Stirring in cream immediately lowers the temperature of the eggs, so you can plate them without overcooking. While cream gives the eggs a sweet richness, you can also finish them with other cool ingredients.
So, whatever liquid you add — water and cream included — can lead you to overcook the dish. This directly affects the consistency of the final product, ultimately making them that much more rubbery or dry. According to Cook's Illustrated, the only kind of dairy you should be adding to your eggs is butter.
There are two philosophies on cooking scrambled eggs: some prefer them cooked slowly over low heat, while others swear by a very hot pan. If you cook them slowly, milk or cream is primarily there to make them tender, and perhaps to prevent overcooking.
The liquid that truly makes a difference between passable eggs and restaurant-quality special-event-feeling eggs is water. That may come as a surprise, but the food scientist Natalie Alibrandi told Well + Good that water makes sense at a chemical level.
Making the egg “the McDonald's way” involves two simultaneous cooking techniques: frying and steaming. That is what gives the egg its soft, fluffy texture. Immediately cover the pan so the steam can build and help cook the egg.
Whisking = EXTRA FLUFFY and Light!
Whisk the eggs vigorously before you add them to the pan and even once they're in the pan. The eggs should be foamy on the top. Foam = air pockets, which is the key to a fluffy consistency. Use a fork to whisk as this gives you more control, especially when whisking in the pan itself.
Adding Cornstarch.
This hack really works. Adding 1 teaspoon of cornstarch into 3 teaspoons of water to form a slurry and then adding it to your beaten eggs truly makes for the lightest, fluffiest eggs.
Adding milk or plain water to scrambled eggs is an optional step that affects the texture of your finished dish. For creamy scrambled eggs, you'll add up to 1 tablespoon of milk for every egg. For fluffy scrambled eggs, you'll add up to 1 tablespoon of water for every egg.
There's a misconception among some home cooks that adding milk to scrambled eggs can yield a fluffy, creamy finished product, but it's simply not true. Adding milk will do nothing but dilute your egg mixture, thus rendering it rubbery and sad.
"Scrambled eggs should be cooked slowly, over medium-low heat," explains Perry. "A good scramble takes a minute!" Go hotter, and you'll have overly dry eggs.
Adding a tablespoon or two of milk, sour cream, heavy whipping cream, or our personal favorite, crème fraîche, to the egg mixture will help the eggs remain moist and fluffy as they cook. If you're unable to add dairy to the eggs, don't worry. You can still achieve fluffy scrambled eggs without milk!
Water is the way to go if your ultimate goal is to cook airy scrambled eggs that feel like a cloud and melt in your mouth. It's as simple as this: add a splash of water to your already-whisked eggs. When the water heats on the stove, it produces a steaming effect, which results in surprisingly fluffy scrambled eggs.
Mayonnaise or an extra egg yolk
A simple way to achieve creamier scrambled eggs is to simply add an extra yolk to the mix. Another way to achieve this is by taking a page out of "Good Eats" host Alton Brown's book: Add a teaspoonful of mayonnaise to your scrambled eggs.
The secret ingredient for perfectly fluffy scrambled eggs is whisking the eggs thoroughly and vigorously before cooking them. Whisking incorporates air, which produces fluffier scrambled eggs, and fluffy eggs are the end goal.
I personally like adding a splash of milk or cream directly to my eggs before I start cooking. I find that it makes them more tender—plus, it's a great way to add more volume to your scrambled eggs if you're maybe running low and need to feed a few.
Try adding a balance of fresh vegetables, cheese, fresh herbs, and seasoning. Some delicious variations include tomatoes and Cheddar cheese, asparagus, chives, and goat cheese, or bacon, sautéed onion, and Gruyere.
We use a freshly cracked, Grade A egg for our famous Egg McMuffin® sandwich. It gets its iconic round shape when we cook it on the grill with an 'egg ring. ' And that's just the start of your favorite morning sandwich!
As J. Kenji López-Alt explains in his book The Food Lab, salt inhibits the proteins in the egg yolks from binding too tightly as they heat up, which results in a moister, more tender curd: “When eggs cook and coagulate,” he writes, "the proteins in the yolks pull tighter and tighter together as they get hotter.
Not whisking the eggs enough.
Thorough whisking is crucial to getting soft, fluffy scrambled eggs. With too little whisking the white and yolk don't fully blend together, and you're left with uneven eggs. This step is also important for incorporating air into the eggs.
There are several ways to make scrambled eggs, including adding milk, cream, cheese, or water. But there is also another ingredient that turns regular scrambled eggs into a delicious dish that is creamy, soft, and velvety smooth with a rich, satisfying taste—and that is butter.