Dilemma: whether or not to add milk to your scrambled eggs?
Scrambled eggs aren’t really the kind of dish you use a recipe for. But if you did, you’d notice that some recipes list milk among the ingredients, while others don’t. And then the overthinking begins: milk or no milk? Which milk? Would a splash of cream work too? We looked into it for you.
You probably don’t give it much thought, but something as simple as an egg turns out to be quite chemically complex. Egg white consists largely of water, with a little protein. The yolk is mainly fat, with fifty percent water. In scrambled eggs, but also in an omelet or a fried egg, the protein provides firmness, while the yolk provides a creamy flavor. First, though, the water in both the white and yolk has to evaporate—but that happens automatically in your frying pan as you cook the egg.
Rubbery crumbs
When making scrambled eggs, the yolk and white are first beaten together. The perfect scrambled eggs are soft and creamy—in other words, they still contain enough moisture and the yolk should not set completely. Cook them too hard and you’ll end up with rubbery crumbs—not exactly appetizing. Could that be the reason milk is added to scrambled eggs? In that case, adding milk sounds logical. Extra moisture, meaning the egg is less likely to dry out, plus a little fat for extra flavor.
Milk isn’t necessary
But milk really isn’t necessary: a knob of butter stirred into the scrambled eggs also makes them creamy, and the water in the milk evaporates during cooking anyway. Whole milk contains about 8 grams of fat per liter, so a glass of milk doesn’t add much creaminess. The ultimate trick to avoid having to eat rubbery crumbs? Turn off the heat under your frying pan when the egg starts to set slightly, add a knob of butter or a generous splash of cream, and stir the egg and butter together once more with a spatula. Make sure your plate, toast (extra delicious with smashed avocado!) and orange juice are ready, because scrambled eggs are done in an instant and you can’t store them. No, not in a chafing dish either. No, not on a hotel breakfast buffet either. Just: don’t.
