Omelette technique help

[Tab]

I personally don't like eating eggs, except if they're hard-boiled. Years of working at restaurants have had me learn to be okay at making scrambled, omelettes, etc., but since I don't care to eat them I don't really know how good they are (I guess they're not bad, given the feedback, but they're certainly not great). Since I don't like to eat them, I don't know what constitutes a great omelette. Chicken, steak, pizza, whatever, I can self-criticize, but I don't know where my egg creations come up short.

Forgetting weird added ingredients, if given, say, 3 eggs, some milk, and some cheese and butter, what would be the technique to make a damned good omelette?

[NMDemDist2]

1. LOTS of filling

to me that's the key to good omelets, that and don't rush it cooking--browned eggs is YUCK

I want my omelets to OOZE filling when I put a fork to em. Cream Cheese and Avocado, cheddar and salsa, jack and mushrooms, those babies better ooze cheese when the fork hits em!

a good omelet is light and fluffy, moist and gooey. try adding some baking powder to the egg/milk mixture too

[Midlodemocrat]

2. That is so funny, because I hate eggs.

That being said, my son makes a fabulous omelet that I just can't get enough of. He fills it with three different kinds of peppers, onions and tons of cheese. You hardly even notice the egg.

Delicious.

[Tab]

3. I should mention

that my wife, who doesn't cook, loves omelettes. She seems to think my omelettes are lacking. So I'm trying to figure out why.

She mainly likes them loaded with cheese and onion, if possible. The cheese and onions aren't the problem, but I'm wondering what I'm missing in the cooking department. I use a reasonable heat and don't burn them, but that's just general cooking technique, not "I love omelettes and I'm in search of the perfect omelette" technique. She likes them a touch runny.

Fluffiness?

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

4. If I can taste the egg I'll barf,

so I won't be much help here. But I didn't notice in your list of ingredients either salt or pepper. Did you just forget to list them since they're so common or do you not salt & pepper them first? Also, you can add 1 tablespoon of water to 3 eggs & the omelette will (supposedly) be lighter.

[Tab]

5. No I don't

but I could.

My wife dumps ketchup on the whole thing anyway, so it's probably moot, but in the interest of cooking for cooking's sake, I'd like to know how to make a good one. I can try adding water.

[mandyky]

6. Yes, addinng milk or water is the trick

along with beating them really well. There is also the trick of getting the pan/oil just the right temperature.

For me, I saute any fresh veggies such as onions, peppers or mushrooms, beforehand. You also need to make sure your frying pan is the right size, or tip the pan a bit to make sure the eggs are cooking fully. I even use the spatulla to lift one end of the omelot to allow some uncooked egg to ease into a spot. I season eggs with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper as I am beating them. I try to let the eggs cook a bit before adding any further ingredients (such as veggies, cheese or salsa), so they don't sink to the bottom and make the omelot hard to turn over.

[Tab]

9. As a cook in general

I'm pretty good in the managing-the-heat department. I just fail with omelettes because I don't know what taste to strive for, and I don't like tasting the damned things anyways. Just because I won't burn it doesn't mean it's a great omelette.

[mandyky]

16. I did not mean taste wise or burning

when I talked about the right heat. The heat needs to be right to cook evenly and allow for an easy turn over. I like my omelots golden brown. If I had a gridle I'd use that instead of a frying pan, but I use a cast iron skillet.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

11. The water hint comes from

both Jacques Pepin & Julia Child.

[Sparkly]

7. I love omelettes!! I think there are two main techniques...

Iirc, a classic French omelette is supposed to be made by stirring the eggs, sometimes lifted from the heat, without lifting or disturbing the bottom at all. That never worked for me -- comes out runny.

The more common way is to keep lifting up the edges and tilting the pan so the uncooked egg runs underneath. That makes it drier. (But the top should still be kinda wet anyway.)

Another way is to beat the egg whites separately, then fold them in, for a "puffed" omelette. Use a cast iron pan, cook it a short while on the stove, and then put it under the broiler (at which point, melt cheese on it); it doesn't get folded, but served in wedges.

Yet another way is to saute peppers, onions, tomatoes and whatever then pour in seasoned, herbed egg and let it mix together (with the "running under" technique) for a frittata. These too finish in the oven.

(My mom used to make completely plain omelettes and serve them with honey. It sounds bizarre, but it's a fond childhood taste to me!)

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Whipping the egg whites, while much more work ......

........ is the classic way to do it. Sparkly, remember when your sister and I did omelets for everyone at Christmas at your other sister's house ... and the rave reviews? That's what we did. For me, its too much work for everyday omelets, but when I wanna impress my in-laws, its what i do. :)

Separate the yolks and whites.

Beat the yolks and set 'em aside. Whip the whites to soft peaks. Nice and fluffy, but absolutely **not** to the point of being meringue.

