How to make the perfect omelet?

My dad’s standard breakfast while out for a motorcycle ride: omelet with grits, coffee and a biscuit. 

But the omelets he makes at home just aren’t quite as fluffy as the ones from Waffle House, even though he beats the eggs in a little blender. 

He’s recorded the cook at their local Waffle House but still isn’t quite there. 

Last night, for research, I stopped at Waffle House on the way back from a BMW meet in Orlando. The guy behind the counter is also into cars and recognized me, so I asked him for some omelet pointers. He called over the cook.

Her advice:

Beat the eggs in the milkshake mixer–that’s their SOP. Looks like their machine has a wavy disc at the end. (My dad now has one on order.)

One ladle of oil per egg.

Before adding the beaten eggs to the pan, she adds a bit of unbeaten egg–basically what‘s left in the bowl that she cracked the eggs into. If the egg floats on the oil, she knows the oil is hot enough. If the oil starts smoking, you’ve gotten it too hot.

Then cook, flip, cook, serve. 

Last night’s omelet was perfect: fluffy and no oily taste. 

So, what’s your secret to the perfect omelet/omlette? Or, as usual, is Waffle House the answer? 

Last night’s omelet: That’s a lot of fluff.

And a picture of the business end of the mixer. 

Look up the "Gordon Ramsay omelet" and that would be my perfect one.  But I also eat my eggs sunny side up, can't stand dried out eggs. 

You really want a fluffy omelet, separate your eggs, beat the yolk in one bowl and the whites in another until the whites are frothy, then combine.

Talk to RealMiniNoMore. The omelets he made when we were up there picking up SanFord were outstanding. 

Run the whites in the blender until it peaks, then fold in the yolks.  I pour this onto a parchment sheet pan.  The thing puffs up almost 2".  
Once baked, lay on shrimp, spinach and Parmesan.  Roll up like a jelly roll.

THERE'S an omelet.  =~ )

Ihop uses pancake batter.

Y'all are not making a perfect omelet, in my opinion. I prefer mine much denser.

The key thing? Don't overstuff the omelet. Having a blowout ruins everything. As such, use a pan the right size to get an egg base than can hold your ingredient load without becoming thin enough to rupture.

Related rant: People who chop scrambled eggs into tiny bits you can't stab with a fork. Drives me crazy. I'm not a scooper.

RevRico said:

You really want a fluffy omelet, separate your eggs, beat the yolk in one bowl and the whites in another until the whites are frothy, then combine.

FWIW, I do like the simplicity of the Waffle House method. 

It's been 40 years for me, but there was a diner in St. Paul called Mickey's that would serve an omelet that I think might have been 50/50 air/egg.  They'd run it through a blender and then pour it on the skillet and would inflate until it was two or three inches thick.   It was amazing. 

I'm sure everyone will have their own SOP's, but as a Purebred Quebecois Canadian family of Loggers and Maple Syrup producers, Breakfast is sort of a big deal.  My great grandfather through to my Dad all wake up in the morning and make eggs, some sort of breakfast meat, potatoes, beans and toast.  Every.single.day.  

I was always taught to use a teaspoon of whipping cream per egg and whisk until double the volume in the bowl.  I use a ninja now because technology, but still.  Use your bacon grease for pan lube.  precook/heat your toppings in a separate pan and don't go too wild on the cheese.  Like someone mentioned earlier, blowouts will not be tolerated, haha. 

It's not healthy, but darn it if I have found a better omelet anywhere else. 

If you are ever in Fennville, MI, stop by the Blue Goose Cafe and get their 3 egg omlet filled with hash browns, ham, onions, green peppers & topped with sausage gravy. It is quite good.

It may well kill you though. 

In reply to Toyman! :

That looks amazing!  Reason #2348 I want to move back south (even though I realize this picture was taken in the frozen North) - everything is covered in sausage gravy.

I like eggs about any way(except balut), i find its better to wait and whip them until the pan is perfect. Letting them sit after whipping them kills it. Also, i dont know when i started doing it, maybe 20+ years ago, i keep a cordless drill in the kitchen and put a blender mixer wisk in the drill so its a 1 blade mixer. Its wonderful for eggs. 
 

I've been trying to perfect my French omelette skills so that's been my focus for a while.  Water, not milk or cream, stir almost constantly while cooking, plenty of butter.  They're not puffy like that Waffle House omelette but they're still soft and creamy.

Way back in college at the student union there was a little old lady at an omelet griddle bar with a long line of kids looking for breakfast. No idea about her prep but she would pour the eggs onto the griddle and add a splash of water before covering the eggs with a pan cover. She would then eventually place whatever toppings you wanted on the eggs, fold them and cover them again with the lid. She could make an omelet in less than 3 minutes and they where great. 

I had a friend's mom who cooked fish the same way and they where also great.

I'm a bit different.  I don't like fluffy omelets.  I want them thin.  I basically want it to be an egg tortilla that simply holds the fillings.  I also don't like them browned.  This is one protein where Maillard is not my friend.  My go-to preference is:  Two eggs, beaten until you get a cramp with a fork.  Pat of butter and a little spray of oil in an 8" stainless or non-stick pan on medium heat.  Add the egg as soon as the butter is melted.  It should bubble but not sizzle.  Cook until about half of the top is set.  Get a spatula or the fork under the edge to control it while flipping it with the pan.  Immediately turn off the heat, add the fillings (cheese is all I need unless I'm using up leftovers).  give it a minute then slide it out onto the plate and flip it closed with the pan.

Hard ingredients (ham, onions, peppers, mushroom, etc) go in just before the eggs so they can cook together.  Soft ingredients (cheese, spinach, tomatoes, etc) go in after flipping.

That's MY preference, but I'm certainly not saying it's the BEST way.  I don't judge your omelet any more than I would judge your favorite color.  To each their own.

One thing:  gotta have green chile, preferably Big Jims or Hatch, and pepper jack cheese.

golfduke said:

Use your bacon grease for pan lube.

A healthy serving of hot of bacon grease in the pan is definitely where it's at for making great eggs and omlets... 'Oil' is only for those not makin' enough bacon.

We're Frittata folks in our house.  Mix in all the fixin's with the beaten eggs, then pour into a greased (lard or bacon grease) cast iron pan, cover and cook on low until the egg sets up.  The best ratio we've found is:

6 eggs

1/4 cream (or milk, whatever is on hand)

1c max cheese

2c max veggies and meat

If doing a "just eggs" fritata, I'll season it with thyme.  Thyme and eggs is super simple and very tasty. 

And always plenty of garlic.  

Bumping this back up as my Son asked for an omelet. Then he brought home some fresh eggs from the neighbors.  
 

this is 4 eggs, separated. Whip the whites till peaking(i think i whipped too long), throw the yolks back in, whip them to mix and let it hit the hot oil in the big castiron. Turned out pretty good.

turned out pretty good.  Its all about giving it a good whip. Separating the whites and giving them a proper whip is key.  I make my own whipped cream from scratch, as well as whipping the whites till they peak for belgian waffles.