When Should I Salt my Eggs? | Ask Kenji 

I salt mine before cracking them. Really elevates the flavor of the shell.

Hello!

Didn’t finish the video yet - but had to say that u describing sponges as a 3-dimensional net is blowing my mind rn

I did not think a 10 min video about when to salt eggs would hold my attention. I stand corrected.

“Maybe you like that kind of weepy texture…” the shade!

Just put this in practice, and it made a world of difference for my breakfast burrito! No juices dripping out of the bottom!

I salt my tongue and not my eggs.

Speaking purely about methodology, it appears in the second batch the temperature reading on the range drops to a low of 242, then back up 244 as you take the pan off. The first batch had a minimum temperature of of 289 and was back to 300 when pulled off. Assuming it's accurate, that's a wide degree of variability. I'd be curious about what caused such a difference. Perhaps for the first batch the pan had been held at temperature for much longer than the second batch. I don't know if this has much of an effect on the results, but ideally you'd want them to be more similar. Cool video though! I trust your experiments.

My favourite thing about Kenji is his tiny little kitchen! A world class chef that doesn't have a kitchen the size of a football field! 😂 I'm chuffed by that! When you see celebs with these huge kitchens that you KNOW they don't use, I always think of my mom's little kitchen (she was a chef too) and the meals she turned out in that kitchen were phenomenal! My kitchen is also small, in that it doesn't have a lot of counter space. I'm also a really good cook (although nursing was my career) and I've never wanted these huge showcase kitchens. Small, but workable is my joy. And I always salt eggs before so I'm in "Camp Salt 'Em Before!"

I appreciate this video but I do have concerns about the methodology. If anything, my takeaway from this video is that pre-salted eggs cook faster than eggs salted while in the pan. The moisture loss seemed tied to the apparent "doneness" of the eggs as opposed to when they were salted. I would repeat this using a different variable than time - perhaps removing them from the heat at whatever time uncooked egg is no longer visible.

I like the boost in color I get from pre-salting my eggs. I've heard very reputable chefs saying that salting before the end makes your eggs weep, but I've never had that happen. Thanks for busting that myth!

Interesting, when I had heard the "don't salt your eggs in advance" argument, I thought it meant before they were done cooking, I didn't realize it was common to add salt and let the eggs rest. I will have to give that a try!

Impressive that he got through the whole video without uttering the words "Gordon Ramsay"!

Thats the difference between Kenji and "other chefs", and what i love about him and his content so much! When he tells you background or info, its because he knows from experience and experiment. He doesnt just repeat the "facts", he is curious and tries them out, even not being afraid of questioning old established techniques. Like when he finally redeemed radial onion slicing

Cool video! Love seeing your test methodology as well.

I posted about this on one of your previous videos. Thanks for the full video!

Love your mini experiments! More are always appreciated 😊

Mmmm, forbidden orange juice

I've been on an egg kick lately, so this was perfect timing. Thanks Kenji!

I’ve been doing these for years ever since we were gifted your cookbook. I convinced my wife, who hated eggs, to give them a try. She now requests these scrambled eggs routinely.

I LOVE the Food Lab book, I LOVE the Wok book, and I love Kenji's cooking style for exactly this reason! Great balance of science, technique, and most importantly - experience!

Brilliant. Thank you for your expertise and insight.

Definitely salting my eggs first from now on, thanks Kenji!! ❤❤❤

Just learned something new and love these explanations!

I appreciate your method. Thanks for this information.

This makes sense. I know this in my head with reasoning and experience, but thank you for the effort in actually displaying it. You rule.

Thank you Kenji for sharing this knowledge with us! I have never reflected on what actually happens depending on when you salt the eggs.

i remember asking you about this on a tiktok.. nice to see a full video!

You're looking good, Kenji, I hope you're feeling as well. I rarely scramble eggs but I love the inclination to just do the experiment.

I use a small autonomous drone with an hourglass which has a hole in it so my dishes are salted constantly. Ran double blind tests on it and it’s by far the best way

Very interesting test. Very informative, Kenji.

I can confirm the experiment done in the video. I tried Kenji's approach from the Food Lab book a couple of weeks ago and it really works. The downsides: 1) I keep eggs in the fridge and the pre-salt process tends to take up to 30 minutes, which is really long when you want a quick breakfast. The process is faster when the eggs are at room temp. 2) I previously salted eggs at the end as per the advice from Gordon Ramsay. Now I can't trust anything Gordon Ramsay says :-(

It is funny... thinking about this. I had it once or twice where I forgot to turn on the stove, so I had to wait and it came out different to the day before, where I didn't forget to preheat the pan, but I didn't thought about this too much. Thanks for testing and sharing this.

i would have liked to have seen a texture comparison of cook with no salt at all, but you can bet ill be pre-salting my eggs from now on. I love your work

Oh, I needed this video yesterday. I made French scramble and didn't know if it was better to salt before or after.

I remember reading the food lab to salt before cooking but I wasn't aware to keep it rested for a while. Thank you Kenji!

I needed this.

Swede here your video on the best way to get awesome oven fried potatoes changed my whole view on cooking, much love! always fix the PH of the potatoes for the win !

I remember you mentioning the color change with the eggs from awhile ago and trying it. It absolutely is a game changer. I don't eat my eggs scrambled often but I will ALWAYS salt the scramble before cooking (I prefer sunny side up with really high heat if you're curious.)

Thank you Kenji

Yay! I've been doing it right. I forget where I learned that trick, but quite possibly from you.

What is the result if you just cook the unsalted eggs a few seconds longer? Can you get good tasting, non-runny eggs that way, and it just takes a little longer?

