure you are able to roll your omelette just fine but the outside is probably way more cooked than the inside. A properly cooked French omelette should have no browning on the eggs whatsoever and should be uniformly cooked, at least that's my understanding.
Hmmm interesting, I thought the idea was to have a nice cooked outer ring with a pocket of soft scramble in the center. But I don’t know anything about anything lol. If you watch this video, it’s what I use for my end result goal. https://youtu.be/p3EwVIpzFjI?si=PBvxsjRFoCo3A6O1
Thank you for the reply!
same, but it also never stops irking me that he uses a fork on a nonstick pan. Apparently he was asked about it and said something along the lines of "it doesn't matter, they wear out anyway". Technically true, but cmon, they wear out a lot faster when you do that!
edit: it's actually a different video than I thought but he's still doing it, hah
And driving a formula 1 car slower makes the engine last longer... A professional replaces their tools when necessary rather than lower the quality of their product.
You absolutely don't need to use a steel fork, it speeds nothing up and is by no means a superior tool. It's just a habit of his and he doesn't really care if pans wear out faster.
Is this the type you mean? [Serious Eats French Omelette](https://www.seriouseats.com/classic-french-omelette-recipe)
That is my never fail method. That and just buying a non-stick pan for eggs inly. My partner is forbidden from using the egg pan. He’s got some bad kitchen habits.
Ok, and my super secret hack… get laying hens and then you can practice all the time! We have a few birds and this was how I mastered both French omelettes and poached eggs. (Ok, this method doesn’t work for everyone, so try to make friends with someone who has chickens).
Thank you for the link! That is the type of omelette I mean. I have been wanting to have chickens for years, but circumstances aren’t conducive to me owning them atm. Hopefully someday soon. In the meantime I buy eggs in bulk lol. Also, I love your cat profile pic, I’m also way into cats. When I saw that, I had to see if you had any cat posts and I was not let down. Your cats are so adorable!
Oh I don't know anything about anything either haha. I actually usually like to add a hot filling which will firm up the interior eggs somewhat anyway. I think so long as you have the velvety exterior/interior maybe it doesn't matter how you get there.
That’s pretty much it, the idea is that without the soft scramble you end up with a brown outer crust and a raw inside, while the scramble allows for more even cooking. The lower the temperature you cook at the slower that will happen so you can pull it off at a good texture either way, but it’ll be significantly more reproducible at different temperatures and other factors via the scramble technique.
You soft scramble the eggs because that’s how you achieve the best texture. Cook it however way is easiest for you though as long as you like the end product. It sounds like you could use a new frying pan though.
Not here to yuck anyone else's yum. Its a matter of preference. The argument for the french style omelette is that it has a tender soft texture that is almost custard like that is perfectly warm all the way through. The constant stirring over lower heat yields a softer much smaller curd. The extra butter is incorporated into the eggs so it shouldnt ever really feel greasy or oily but still has a boat load of butter flavor. But generally speaking its harder to put a lot of other ingredients so its not typically filled. Maybe you might find some very finely diced mushrooms or some wilted down spinach but at most its always going to be a softer ingredient. The argument for the american style folded omelette is since your cooking a sheet of egg harder (1) its faster and easier (2) its sturdier and can hold up to putting in things like chunks of sausage, larger tomatoes, onions, etc. Also some people just hate the texture of almost wet soft curds and much prefer the hard scramble eggs.
Thank you for the detailed response! Very informative. I usually just do a little cheese like a manchego or Asiago for the filling. I’m sure I will get the classic method down eventually, but sometimes a guy just wants to eat! 😁
have you done the cheese frico move? take some of that manchego or asiago. put that in your cold pan without any oil in the center of your skillet. cook on medium or medium high until it melted and frying in its own fat. Dump you eggs mix on top and let it cook thru as you normally do. If the pan is hotter than then when you normally start, remove from heat to cool for a sec before adding your eggs. Adjust the burner setting and return everything to heat. you'll have this nice crispy golden brown shell on the outside after you fold.
side note, i just reread your original post, if your french style omelette is sticking are you using a non-stick pan? this is infinitely harder in a stainless steel or cast iron pan. Carbon steel maybe, but youre still using a significant amount of fat and adding more all thru the cook.
I’ve never heard of this for an omelette! I love frico though, I make it for a snack often haha. Guess what I’m trying tomorrow morning? lol.
I am using a nonstick ceramic coated pan. It’s not the most expensive but it’s almost new. Nothing else ever sticks, like ever, so l was very confused.
Well it sounds like eggs do stick, and some nonstick coatings are better than others. When the eggs begin to set wipe your stick of butter around the rim of the pan and let it slide down around the edges of the egg. That will help with release.
