MikeSty

As an industrial engineer, I can't help but notice that scrambled egg production benefits from economy of scale - cooking a lot of eggs at once is no problem and requires no more utensils or time than a few eggs. However, when I want to eat three eggs as part of a healthy breakfast every morning in a hurry, I don't have time to meticulously crack (it's a pain in the ass for me...maybe I could improve that), scramble in a bowl, and then cook and clean the equipment.

So I had this bright idea of "Pre-Scrambling" my own eggs. Basically I just crack a bunch of eggs and whip them really good, and I put about three eggs worth of scrambly goo into a teeny cup size tupperware container and shove them in the fridge. My plan is, when it's go time, I can just grab a little cup and shake it while the pan heats up and then just dump them in and have scrambled eggs much more quickly.

So questions of sanity aside, is this safe to do? Note that I would eat the pre-scrambled eggs within two weeks and they would always be cooked, I would not eat them raw. There will be no freezing of the eggs and there will never be "re-heating".


If this is indeed safe to do and as efficient as I suspect it to be (for me, at least), I will start buying eggs in larger amounts.

Thanks for the advice,
Hungry College Student

(p.s. sorry if I asked about this question before. I have really bad memory and I used the search tool to no avail. But I have been wondering about this for a long time now!)

little_tippler

I don't see what benefit you can get from saving a few seconds cracking eggs. I think the part where you'd want to save time would be cleaning up or the actual cooking.

You can make scrambled eggs quite fast if you crack eggs directly into the pan then scramble them there (no pre-scramble required). It actually works quite well and tastes an interesting kind of different. Seasoning can also be added while already in the pan.

I don't think leaving ready scrambled eggs in a bowl for two weeks is going to keep. An egg still in its shell and unscrambled seems like it will keep better than something that is exposed to air and all mixed together. If you can maybe do it on a week by week basis I'd be more inclined to say go for it.

I would leave the pan soaking in the sink and wash it at night. You could have scrambled eggs in 5 mins flat like this.

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

YellowBird

ok. Yes I think it's safe (however dont sue me if you do it and die). I eat a lot of scrambled eggs because they are quick easy and yummy. My bases for saying it is safe is that you can buy large bags of egg whites which last a reasonable amount of time, i can't think of a reason why adding the yoke would be a problem you would just have to make sure your container was well sealed and was not opened more then once of twice.

however. my question is this - it takes me less then 30second to crack 2 eggs into a cup, add a dash of milk and whisk. My pans must take a lot longer to heat then yours cause i can make my egg mix, get out all my plates/ forks etc, and put two pieces of bread in the toaster and my pan still isnt nearly hot enough.



in conclusion: yes it's safe. yes it is also a very silly idea.

The_Jazz

2 weeks is not safe. Realistically, they should be consumed in 2-4 days. You can probably push it a day or two longer, but by simply exposing the yolk and whites to air, you're providing bacteria a place to grow. Eggs are full of things that bacteria like to eat, and while most of what grows there will be harmless, some of it won't.

I also think that you'd find mold growing within 2 weeks, so that's kind of a moot point.

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Cynthetiq

If you're really trying to save that kind of time, you could already buy food service liquid eggs. They are just like egg beaters, come in little packages that you can open when needed. They are pasteurized so they have a good shelf life. They last 2-4 days once opened.

Personally, take the few seconds to crack open the egg. You're really not saving all that much versus the risk of contaminants.

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Plan9

I totally thought of the PeeWee's Big Adventure breakfast scene when I read this thread.

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ratbastid

All the problems in the world today, this guy's over-engineering his breakfast. Oy.

MikeSty

This is what I was primarily concerned with. Thank you! But even if I could do a single batch the previous night, it would seriously save some time and mess in the mornings. I live with 3 other people and I hate having to use utensils un-necessarily and leave them dirty because we don't have very many.

I'll work on improving my egg-cracking skill though. And I'll try just cracking them straight into the pan and see what they taste like.

Thanks

ZombieSquirrel

Zombie court....

I have always wanted one of those contraptions. Breakfast can be nutritional AND fun!

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Martian

Cracking an egg should take two seconds, at most. If it's longer, you need to brush up on your culinary skills, rather than find ways around it.

An egg in it's shell and refrigerated will keep a frighteningly long time. An egg out of it's shell, not so much.

