Another flat omlette...

[bakedpotatoforlunch]

Just cooked myself a late lunch - an omelette as I've not had one for a while. As ever with my omelette it's turned out flat again. Not sure where I'm going wrong really.

What I did: Frying pan readied with medium-hot oil until on the point of smoking, two eggs whisked until beginning to turn a little foamy, added a splash of water which I then turned into the pan gently pushing the edges in as it cooked. But not to the light fluffy consistency I long for but just into a flat yellow disc.....again!

All suggestions welcome!

Oops - I can't even spell it! Omelette of course! 😁

Don't add water

DH (chef for many years) uses a small pan but, as it’s cooking, sort of agitates the bottom of the pan, breaking through the just cooked bit so the runnier stuff drops through the holes he’s made. Once the whole thing is wobble, rather than runny, he pops the whole pan it in the top of a pre heated oven for a couple of mins, or under a medium grill. Turns out fluffy and huge every time.

Oh and splash of milk, not water.

No water or milk in an omelette. Melted hot butter in the pan and then finish it off under the grill. That will make it rise soufflé style

If you want a really fluffy omelette, whisk the whites to soft peak then fold in the beaten yolks. Soufflé omelette.

I always lightly whisk with a fork while it is cooking in the pan, until a certain point, and then just let it form.

Pan may be too big; I use butter and it’s melted but not smoking hot. Otherwise I do as others suggest, bit of agitation, finish off in grill or oven; soufflé omelettes are also good, but more work 😉

Yes if you want a fluffy , light , more souffle type Google omelette Arnold Bennett . You need to separate yolk and white whisk the white until light and fluffy ( like making a meringue , carefully add the yolk , cook in a pan , then I take off the heat , add some grated cheese and finish off under the grill.

I don't add water or milk and I don't really whisk the eggs, just stir them lightly with a fork.
Maybe the pan is a bit big so the eggs are spreading out too far?

Once the egg starts to set on the bottom of the pan, make a big sweeping figure of eight movement on the bottom of the pan with the spatula, and then hold the pan at different angles so the runny egg fills any holes.

I think too few eggs/too large a frying pan. I'd never do less than 3 for a main-component-of-meal type omelette, and I'd use a fairly small frying-pan, 8" max.

And keep gently swirling the eggs around as they cook, bringing the edges into the middle and tilting the pan so uncooked egg flows to the thinner/empty patches.

Fantastic. Thank you everyone. These all sound like brilliant suggestions. Yes, I am using a full-size frying pan and olive oil. Both wrong by the sound of things?

I was just going to say - some of pan, I need a new pan as dd has scratched mine using it for scrambled egg

No water!!

Your pan is far too big for the number of eggs used.
I use a dedicated omelette pan, which is about two thirds to half the size of a standard frying pan. I then use three eggs. Two eggs is just about okay in it.
If you're using two eggs in a standard pan they're just going to get lost.
My mum was a chef and always recommended that omelettes need a fairly hot pan (the opposite of scrambled eggs, which need a low heat), and an omelette pan should not be used for anything else. My omelette pan is the only bit of non-stick kitchenware I own :-).

If you're heating the oil to smoking it's far far too hot for an omelette imo. Also sounds like maybe the pan is too big so it spreads out too far.

I have a 10 inch pan on a very low heat - smallest burner turned right down. Knob of butter in, when that's melted put the eggs in and slowly slowly stir around pulling the cooked bits up and letting the liquid go underneath, after a minute or two let it be, put your filling on, leave for a minute then flip over the top half. Then either under the grill or flip it over entirely.

Try adding some boiling water to the eggs just before tipping in the pan

Probably as basic as not enough eggs for depth? Or too big a pan

Who on earth told you to water down eggs for an omelette?!

Literally every French chef ever, and they know their omelettes! It’s just a drop of water, but it creates steam when it’s heated which makes the omelette fluffier.

@Menomeno evidently not, if the above is anything to go by.

Popping under the grill makes it rise.

Er, aren’t omelettes supposed to be flat?

I’ve just done a google image search for omelette and every single picture shows a flat yellow disc (mostly folded in half with a filling).

A soufflé omelette is fluffy but that’s totally different —and far too much work—

My gran's secret method is to separate the yolks and whites, whip the whites until they're like meringue (stiff peaks), then whip in some mayonnaise, followed by folding in the yolks. Chuck the mixture in a pan with butter, agitate as it's cooking, then shove under the grill just as it goes wobbly. It'll puff up massive and go lovely and golden. Works every time for me!