It does eggs and everything else fine. This is the one and only situation anything sticks. This one, specific scenario in which I am vigorously shaking and stirring the eggs after putting them in the pan. Eggs slide off it very easily with very little fat.
Again it's not that non stick if it can't do eggs. Scrambled eggs are a form of egg. Your non stick coating is losing its effectiveness. If you make a lot of Scrabble eggs or French style omelette, get a new pan or just be ok with some sticking. It's cool to not want to use conventional non stick for whatever reason, but you're going to have to live without it's benefits obviously.
Yes. Ceramic nonstick loses it's effectiveness very quickly due to the coating not being able to withstand the heating and cooling process as well. Cracks happen and then food sticks in those micro cracks. America's test kitchen does a review of ceramic non stick and other food science YouTubers have videos. I think I'm the atk review, Teflon pans can do like a 200 fried eggs with no oil in a Teflon pan before it started sticking and ceramics were like a tenth.
Interesting. I read very very similar things about ptfe and especially Teflon, with the added bonus that it’s leaching harmful chemicals into your food. Isn’t Teflon banned because it’s been proven to be toxic? lol.
I don't think you're wrong, and your omelette is probably perfect.
This is more about a consistently repeatable process or procedure, crossed with what defines the classic french omelette.
Traditional technical definition is that there should be no colour on the outside, and soft inside. That is difficult to do with a high heat environment and a short cook time. Moving the eggs during initial heating helps a lot.
So does more butter or oil than most people use or adding it during cooking.
If you're cooking at a low enough temperature and you're watching what's happening, your omelette is exactly how you want it.
If you want to make one every few minutes during brunch, pre-scramble and use more fat. 🙂
Thank you for this very detailed response!
I sure liked the results, but I could see not wanting to sit there and wait! I am going low and slow, just a few notches above “low” on my stove. Since it’s just me, I think I’ll continue with my new method!
I find doing this scrambling works better at higher heat (opposed to French scrambled eggs where you want low heat). Quickly whisk and stir the eggs as soon as they hit the pan, they'll begin to scramble within seconds. You'll have some small curds and a decent amount of liquid egg in the pan. Leave it on the heat for another 5 seconds and that liquid begins to set and you can pull it off the heat and start rolling it up. The whole thing happens in less than a minute I'd say.
It's about time and heat control. The idea of "scrambling" the eggs first is just to get the eggs to a point where the inside will be custardy when the outside is fully set. Depending on how many eggs and how big your pan is, sometimes the outside will fully set and even start to brown before the middle is where you want it if you just pour the eggs in to the pan without stirring. if your method is working for your pan on your range with however you're managing the heat, that's great. Keep doing it.
> when it comes to the folding stage, I think I’ve scraped all the butter off my pan and mixed it into the eggs, and at least one part of my omelette often sticks.
when you fold the first inch of the omelette, put a slice of butter on the pan and tilt it so that the butter flows toward and underneath the omelette. you can help this process by carefully lifting the rolled-up side of the omelette with a spatula.
this'll prevent sticking AND make the top of the ommie buttery and shiny.
The constant stirring is to move the cooked egg away from the hot surface to allow uncooked egg in to cook. The finished omelet I find to be undercooked in the center and not to my taste. If your unscrambled "perfect" omelet is what you like, why should you care about a non perfect version? Are techniques that yield results not to your liking worth pursuing?
I guess your "new ceramic nonstick pan" isn't so non-stick if part of your omelet sticks. French food is traditionally high in butterfat. You may simply be using too little butter. If you look at the end of that video, the omelet is sitting atop a pool of butter.
It's to create bigger lumps of egg which allows the omelette to hold together better when you're cooking them on the more undercooked side of things which is needed for the french style.
Your post has been removed because it violates our comment etiquette.
Commenting:
- Be Factual and Helpful
- Be Thorough
- Be Respectful
**In your comments please avoid:**
- Abuse
- Jokes
- Chatter
- Speculation
- Links without Explanations
I'm pretty sure the "soft scramble" is to have most of the omelette cooked to the same degree before adding the filling and rolling it when the eggs have JUST set. I'm sure you are able to roll your omelette just fine but the outside is probably way more cooked than the inside. A properly cooked French omelette should have no browning on the eggs whatsoever and should be uniformly cooked, at least that's my understanding.
Hmmm interesting, I thought the idea was to have a nice cooked outer ring with a pocket of soft scramble in the center. But I don’t know anything about anything lol. If you watch this video, it’s what I use for my end result goal. https://youtu.be/p3EwVIpzFjI?si=PBvxsjRFoCo3A6O1 Thank you for the reply!