Fold the yolks back into the whites. Don't overmix. Just combine. You may want to add some salt here, but I never do.

If you're going to put any filling in them (not all omelets are filled) make sure it is already cooked. Once in the omelet the best you can get is for a room temperature filling to get hot. Nothing will cook. Cheese, of course, will melt nicely.

The best pan to use is one that is responsive to heat. Well seasoned carbon steel is the very best (yes, better than copper cuz its lighter). Next would be aluminum. Then everything else.

Put a pat of butter in the pan. When it juuuuuust start to sizzle, pour in the eggs. Let them set for a few seconds then swirl them around the edges of the pan. As the edges set, lift the edges and allow some of the uncooked egg to go under the bottom of the set egg.

Repeat that process until you get the omelet set but still have some raw, runny egg in the center of the top of the omelet.

Now here's where technique comes in. This will likely take some practice ... so break a few eggs and have at it!

Add your filling and lower the heat. Put all the filling onto only 1/3 of the surface, and make that the middle 1/3. Now fold the omelet such that the third closest to the handle is flipped onto the middle third.

Allow it to cook until it juuuuuuuust starts to go a bit brown. You do NOT want it brown .... you want it yellow.

Now slide the omelet out onto a plate. Before it slides completely out, fold the filled 2/3s onto the first (unfilled) third. The result is a classically shaped omelet on the plate.

At this point, you can serve it or you can top it with cheese and pop it under a broiler to just melt the cheese.

Classic omelets always have a bit of the filling placed on top for presentation (and, in restaurants, so the dumbwaiter knows what omelet is his! :) ).

There are some variations to this. Some people like to flip the near-set omelet before filling it. This puts any brown on the inside. Then fill and proceed as above.

By the way, all this manipulation, except for lifting the edges of the raw omelet, is done by flipping the pan, not with spatulas. Not that you can't use a spatula, but you should try to learn how to do it by just flipping the pan.

I like to add grated parm and herbs to the eggs before I cook them. Kinda/sorta fritata-like.

[Tab]

21. I lost you trying to visualize the 1/3rd 2/3rd stuff

but this morning my wife had a craving for an omelette, and I tried separating the whites and yolks, and although I may not have followed the folding instructions just right, she said it was quite good (keep in mind that she slathers Heinz ketchup on it, which grosses me out to no end) but apparently it was much better than the old way, so I'll do it this way from now on when time permits.

Thanks!

[Warpy]

10. Adding milk or cream will make it a little richer, but adding

water doesn't do much but prolong the cooking time.

Break the eggs into a bowl, add the cream/milk if you're going to, and whip until they're a little foamy. Preheat a buttered omelette pan on medium heat (no higher! and some folks use low heat). Pour the eggs into the pan and stand back for a minute. As the edges begin to set, lift them slightly and allow the still runny egg mixture to come into contact with the pan. It's done when there's just a little liquid mixture in the center. Salt and pepper, add whatever filling you're using (grated Swiss, cooked sliced mushrooms, and a pinch of dry summer savory & dill weed were my fave) and flip it closed. Keep it in the pan for only long enough to start the cheese melting, and serve.

The center is supposed to be slightly undercooked (baveuse) and very soft, nearly runny, combining with the melting cheese. Plate and garnish with something green like chopped parseley or something dark like crumbled bacon.

[fiveleafclover]

12. A technique I learned recently...

I always had problems with burning my omelets. I never could get them just right. Try this. Put one egg and whatever ingredients you want to add in a ziploc freezer bag. Zip it up with a little air still in it and mush all the stuff together with your fingers. Then crack the zipper open a little and squeeze out all the rest of the air. Put it in a pot of boiling water for 13 minutes (you might want to move it around a little to keep the bag off the bottom of the pot, depending on how much water you're using). The egg comes right out of the bag and it's great every time! You can have an individual bag for each person, so everyone can have the ingredients they want. You can even get it ready at night, throw it in the fridge, and just put it in the boiling water in the morning for breakfast. I thought it all sounded too good to be true, maybe it would taste nasty or something. But I was wrong and I'm glad I tried it!

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

13. Tab,

I have Dione Lucas' cookbook. She says (& some agree) that she introduced the omelet to Americans. If you want I'll type it out. But only if you want. It's like 2 pages long, not including her self-congratulatory remarks.

[grasswire]

14. I follow the water technique

I get the pan ready with sufficient butter, and pretty hot. While it's heating, I'm working three eggs in a bowl with a teaspoon of water, incorporating air into the eggs with a fork. When the butter is hot, just before it begins to brown, into the pan go the airy eggs. I use the fork to allow the liquid to run under. Even if you poke holes in the eggs and let it run through, that's not a bad thing. While the top is still runny I dump on some grated cheese -- jack cheese and green chilis are a favorite combination -- and then fold over 1/3 of the eggs and let it sit until the "doneness" is right. Then slide the whole thing out of the pan onto the plate, folding the folded part over the other. So you end up with the seam on the bottom, and the lovely omelet whole side up. It's gorgeous and delicious.

