Omelettes!

[NanaNina]

PLEASE can anyone tell me why my omelettes are like pancakes! I whisk the eggs very hard and pour them into a very hot pan (small amount of butter in there) and try and swirl the mixture into the middle like I read somewhere, put the filling in one side and turn it over. Looks ok in the pan but once it's on the plate immediately after coming out of the pan it has the texture of a pancake!

What am I doing wrong?

Ooh no OP. what you need to do is:

Not to worry too much about whisking too much.
Yes to very hot pan.
Don't do any swirling.
As it starts to set draw the sides in to the middle with a metal spoon.
Keep doing this until it is not runny.
Turn half the omelette on to itself. And finish cooking.

Eh voila!

Thanks - but I think this is pretty much what I do! A friend told me not to whisk the eggs too much but then I read that you had to whisk till your arm ached (!) Does it have to be a metal spoon - wondered about this with a non stick pan.

I add a splash of water to my eggs and do as bowlersarm says. Pan should be very hot so the omelette is cooked in less than a minute, I'd say.

Hot pan.
Large dollop of butter and DONT put the eggs in til the butter starts to brown.
Pour in eggs.
Once the edges start to pale, add the filling in a pile in the middle.
Once the edges look slightly curled, lift one edge over to the other, so fold it in half.
Only flip once the two halves have merged together.
Nom.

Oh and I dont overly whisk.

watch Julia Child making an omelette!

and Jacques Pepin -

and just for fascination,
a Japanese omelette -

this is a Shanghai pancake with an egg on top! wow!

She puts chopped spring onions on top, chilli sauce, and a piece of tofu, I think

luverly are omelettes your hobby?

you bet! Here's Jamie Oliver -

and the WORLD'S BIGGEST OMELETTE!

sorry, I hope these links work now -
and just for fascination,
a Japanese omelette -

you bet! Here's Jamie Oliver -

and the WORLD'S BIGGEST OMELETTE!

WOW thanks Luverly - you sure are an expert. I liked Jacques Pepin best. Julia Child was sooooo slow......I think the trick might be to shake the pan - still wondering about the use of a metal fork on a non stick pan. BUT I reckon I know how to do it now.....so thanks again

I use a wooden or silicon spatula, our pans don't like metal utensils. I think it was Delia in her how to cook who used a wooden fork that had been her mothers, I think if I ever spot one I'll get one as I'd use it for more than omelettes but I digress...and I don't whisk, I combine. Whisk pancakes combine omelettes.

Bollocks. Now I want an omelette and I'm out of eggs.

I noticed that all of them combine the eggs for about ten seconds.
The longer you beat them, the eggs get tougher.
It's the same thing for scrambled eggs, they all say only combine till just mixed. Do not beat.
The only time you beat, I think, is when you beat egg whites for meringue or souffle or cake.
Then you can really have a go.

Try a plastic fork or one of those coloured synthetic things. A small wooden spoon is good, which I like using, and the Asians use chopsticks!!
I think the experts use well-seasoned metal pans which are not nonstick coated.
You get anodised metal pans which are like nonstick, I believe.
My daughter has an anodised metal pressure cooker.

Put the omelette under the red hot grill instead of turning, watch it puff up!

I pull the mixture into the middle and then as soon as I feel the base is suitably cooked (very quickly) I stick it under a hot grill and it puffs up loverly

:Here is a recipe for an Indian omelette and a curry made with it

and some few more Indian egg recipes Enjoy!