Omelette pan for French omelettes

[lk145]

I want to get a pan for making French omelettes. Chef Pepin and the other posts on chowhound about this recommend non-stick aluminum for eggs, but French omelettes require high heat and I prefer to use a metal fork to stir the egg. I'm hesitant to buy a non-stick pan that I'll be using at high temperatures while stirring with a metal fork both because of the health concerns and because it's going to get destroyed pretty quickly.

Is there a good alternative? I can't spend $160 bucks on the Pot Shop of Boston omelette pan. I'm willing to put the effort into seasoning a pan, so would something like a de Buyer blue steel fry pan work for eggs?

[cbjones1943]

A French omelette pan is technically different than the pan used for crepes; although one need not be too fussy. I have made eggs in all forms for >30 y. Omelettes: if you a new cook, always use unsalted butter, less than you would use for scrambled eggs, much less than you would use for a crepe. As for scrambled eggs, cook your omelette over v low heat. When I scramble or make omelette, I use a flat bamboo "spoon" purchased in an Oriental market. For crepes, I use a sturdy but ~thin spatula. As in French kitchens, cook omelettes & scrambled over v low heat. A French "hausfrau" taught me to use a double-boiler to make scrambled.

[lk145]

Thanks for the info guys. I decided to go with a De Buyer fry pan since I'm not sure I could handle making omelette in something with sides as short as the crepe pan, especially if I ever want to do a 3 egg omelette. I've never had a carbon steel pan before, I'm excited about ditching teflon :)

[paulj]

We'll be here when you become frustrated with seasoning it. :)

[tim irvine]

I have several different types of pans including CI, tin-lined copper, and a "blue steel" (probably De Buyer, about 30 years old) pan dedicated to omelets. It seasoned very quickly and easily and IMHO is the perfect omelet pan. I have used others' non sticks and do not like them near as well. I use a wooden crepe paddle in this pan.

[cbjones1943]

I'm going to assume that you want French cookware. I use one of two sources: 1. Very good restaurant supply stores; 2. There are a couple of on-line sites (there aren't as many now as there were when I was a housewife--long ago); however, I did a search ~3 mos ago and found a good source. There's always copper; there's always Creuset (both expensive, of course)

[escondido123]

Using a metal fork to stir the eggs will not really allow you to create a "French" omelet. You want to lift the egg as it cooks to allow the uncooked egg to flow underneath as you tip the pan. You are not making scrambled eggs so it is a different technique. Since it does not use high heat, I would recommend a teflon pan and if you need to use a fork, I would suggest a wooden one though a wooden spatula works well for an omelet, French or not.

[SanityRemoved]

Part of the problem is discovering what equates to "high heat" on your individual stove in relationship to what was "high heat" at the time the programs were broadcast or the recipes published.

Jacques Pepin's version involves making a small curd which takes a fair amount of practice and experimentation at various heat settings not to mention a certain amount of coordination of manipulating the fork while moving the pan. Of course he makes it look simple but his results look nothing like scrambled eggs although omelettes and scrambled eggs are quite intertwined historically.

[paulj]

There's a Pepin video in which he demonstrates 2 omelets. The one he calls the country style lets the egg brown a bit, the classic does not brown at all. I think there is also a difference in how he stirs it, and resulting size of 'curds'.

He does stir his omelets more than many other instructors. Some call for letting the egg flow under the edge, Others just puncture any bubbles that form. The usefulness of these different methods depends in part on the depth of the egg in the pan. With more egg, more vigorous stirring at the start helps warm all of the egg, resulting in lower contrast between the bottom and the interior.

Pepin does not scrape his fork across the bottom. If I recall the video correctly, with one type the tines are parallel to the pan bottom, with the other they are vertical. But in either case, the goal is to move the curds around, not to scrape it off the bottom. A small nylon spatula should work just as well.

I'm in the 'crepe pan' camp. 2 eggs in a 22cm pan work fine. The layer is thin enough that I don't have problems with the low rim. In contrast to Pepin, I don't roll the omelet in the pan. Rather I roll it as it slides on to the plate.

Another advantage to using the crepe pan is seasoning. Since I only use the crepe pan for crepes, pancakes and omelets, it is well seasoned. My deeper frypan does not have a good seasoning, because I use it for searing and deglazing meat.

[SanityRemoved]

I have the De Buyer crepe pan and I think you would be better off going with a normal De Buyer (or any other carbon steel - Matfer-Bourgeat, Vollrath) fry pan ie the Mineral line. The reason is that the lip on the crepe pan is a bit too low and it's harder to contain the omelette especially with fillings. Also if you ever want to try the old jerking method that Julia Child used on her French Chef Omelette episode, the eggs will go out of the pan and not come back on itself.

I have made them in stainless steel fry pans but carbon steel would be easier once seasoned.

[lk145]

Awesome. Thanks for the replies, Chemicalkinetics and SanityRemoved. Is there a reason to prefer the mineral carbon steel over the blue steel line of de Buyer fry pans? I'd prefer to go cheaper but I'd invest in the mineral steel if it's going to be significantly better.

Also, if I cook other things in a steel pan like meat, is the taste going to transfer to if I cook eggs in it on another occasion?

[Chemicalkinetics]

Unfortunately, the debuyer website is shut at this very moment.

Ok, here are the difference. Force blue line is slightly thinner than Mineral line. For a big pan, the mineral line is about 3 mm thick. Force blue is 2 mm thick. Mineral has absolutely no coating, just carbon steel. Force blue has a thin layer of laminated bluing surface, which many people of us believe is due to the bluing process. The advantage is that it is almost ready to go out of the box with very minimal seasoning required because the blued surface. No it is not a teflon surface.

For omellete and especially for residential cooking, I would go for Force Blue if it is cheaper because it is lighter and because it heats up faster, but this is really your call.

"is the taste going to transfer to if I cook eggs in it on another occasion?"

Yes, but not much. Still there will be some and this is where a Teflon pan exceeds. A carbon steel pan won't be as bad as most cast iron, but there will be taste transfer because the favor can get embedded in the seasoned surface.

[kaleokahu]

Hi again, lk45:

If you can't find a "laminated" deBuyer carbon steel pan, you might like this one from their Carbone Plus line. Quite a bargain.

http://www.chefscatalog.com/product/2...

Aloha,
Kaleo

[Chemicalkinetics]

carbon steel. :)

A carbon steel pan is probably your next alternative. It can be seasoned just like cast iron cookware. It is essentially nonstick once you seasoned it. It is lighter than a typical cast iron pan, and it usually has a gentle swallower edge. You can either get a the classic frying pan, or if you like a swallower crepe pan which will also work well for omelette.

Debuyer is a very famous brand for these carbon steel pan, but it is not the only brand.

Here is a link:

http://www.chefscatalog.com/product/2...

Now, if you don't like to season a cookware, then you need to look back to the Teflon ones.

P.S.: There are cheaper alternative to DeBuyer is money is an issue.