Name: Cast Iron Best Scrambled Eggs
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 8 large eggs plus 2 large yolks; 1/4 cup half-and-half; Salt and pepper; 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Why This Recipe Works

A well-seasoned cast-iron skillet has great nonstick properties, making it ideal for cooking scrambled eggs. For perfectly cooked, fluffy scrambled eggs, we started by using eight whole eggs plus two additional yolks. The extra yolks not only enriched the egg flavor, but the extra fat and emulsifiers also helped stave off overcooking. To ensure that the eggs would come out of the skillet easily, we greased the pan with a little vegetable oil. A small amount of butter acted in concert with the oil to prevent sticking and helped to make the eggs even more flavorful. Starting the egg mixture in a preheated skillet produced puffy curds; turning the heat to low once the eggs began to coagulate ensured that they didn't overcook. Using a 10-inch skillet kept the eggs in a thicker layer, thereby producing larger, soft curds.

Before You Begin

You can substitute 8 teaspoons of whole milk plus 4 teaspoons of heavy cream for the half-and-half. The eggs can overcook quickly, especially if they are allowed to sit in the hot skillet past the cooking time. To avoid overcooking, have serving plates ready before starting the recipe. To dress up the dish, consider adding 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley, chives, basil, or cilantro or 1 tablespoon of dill or tarragon to the eggs after reducing the heat to low.

Instructions

Grease 10-inch cast-iron skillet with oil and heat over medium heat for 3 minutes. Beat eggs and yolks, half-and-half, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper together with fork in bowl until thoroughly combined and mixture is pure yellow; do not overbeat.

Add butter to skillet and quickly swirl to coat. Add egg mixture and, using heat-resistant rubber spatula, constantly and firmly scrape along bottom and sides of skillet until eggs begin to clump and spatula just leaves trail on bottom of skillet, about 1 minute.

Reduce heat to low and gently but constantly fold eggs until clumped and just slightly wet, 1 to 4 minutes. Transfer eggs to plates and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.