Lessons in omelet cooking
One of the exams in cooking school in my upbringing as a chef was to cook an omelet. Our teachers taught us classic French techniques which meant in one hand you had an iron skillet (no non-stick pans at this time yet) and in the other a metal spatula with sharp edges.
First we had to melt the butter then we combined eggs and little water in a bowl and mixed them vigorously to get as much air as possible into the mixture (when water is placed in the egg it creates steam and hence makes the finished omelet airy). We were taught to cook the egg mixture at a low to medium heat setting in melted butter. The egg starts to cook on the bottom and eventually it’s flipped onto a plate. It was perfect when it had the appearance of a pale-yellow cylinder. Unless you had practiced omelet cooking before in this way there was no change of success of mastering this – at least not for me. My omelet “piece de resistance” had more of a broken tube shape or it resembled a crepe meaning it was cooked to a point when it had browned too early and didn’t melt together in the middle since it was in the skillet too long – no good grades on this one.
(egg in cast iron pan on cooked on a French top)
("oui chef" French omelet mastered with a pretzel roll and baby spinach)
Chef’s Note: We were taught to season an omelet after it cooked, with salt and pepper. Apparently the cooked egg structure is softer in this way.
Skillet Skills
Cooking a perfect omelet was really difficult and I always wondered why it had to be the standard for us young cooks. Now it occurs to me that eggs are a low cost food item we had access to the product and could practice skillet and spatula skills at home. That’s probably one reason the omelet evolved as the culinary school standard.
Contemporary Brunch Omelet
Presently in the restaurant we cook omelets for our brunch service in a quicker and rustic version and we certainly get enough practice cooking them. First we mix eggs, salt and pepper so that you still can see egg white traces in the mixture which helps to make a pillowy omelet texture (no water needed like we’re taught in cooking class). Our omelets are partially cooked in a hot oven so pre-heat your oven before you start cooking your omelet.
Heat butter in a non stick-pan then add egg mixture and cook on a high heat setting. With a heat proof spatula follow the outside edges of the egg mixture close to the skillet and move it to the middle of the skillet once the middle looks half-way cooked (it will look somewhat like a moist scrambled egg), then transfer into the hot oven. In the restaurant we cook omelets in a Wood Stone oven at a temperature range from 500 – 650 degrees Fahrenheit.
plastic spatula and non-stick pan
eggs with traces of egg white visible
melting butter
move eggs in skillet around
move eggs with spatula from outside to middle of skillet
bake eggs in oven
fold eggs over half cooked eggs
slip cooked omelet onto plate
(voila ready to eat)
Omelets cooked in this way will get airy and puffy after 2-3 minutes in the oven; if it is not, leave it a bit longer until the surface appears a little uncooked and moist, At this point, flip half of the egg over the other half and transfer into the oven for 2-3 minutes longer until the top has browned. Unless you want to make master the French omelet technique the contemporary version will satisfy a 100%. And for some more excitement add one or more of the following before folding the egg over the other half: sprinkling grated cheese, chopped herbs, cut tomatoes and/or cubed avocado.
Chef’s note: We use three large cracked eggs per omelet per person which we cook in a 6-inch non-stick skillet.
