Your Frittata May Need a Piece of Metal

Inevitably, almost every conversation I have with anyone turns into a conversation about food. Maybe 80% of them are about eggs. It wasn’t until I had a recent conversation about eggs with Mashable Editor-in-Chief Alyosha Williams Boyd that I realized that not everyone likes egg custard. So I thought that most people crave French-style scrambled eggs or a tender boiled egg with runny yolk, but that’s not the case. The egg lovers camp with a full range of proteins, not runny yolks, also has needs for texture. (I get it. I can’t eat an egg on the sunny side if the top whites are too snot-like.) But insisting on fully cooked eggs can lead to fritt problems, and it can be difficult to fully cook the middle without the outer edge getting the consistency of a Goodyear tire. Solution: Insert a piece of metal into an egg casserole.

Sounds dramatic, but it really works. Typically, when you cook an egg-based dish, whether it’s a crustless quiche, frittata, or bread pudding, the edges are in direct contact with the walls of the cooking pot, which conduct heat so they reach temperature and take a long time to cook. before the center gets enough heat to completely set. Most recipes and tutorials will ask you to take out the dish when the center is still hesitating, relying on cooking the leftover to finish the job. If you do this, you will get a completely set edge and a freshly set, silky, tender, custard center.

If you like soft-boiled eggs, you are golden. But if that texture makes you sick, you probably leave it in the oven for another 10 minutes to bake. Unfortunately, by the time the center is fully set, the edges have already exceeded the 144-158°F egg cooking temperature , and the protein bonds in the edge have compressed and squeezed out all the moisture. This is the rubbery texture we are trying to avoid.

Placing a small, food-safe metal object in the center of the egg mold will direct the heat to the center, creating a point of direct thermal contact. The egg pool can now cook from outside to inside and from inside to outside. The center, which used to cook last, will now cook at the same rate as the outer ring. Not only does this result in more even cooking, but it also cuts down on cooking time significantly – keeping you on your toes quickly, for example – so make sure you check your dish 10 minutes earlier than your normal baking time.

You can use any small, food-safe metal object to do the job, but make sure it’s large enough to stick out a bit. You want to be able to easily pull it out after it’s done without damaging the product as a whole. Try a small round cookie cutter, a piping hook, or a folded piece of aluminum foil. When you take the dish out to cool, take it out. If you’re using a piping tool or cookie cutter, brush it with oil before putting it in the egg mold so it doesn’t stick when you try to take it out. However, I did not oil the foil and it came out easily after I loosened the egg around it with a paring knife. Be careful when removing metal; it will be hot. A small mark on the surface is inevitable and can be easily covered up with a small garnish of chopped herbs or hot sauce. (Plus, if you’re not trying to impress anyone, then who cares?)

Aluminum foil is cheap and works great, but it floated a bit around my crustless quiche. I had to stick it back in the center when I loaded the quiche into the oven, which was a no brainer. Just to see if that might be an option, I popped a large plain nozzle in the center and it fit really well. The bottom is wider than the top and doesn’t float, so if you have one, give it a try.

To test the limits of this tip, I made two quiches, one with foil and one without. Quiche on the right (with foil nugget) has a uniform consistency. The one on the left has raised edges but a sunken, freshly installed center. Even though the quiche on the right was more “cooked” than what I prefer (I like the consistency of custard), it’s probably perfect for fully cooked egg types. You deserve to have exactly the kind of eggs you like, so toss a piece of foil into the frittata and enjoy a quick and even cooking.