How to Cook Perfect Scrambled Eggs Every Time

As a life skill I am teaching my kids how to cook perfect scrambled eggs by using the Alton Brown's cookbook.

Science has always fascinated me, and the science of food is no exception. That's why two of my favorite cookbooks are Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food (about cooking) and I'm Just Here for More Food (about baking).

His books aren't just cookbooks though; they're chock full of great information about the 'how' and 'why' of cooking. They make an excellent curriuculm for a home ec class, so I'm using them both to help me teach my kids a little cooking this month during our 'lightly-scheduled' December term.

Our first cooking project this week was scrambled eggs. When I told my girls that I was going to show them how to cook scrambled eggs, they told me they already knew how to make scrambled eggs. Which is totally true — they make wonderful rubbery eggs with little burned bits mixed throughout.

So I had to assure them that Alton Brown was going to show us an entirely new way to make really delicious scrambled eggs — without the crunchy burned parts.

And Alton came through as promised. The eggs were amazing!

Step 1: Use the Secret Ingredient

So what's Alton's secret to making perfect scrambled eggs? It's not the food, but the hardware — a double boiler. And I'm not talking about an expensive store-bought double boiler either. Alton's double boiler is just a heavy metal mixing bowl that sits on the rim of a large saucepan. The key is simply to make sure the bowl is rounded enough on the bottom that it doesn't touch very much of the sides of the sauce pan.

Step 2: Prepare the Boiler

Put an inch or two of water in the saucepan and bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat so the water is just simmering, then put the bowl over the top of the saucepan. Once the bowl is sitting over the simmering water, put a 1/2 tablespoon of butter in the bowl and allow it to melt. Before I added the eggs, I used a spatula to move some of the butter up the sides of the bowl a bit.

Step 3: Gather the Ingredients

To make one (large) serving, here's what you'd need:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Mix the ingredients together and pour it into the warm, buttered bowl on the double boiler.

Step 4: Cook the Eggs

Now's the easy part. Every so often, use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl, allowing the wet part of the mixture to move under the cooked parts. When the eggs are no longer liquid, spoon them out onto a plate and allow them to sit for a minute or two to allow the eggs to finish cooking.

Step 5: Enjoy!

I couldn't believe how easy and delicious these eggs were. I love that I didn't have to worry about the eggs burning, and I especially love that the eggs were so incredibly delicious.

I don't think I'll ever go back to the 'old' way of scrambling eggs again. Thank you, Alton!

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.