Kitchen Myths

My usual technique was to beat the eggs with salt (and maybe a touch of milk) and cook them immediately. The other day I got distracted and the salted, beaten eggs sat for about 30 minutes before they went in the pan. They were unusually good! So I did some research and turns out I was not imagining it.

When eggs beaten with salt sit for a while, the salt causes some physical changes. You can see this in their color–after sitting, the salted eggs take on a deeper, richer yellow color. It also leads to particularly moist and tender curds when cooked. Beating in the salt just before cooking gives fine results too, just not quite as fine! And adding salt near the end of cooking gives tougher curds that may be watery. So, salt early when you can!