My fondest memories of omelettes are from Mama's restaurant in the Macy's restaurant on Union Square, San Francisco. The green chili-jack cheese omelette was served with toasted sourdough baguette and a cabbage salad with bright Italian dressing. Yum.

[NMDemDist2]

15. all this omelet talk, I made some for brunch this morning

Mr. Ketchup and I have different tastes, so I sliced up some white mushrooms for him and crumbled some Cougar Gold cheese, for me, chopped red onion and red bell pepper with cream cheese. Topped both with avocado slices and a dollop of sour cream

in a medium sized skillet, sauteed the 'srooms and my pepper onion mix until soft

3 eggs whipped with milk (a couple TBSP i'd guess) til frothy with a whisk
1 TBSP butter

in a 9" pan, melted the butter at medium low, when bubbling added egg mix, salt and pepper on top. As the egg bubbled up, i just cut it with the spatula. as the edges firmed up I lifted and let the mix run under. Once the top had most of the egg mix gone, added ingredients to the middle of the eggs, folded in half and let set a minute, then flipped onto the other side for a minute. Served with my home baked bread toast.

we're both stuffed :rofl:

[catnhatnh]

17. Absolute Idiot and Cheater's guide to omelets.....

even if,like me,you consistently manage to screw up omelets by either getting them stuck to the pan of breaking them trying a flip-you can produce a delicious and presentable omelet....Line a cast iron skillet with "release" type aluminum foil....spray foil with pam...preheat broiler...Mix choice of egg ingredients ...I like onions,finely sliced boiled ham and finely diced genoa salami....Add these to skillet and set cold skillet over medium high heat...as heat rises and the bottom sets,torn heat to low and sprinkle with grated cheese of choice....when bottom is well set,transfer pan to broiler and cook top to preferred level of doneness...3-5 minutes....Remove skillet from broiler,and using the edges of the foil,list the omelet from the pan and slide onto plate....Can be folded but is also a pretty presentation as an "open face"....And even I can do it....Oh yeah....No pan to wash...

[Tab]

18. My obvious mistake

from the posts here

is that I've been mixing the eggs and fillings together. Now, some fillings, were I to be adding salsa or something, I'd do later, but since I add cheese and onions, I've been mixing them in with the eggs and pouring the whole thing into the pan. The consensus seems to be clear to do the eggs first, add fillings later.

As for the rest - water, whites separate from yolks, etc. - those are things to experiment with.

My heat is a pretty even temp - I try to be good about consistent heat. Even if I don't know what taste I'm striving for, I still shoot for good general cooking technique.

So, I think next time, if time is short, I'll try using a tbsp of water and doing the fillings later in the process. If time permits, I'll try whites and yolks separately. For one omelette, it won't be a big deal, but I can see how it would be a pain if I was doing many.

Thanks!

[Warpy]

23. What you've been doing is a frittata

and the technique for that is nearly scrambling the egg and filling mixture, then putting the pan under the broiler when the eggs are partially set but still quite shiny.

They're good, too.

[mandyky]

24. There are omelots- called that anyway - you can mix

altogether

Eastern and Western omelots use 2 eggs, and onions for eastern or peppers for western, and ham diced.
That's how I made them as a short order cook, on the grill.
The eggs are mostly filler as you add more ham and veggie than egg, and cook them slower and longer.

[SoCalDem]

19. I make mine as GIANT fritattas..

I use a large pizza pan to turn out the first half, and then slide it back on top of the second half.. Usually involves two people to flip this thing over neatly:)

I brown potato cubes, chopped bacon, chopped onion, diced ham.. Remove and drain on paper towel..

pour 1/2 of the scrambled eggs into pan and cook on low until it starts to firm up.. Distribute pre-cooked ingredients on to the top... pat down with spatula gently.. Slide it onto the pizza pan and pour the other half of the eggs into the pan.. as it starts to set up, scatter cheddar cubes (small ones) or crumbled cheese..


NOW for the trick..Using a large plate, invert the 1/2 on the pizza pan, and slide it on top of the mixture in the pan.. Cover and cook on super-low to finish cooking the eggs through..

[GoneOffShore]

20. Best classic omelette recipe

Heat an omelette pan. Put in some good butter. Wait until it sizzles. Beat some good eggs, flavor with salt and pepper. Put into the pan. Swirl them around. When the center is almost set, fold the eggs over. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve.

Anything else is just frippery.

If you've got really good eggs and good butter, you needn't do anything else.

[NMDemDist2]

22. you've created a monster, i've made omeletes three times since this

thread started

:rofl:

[Tab]

25. I knew this would happen

Thanks to H2S's clues on how to make a traditional omelette, my wife is now asking for omelettes every day.

Curse you, H2S! :)