I always scramble my eggs in situ, as it were. I find they come out fluffier that way.

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Leto

martian's correct. But I have done the prescrambled version many times with no issue.

if you are adverse to washing your whisk and bowl, try breaking the egg into a tupper ware container, add milk, put the lid on, shake it, loosen the lid, and microwave for about a minute, eat it out of the bowl. I've done that before, andit is definitely not as fluffy as pan scrambled, but will do if you are in a hurry (which is sounds like you are).

Make sure you add ketchup. (oh I can hear the ketchup debate starting now!).

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little_tippler

ok I had to come back here and say:

noooooo. NEVER add milk to scrambled eggs. Ruins them.

ok that is all.

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

ring

Look Ma, onehanded.

This is an efficient and fun skill to learn.

Happy eats.

Leto

how can you say that? Reverse it: always add milk (or better yet, cream) to scramble eggs, improves them, makes them fluffy. Just don't add too much, about a tablespoon per egg, or else they're too watery.

I've tried the no milk method (and believe me, cooking breakfast in the Holiday Inn has passed many a scrambled egg through my hands) and they are too flat, and get returned. Personally too.


Now, if you're making an omelette, I agree. A splash of water is all you need, and you get a nice flat cooked egg that wraps well.

__________________
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I

Baraka_Guru

The French know best: use 1 tbsp unsalted butter. (Cut it into bits before whisking together with the eggs.)

Just be sure to grease the pan with butter as well.

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Leto

that sounds good. I'll try it next time. Kind of like solid milk.

__________________
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I

ring

...yes, and cook them slow, no brown spots please.
unless you like your eggs well-done with brown spots.

Tastes differ.

Rinsing off the utensils and containers in hot/warm, even cold water, immediately after using them only takes a few seconds.

Now I'm hungry.
Scrambled eggs for my evening meal. Yes.

Baraka_Guru

Personally, I'd prefer just to whip up some quick French toast.

It's like toast with built-in eggs.

Which is pretty sweet.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

ZombieSquirrel

This is what I call bread with built in eggs.



I don't do it exactly like this, but it's close. The music in the background is AWESOME! The next time I make egg in a basket I am using the same soundtrack.

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JStrider

zombiesquirrel we always called those "rat in a holes" in scouts... I make those all the time! they're goood.

I'll buy a bunch of eggs and hard boil most of them to have for easy meals or snacks.. hard boiled eggs last a long time... I've had some that still tasted just fine nearly a month after being boiled...

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little_tippler

I don't know, I don't like my eggs diluted if they are scrambled. My eggs come out fluffy anyway without milk. Maybe it's the quality of the eggs. If you beat them well they shouldn't be flat. I think adding cream is fine though because it is richer than milk.

I like french toast but I prefer a savoury breakfast myself.

Never seen that egg in a basket thing. Must try it!
Though I think that's a waste of bread (what do you do with the bit you cut out?), he used way more butter than necessary, and also, I would have added salt when it was still runny in the pan.

I usually just boil an egg until it's only just cooked (white is cooked, yolk is runny) and spread it on some buttered toast.

Yummy, I think I know what I'm having for breakfast!

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

YellowBird

I call the egg in the bread a toad in the hole or a one eyed jippy (which is something racist but my granddad called them this)


I asked the chef at work and he said dont leave then from more then a couple of days.
also milk in scrambled eggs equals thumbs up from me. as does tomato sauce on eggs (or ketchup as you like to call it)
and dont ever cook eggs in the micowave. it's really no quicker and they taste disgusting.

ZombieSquirrel

I don't use that much butter either. I just lightly butter the bread. No butter in the pan. I do not waste the little piece of bread. I toast it in the pan too.

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MikeSty

Some say milk in scrambled eggs, some say cheese - I've tried both and I don't see that much of a difference. Too much cheese, or the wrong kind of cheese, can make the eggs very disgusting however.

Leto

That egg in a basket thing, I think we grew calling it "toad in the hole" . Haven't had it since my boy-scout days.

__________________
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I

Marlon's Mom

Eggs are amazing.

Here are some interesting facts about eggs you probably didn't know (from a little handout I provide customers who buy my organic, free range, vegetarian eggs):

Q: Why do [my company name] eggs look so different than store-bought eggs?
A: Most commercial egg producers offer only perfectly shaped and evenly sized/colored eggs for sale. Eggs with uneven or mottled color, freckles, bumps on the shell, etc., are just as delicious and every bit as safe to eat as the pretty, perfect eggs.

