“I’ve heard that if you happen to add salt to eggs too far prematurely, it might probably destroy their texture and toughen them up. When ought to I salt my eggs?”
I, too, have heard this story. In actual fact, it was a legendary chef (who shall stay anonymous) who instructed me a number of years in the past, “Do not add salt to your eggs till proper earlier than you cook dinner them, or it can skinny them out after which toughen them up.” With out questioning it, I dutifully adopted that recommendation ever since. (I’m, nevertheless, prepared to name out Gordon Ramsay for giving the identical recommendation. Since he is made a profession of shaming others, he completely deserves a small lashing right here.)
As we all know by now, it is not unusual for such hand-me-down kitchen knowledge to crumble underneath scrutiny. Would this little tidbit of cooking lore maintain up and ceaselessly vindicate Mr. Ramsay? It is a simple sufficient query to check out, so I began cracking some eggs.
Egg Fundamentals
Earlier than we get to my check, let’s evaluation some egg fundamentals that will assist us perceive this higher. So, what precisely occurs once we cook dinner an egg?
To simplify, let’s give attention to the egg whites (a.ok.a. albumin), that are largely made up of water and numerous proteins. Of their regular state, these proteins are all folded up on themselves and have a tendency to keep away from one another. Consider them like a roomful of introverts who’re extra inclined to sit down on the ground and stare at their telephones (whereas holding a secure distance from the others) than arise, introduce themselves, and work together. If mild rays had been a bunch of joggers chopping via the room, they’d have a simple time working round and thru these evenly-spaced folks. That is why uncooked egg whites are clear: mild has little bother chopping a path via minimal obstacles like free-floating, scrunched-up proteins.
However there are methods to vary the habits of our uncommunicative proteins. The plain one, in fact, is so as to add warmth. Warmth works on the proteins within the egg white a lot the best way a therapist would possibly encourage a bunch to place down their telephones and get comfy with one another. All of the sudden, they’re coalescing into teams, doing ice-breaking workout routines like holding palms after which making an attempt to untangle the human knot, and even working their means as much as the top of interpersonal enjoyable: belief falls! However within the case of the proteins in albumin, as soon as that handholding and compatriot-catching enjoyable begins, it just about stays that means, nearly as if our group turned a bit too captivated with their newfound pals and determined to stay collectively extra completely…with an entire lot of handcuffs.
This becoming a member of of proteins is what companies up the egg and turns it opaque, since mild cannot get previous these interconnected proteins as simply—simply think about the joggers making an attempt to get via this group of interconnected folks. The extra warmth you add, the tighter these protein bonds get, inflicting the egg to agency up increasingly more. Finally, if you happen to overcook the eggs, the bonds will get so tight that the proteins begin squeezing out the water—a phenomenon you’ll have observed if you happen to’ve ever hammered eggs actually laborious. (Truly, a cooked egg would not have to remain that means: It’s potential to un-cook an egg and return the strong whites to their authentic clear, fluid consistency, however I am undecided I would need to eat it after that.)
Other than warmth, there are different issues that may promote this protein linkage. One is acid, which is why some folks say including a splash of vinegar to egg-poaching water helps set the white extra rapidly. One other is salt. In accordance with Harold McGee’s On Meals and Cooking, when salt dissolves into egg, it separates into charged ions that change {the electrical} setting sufficient to encourage coagulation. Based mostly on that, it may appear logical to conclude that eggs with salt will coagulate extra rapidly, and due to this fact be extra vulnerable to toughening.
The Take a look at
To seek out out what truly occurs while you add salt to egg, I scrambled 5 side-by-side batches. Every batch contained three eggs and 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt, with the one distinction being how lengthy every was uncovered to the salt earlier than cooking: 60 minutes, half-hour, quarter-hour, 5 minutes, and 0 minutes.
The consequence was that each one the scrambled eggs had been practically indistinguishable from one another. If something, the eggs that sat with salt for the longest had been extra moist and tender than the eggs that had been uncovered to salt for much less time, although I am unable to stress sufficient that the variations had been extremely refined.
Whereas salt actually would not harm the eggs (and will even assist), there is not any query that an important issue when cooking eggs is the cooking approach itself. Within the case of scrambled eggs, meaning utilizing mild warmth and taking the eggs off the warmth a bit early to account for carryover cooking.
Nonetheless, it appeared unusual that my checks indicated that, if something, salt can enhance the feel of the eggs, which is the precise reverse of what we would anticipate from an ingredient that promotes coagulation. I turned again to McGee for an evidence. In accordance with him, the explanation that the salt would not toughen the eggs is that, whereas appearing as a catalyst to make proteins bond at decrease temperatures, it concurrently features as a buffer, stopping the proteins from getting too shut to one another and lowering the danger of water being squeezed out.
Mainly, to return to my analogy, salt is type of like an individual who’s acquired a key to unlock all these handcuffs so the folks can return to being pleasant—however not too pleasant—with one another. I would say Gordon Ramsay may perhaps do with a bit little bit of pre-salting in his life too, if you realize what I imply.