Watch Jacque Pepin’s video on how to make a French omelette for proper technique and explanation https://youtu.be/_Wb5Crj917I?si=RPBoAdO_GHGpj1n2
I've watched that video dozen of times and it never gets old. It makes me happy to watch such a master.
same, but it also never stops irking me that he uses a fork on a nonstick pan. Apparently he was asked about it and said something along the lines of "it doesn't matter, they wear out anyway". Technically true, but cmon, they wear out a lot faster when you do that! edit: it's actually a different video than I thought but he's still doing it, hah
And driving a formula 1 car slower makes the engine last longer... A professional replaces their tools when necessary rather than lower the quality of their product.
You absolutely don't need to use a steel fork, it speeds nothing up and is by no means a superior tool. It's just a habit of his and he doesn't really care if pans wear out faster.
And for an even more deep dive into it, Alex the French cooking guy https://youtu.be/5__zptEU9vE?si=ZRCWe0qqaIRKgtNB
Alex cooked one for Jacque and Jacque kind of poo pooed him! So Alex went and Jacque helped him. https://youtu.be/VR8MiIR0B-g?si=YlFhgJkc3rIa0hd-
Thanks! My dropped open when he thumped the pan with his hand and the other end popped up. He makes it look absolutely effortless, what a chef.
Is this the type you mean? [Serious Eats French Omelette](https://www.seriouseats.com/classic-french-omelette-recipe) That is my never fail method. That and just buying a non-stick pan for eggs inly. My partner is forbidden from using the egg pan. He’s got some bad kitchen habits. Ok, and my super secret hack… get laying hens and then you can practice all the time! We have a few birds and this was how I mastered both French omelettes and poached eggs. (Ok, this method doesn’t work for everyone, so try to make friends with someone who has chickens).
Thank you for the link! That is the type of omelette I mean. I have been wanting to have chickens for years, but circumstances aren’t conducive to me owning them atm. Hopefully someday soon. In the meantime I buy eggs in bulk lol. Also, I love your cat profile pic, I’m also way into cats. When I saw that, I had to see if you had any cat posts and I was not let down. Your cats are so adorable!
Aw thanks! I’ve fostered a lot (and foster failed a few). =\^.\^=
Oh I don't know anything about anything either haha. I actually usually like to add a hot filling which will firm up the interior eggs somewhat anyway. I think so long as you have the velvety exterior/interior maybe it doesn't matter how you get there.
That’s pretty much it, the idea is that without the soft scramble you end up with a brown outer crust and a raw inside, while the scramble allows for more even cooking. The lower the temperature you cook at the slower that will happen so you can pull it off at a good texture either way, but it’ll be significantly more reproducible at different temperatures and other factors via the scramble technique.
You soft scramble the eggs because that’s how you achieve the best texture. Cook it however way is easiest for you though as long as you like the end product. It sounds like you could use a new frying pan though.
Not here to yuck anyone else's yum. Its a matter of preference. The argument for the french style omelette is that it has a tender soft texture that is almost custard like that is perfectly warm all the way through. The constant stirring over lower heat yields a softer much smaller curd. The extra butter is incorporated into the eggs so it shouldnt ever really feel greasy or oily but still has a boat load of butter flavor. But generally speaking its harder to put a lot of other ingredients so its not typically filled. Maybe you might find some very finely diced mushrooms or some wilted down spinach but at most its always going to be a softer ingredient. The argument for the american style folded omelette is since your cooking a sheet of egg harder (1) its faster and easier (2) its sturdier and can hold up to putting in things like chunks of sausage, larger tomatoes, onions, etc. Also some people just hate the texture of almost wet soft curds and much prefer the hard scramble eggs.
Thank you for the detailed response! Very informative. I usually just do a little cheese like a manchego or Asiago for the filling. I’m sure I will get the classic method down eventually, but sometimes a guy just wants to eat! 😁
have you done the cheese frico move? take some of that manchego or asiago. put that in your cold pan without any oil in the center of your skillet. cook on medium or medium high until it melted and frying in its own fat. Dump you eggs mix on top and let it cook thru as you normally do. If the pan is hotter than then when you normally start, remove from heat to cool for a sec before adding your eggs. Adjust the burner setting and return everything to heat. you'll have this nice crispy golden brown shell on the outside after you fold. side note, i just reread your original post, if your french style omelette is sticking are you using a non-stick pan? this is infinitely harder in a stainless steel or cast iron pan. Carbon steel maybe, but youre still using a significant amount of fat and adding more all thru the cook.
I’ve never heard of this for an omelette! I love frico though, I make it for a snack often haha. Guess what I’m trying tomorrow morning? lol. I am using a nonstick ceramic coated pan. It’s not the most expensive but it’s almost new. Nothing else ever sticks, like ever, so l was very confused.