In addition, all eggs have a natural protective coating called bloom, which helps preserve freshness by reducing evaporation, and prevents bacteria from being drawn through the egg’s 6000-plus pores. The bloom often gives eggs a spotted, mottled, or dusty appearance. Commercial egg producers wash their eggs vigorously, dissolving the bloom and revealing the true color of the shell. To replace natural bloom, commercial producers spray shells with a thin film of mineral oil, which is why store-bought eggs sometimes look shiny.

Because [my company name] chickens are free range, they occasionally enter the nests with dirty feet, so eggs may become soiled. [Company name] eggs are collected twice a day to avoid excessive soiling. Soiled eggs are gently washed in warm water, then dipped in a solution of water with a few drops of bleach to sanitize and protect them from bacteria. We try to leave as much of the bloom on our eggs as possible, but you can always wash it off with a scrubby sponge and warm water, if you wish.

Q: How long can I store my eggs?
A: Believe it or not, with the proper conditions (30 degrees/85% humidity), eggs can safely be stored up to nine months without any loss of flavor or health benefits! In a standard household refrigerator, where foods tend to dry out, eggs can be safely stored for two months at temperatures up to 55 degrees, where the relative humidity is close to 75%. Clean eggs stored at 45 degrees and 75% humidity will keep well for at least three months. To increase humidity in your refrigerator, fill a plastic milk jug or 2-liter soda bottle with water and store it in the refrigerator with the cap off. To prevent unnecessary moisture loss, always keep your eggs in the carton. Eggs can even be frozen!

Q: Why are the whites of [company name] eggs so thick and solid?
A: This is a sign of a healthy, happy, well-fed bird. Commercial egg farm/store-bought eggs usually have whites that are thinner and runnier than free-range farm eggs. Farm eggs also have larger, brighter, "perkier" yolks that stand up much higher in the pan than commercial eggs. In addition, farm eggs often have thicker shells, because free-range farm birds generally eat a wide variety of fresh whole foods. At [company name], in addition to the quality chicken feed, cracked corn, oyster shell calcium, and grit that our birds are fed, our chickens get regular treats from our organic vegetable gardens and fruit trees.

Q: Can I eat an egg with a blood spot in it?
A: Absolutely! Blood spots occur when blood or a bit of tissue is released along with a yolk. Each developing yolk in a hen’s ovary is enclosed inside a sac containing blood vessels that supply yolk-building nutrients. When the yolk is mature, it is normally released from a small area of the yolk sac that is free of blood vessels. Occasionally the yolk sac ruptures at some other point, causing vessels to break and blood to appear on the yolk or in the white. This is perfectly normal and is not a sign of a ‘bad egg.’ As an egg ages, the blood spot becomes paler, so a bright blood spot is a sign that the egg is fresh.

Q: I got an egg with two yolks! How does this happen?
A: Double-yolkers appear when ovulation occurs too rapidly, or when one yolk somehow gets lost, and is joined by the next yolk. Double-yolkers may be laid by a pullet whose production cycle is not yet well synchronized, or by large-breed hens, often as an inherited trait.

Q: Why do [company name] eggs come in so many different colors?
A: [Company name] hens are hybrid Araucana chickens known as Easter Egg Birds or Americaunas. Just like robins, Easter Egg hens naturally produce colored eggs.

The parent breed - Araucana chickens - originated in South America with the Arauca Indians of Northern Chile. True Araucanas are rumpless (no coccyx bone), tailless, and feature exuberant tufts of feathers on either side of their faces.

Araucanas were introduced into the United States in the 1920s and 1930s and shortly thereafter were bred with larger, standard chickens such as Rhode Island Reds. These mixed-breed Araucanas (Americaunas/Easter Eggers) have normal tails and no cheek tufts (but often have feathered “beards” or “whiskers”), and retain the colored-egg gene.

Easter Egg hens produce a wide range of egg colors: brown, tan, cream, iridescent white, olive, pale green, pale blue, almost pink, nearly lavender, and every shade in between. [Company name]’s producing chickens are Easter Egg Birds; we are also raising a few pure-bred bantam Araucanas, which produce somewhat smaller, colored eggs - perfect for crafting!

little_tippler

Those eggs of yours sure sound interesting!

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918