PERFECT SCRAMBLED EGGS (America's Test Kitchen)
By zircon50
It's important to follow visual cues, as pan thickness will affect cooking times. If using an electric stove, heat one burner on low-heat and a second on med-high heat; move the skillet between burners for temperature adjustment. If you don't have half-and-half, substitute 8 teaspoons of whole milk and 4 teaspoons of heavy cream. To dress up the dish, add 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley, chives, basil, or cilantro or 1 tablespoon of dill or tarragon to the eggs after reducing the heat to low.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Scrambled eggs should be a foolproof, go-to breakfast. Yet surprisingly, we’ve successfully created our ideal scrambled eggs only a handful of times. More often than not, they’re tough and dry. For moist and fluffy eggs with soft, big curds, we found it necessary to cook them over high heat, which creates enough steam to properly puff the eggs. Salt helps produce tender curds while gentle beating avoids a tough scramble. The addition of half-and-half provided just enough richness without making the eggs dense and a couple extra yolks boosted egg flavor. Lowering the heat at the end of cooking ensured the eggs didn’t overcook.
Ingredients
- 8 large eggs + 2 large yolks
- 1/4 cup half-and-half
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled
Preparation
Step 1
Beat eggs, yolks, half-and-half, ⅜ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper with fork until eggs are thoroughly combined and color is pure yellow; do not overbeat.
Heat butter in 10” nonstick skillet over med-high heat until foaming just subsides {butter should not brown} swirling to coat pan. Add egg mixture and, using rubber spatula, constantly and firmly scrape along bottom and sides of skillet until eggs begin to clump and spatula just leaves trail on bottom of pan, 1½-2½ minutes. Reduce heat to low and gently but constantly fold eggs until clumped and just slightly wet, 30-60 seconds. Immediately transfer eggs to warmed plates and season with salt to taste. Serve immediately.