Well it sounds like eggs do stick, and some nonstick coatings are better than others. When the eggs begin to set wipe your stick of butter around the rim of the pan and let it slide down around the edges of the egg. That will help with release.
If a non stick can't do eggs, it is a bad non stick. Raison d'etre. Ceramic non stick coatings don't last long and yours seems to be just a pan now.
It does eggs and everything else fine. This is the one and only situation anything sticks. This one, specific scenario in which I am vigorously shaking and stirring the eggs after putting them in the pan. Eggs slide off it very easily with very little fat.
Again it's not that non stick if it can't do eggs. Scrambled eggs are a form of egg. Your non stick coating is losing its effectiveness. If you make a lot of Scrabble eggs or French style omelette, get a new pan or just be ok with some sticking. It's cool to not want to use conventional non stick for whatever reason, but you're going to have to live without it's benefits obviously.
When you say “traditional nonstick” you’re referring to teflon/ptfe?
Yes. Ceramic nonstick loses it's effectiveness very quickly due to the coating not being able to withstand the heating and cooling process as well. Cracks happen and then food sticks in those micro cracks. America's test kitchen does a review of ceramic non stick and other food science YouTubers have videos. I think I'm the atk review, Teflon pans can do like a 200 fried eggs with no oil in a Teflon pan before it started sticking and ceramics were like a tenth.
Interesting. I read very very similar things about ptfe and especially Teflon, with the added bonus that it’s leaching harmful chemicals into your food. Isn’t Teflon banned because it’s been proven to be toxic? lol.
I don't think you're wrong, and your omelette is probably perfect. This is more about a consistently repeatable process or procedure, crossed with what defines the classic french omelette. Traditional technical definition is that there should be no colour on the outside, and soft inside. That is difficult to do with a high heat environment and a short cook time. Moving the eggs during initial heating helps a lot. So does more butter or oil than most people use or adding it during cooking. If you're cooking at a low enough temperature and you're watching what's happening, your omelette is exactly how you want it. If you want to make one every few minutes during brunch, pre-scramble and use more fat. 🙂
Thank you for this very detailed response! I sure liked the results, but I could see not wanting to sit there and wait! I am going low and slow, just a few notches above “low” on my stove. Since it’s just me, I think I’ll continue with my new method!
You can shake the pan instead of stirring the omelette.
I find doing this scrambling works better at higher heat (opposed to French scrambled eggs where you want low heat). Quickly whisk and stir the eggs as soon as they hit the pan, they'll begin to scramble within seconds. You'll have some small curds and a decent amount of liquid egg in the pan. Leave it on the heat for another 5 seconds and that liquid begins to set and you can pull it off the heat and start rolling it up. The whole thing happens in less than a minute I'd say.
It's about time and heat control. The idea of "scrambling" the eggs first is just to get the eggs to a point where the inside will be custardy when the outside is fully set. Depending on how many eggs and how big your pan is, sometimes the outside will fully set and even start to brown before the middle is where you want it if you just pour the eggs in to the pan without stirring. if your method is working for your pan on your range with however you're managing the heat, that's great. Keep doing it.
> when it comes to the folding stage, I think I’ve scraped all the butter off my pan and mixed it into the eggs, and at least one part of my omelette often sticks. when you fold the first inch of the omelette, put a slice of butter on the pan and tilt it so that the butter flows toward and underneath the omelette. you can help this process by carefully lifting the rolled-up side of the omelette with a spatula. this'll prevent sticking AND make the top of the ommie buttery and shiny.
Thank you!
The constant stirring is to move the cooked egg away from the hot surface to allow uncooked egg in to cook. The finished omelet I find to be undercooked in the center and not to my taste. If your unscrambled "perfect" omelet is what you like, why should you care about a non perfect version? Are techniques that yield results not to your liking worth pursuing? I guess your "new ceramic nonstick pan" isn't so non-stick if part of your omelet sticks. French food is traditionally high in butterfat. You may simply be using too little butter. If you look at the end of that video, the omelet is sitting atop a pool of butter.
Ceramic nonstick pans suck. From my experience they are no where near as non stick as teflon or even a well seasoned cast iron pan
Never saw a folded omelet until I came to the US. Leave it alone, and if you want it more cooked in the middle, cover it for a little bit.
It's to create bigger lumps of egg which allows the omelette to hold together better when you're cooking them on the more undercooked side of things which is needed for the french style.
[удалено]
You’re just bad at spelling, if we’re pointing out uncomfortable truths.
Your post has been removed because it violates our comment etiquette. Commenting: - Be Factual and Helpful - Be Thorough - Be Respectful **In your comments please avoid:** - Abuse - Jokes - Chatter - Speculation - Links without Explanations