The late salted eggs did look less cooked (in that they were wetter) going into the strainer. In practice, people would not be using a timer to indicate when off the heat, so the end result in practice would be different. Rather than weepy eggs, they may end up with drier tasting eggs as they allow more of water to evaporate.

I've been doing it this way since I read it in your book, and it made me fall in love with scrambled eggs

Great info. Always told not to salt until finished! Wow what a difference

Thank you Kenji I loved this video. I have 1 egg every morning but I kind of question what you showed us in this video. Now I know. Best Regards.

Im gonna have to try this now... lol. I am 52 and my whole life I have making scrambled eggs like my mom taught me. Add milk or heavy cream (sometimes a slice of American cheese as well) to the eggs beforehand, cook then salt and pepper them on the plate... Love to learn thanks Kenji!

This was great!

Pretty sure Jacques Pépin salts his eggs first. The amount of things he did before it was proven is amazing. I remember his mum used to keep the skins from green apples to make green apple skin tea, which was later proven to be very beneficial for health

There is another, viable hypothesis which would explain the observed result. Further testing is necessary before settling on a conclusion. The accelerated denaturing of the proteins in the pre-salted eggs could have a significant effect on the amount of heat necessary to reach a given state of protein coagulation, (= "doneness,") which will clearly influence moisture distribution. Let's look at moisture levels when each sample reaches the same coagulation level.

Never knew this. Great info!

Been salting early forever. Usually 5-10 minutes. Also add pepper and dried chives. It's great

My apologies if this was answered already but... Kenji has a prev video about eggs( "Really Good Scrambled Eggs") which has been my go-to for scrambled eggs since. In that video, he recommends a technique he picked up from someone else where you use a cornstarch slurry to prevent moisture loss. So is the cornstarch slurry method less effective than letting your eggs sit? Or is either method just as viable to prevent the tightening of the proteins?

I'm so glad you did this experiment and demonstrated it on video. I've only had eggs break 1 time. This was when I salted last minute and added milk. It was horrible... dry curds swimming in a soup of mostly sweet liquid. I had to throw it away. Since then I've always pre-salted the eggs (I found your Serious Eats article soon after) and I've never added milk. If I've had to add dairy, I'd add either cream or cheese. What's funny is I'm Asian, I was taught to salt eggs in advance whenever possible, but there were just so many famous chefs that gave this type of shit advice. This "phase" only lasted 2-3 months something when horribly wrong and the above incident happened; whereas previously, I've never much of a problem making scrambled eggs.

I'd be very much into a "cooking Mythbusters" series featuring videos like this. There's a lot wisdom, advice, tips and tricks etc. that people parrot online that may or may not hold up to scrutiny.

Nice to see that demonstrated! Btw why do you usually use a fork to whisk istead of a small whisk? Wouldn't that be more efficient?

Great experiment. But by cooking one egg after the other the unsalted eggs stood longer so the time variable is not the same anymore. I don't think the outcome will be different though XD As someone who can't cook I like to salt my eggs before too because that way the salt spreads evenly while when I salt them while cooking I end up with saltier spots.

I love food science stuff like this. Today I learned. :D

This was great.

So I'm a big fan of European style eggs (I guess you'd call them weepy), but when I lived in the UK the standard scrambled egg texture is a "wetter" and more custardy egg, with bigger curds than the French style, and cooked lower and slower than the American style "dry" scrambled eggs. British-style eggs are also frequently cooked in a saucepan instead of a frying pan, which changes the shape of the curds. If you do it right, you get what is essentially the texture of a French omelette, just not in the shape of an omelette, if that makes sense. Bigger, more set curds + less cooked eggs that are still buttery/custardy with smaller curds throughout. This is my preference for spooning over toast, because it stays put. And when you lace the eggs with good butter and sprinkle nice sea salt/crack black pepper over? Delicious. Wetter eggs are also a specialty of the Cantonese "waat dan" (slippery eggs) and many Japanese omelette styles!

Tried this last night. My husband said it was a slight improvement on my regular scrambled eggs, which he says is a compliment. He really liked it.

A tip I learn from my mom and I think It's worth a try: substitute the salt for Knorr chicken "bouillon" in powder presentation. Just don't add too much because it could make the eggs salty. I add it after cracking the eggs in a bowl, mix it well and proceed to cook it.

I suppose this is the same reason brined meats or marinated meats retain moisture better. I just never thought about it much for eggs. Great watch Kenji!

Before cooking anything I look up your name to see if you have solved any questions. Thank you so much, always.

I add a knob of unsalted butter into the pan and put a bit of salt on top of that so the salt melts along with the butter. Then add the eggs. Not sure if it's wrong but it tastes great at the end and the texture is soft. The only time I get "gray" eggs is when I've added pepper while they are cooking instead of at the end.

Ramsey says add it when it’s just about done cooking and also add crème fraiche at the same time to prevent the eggs from overcooking

If I’m ever making bacon or some other fatty breakfast side I pre scramble my eggs with a cornstarch and water slurry with sodium in the form of either salt or sometimes I’ll use Lee Kum kee’s mushroom bullion to add a bit of an additional umami flair, and by the time the meat side is done the eggs have had enough time sit so I’ll use the oils rendered from the bacon or whatever else (removing any unnecessary excess oil) to scramble the eggs with and the results are unbeatable. I have to thank you from the bottom of my heart for putting me onto the cornstarch method, I truly can never go back.

Whoaaa!!!! opposite of what I assumed...

I pre-salt eggs, but never let them sit for 15 minutes. I *gasp* put in a splash of 1/2 and 1/2. Cook with butter and never get complaints. Maybe my family just puts up with bad eggs. Lol. I appreciate the science Kenji, keep it coming.

My reason for salting my eggs at, or near the end of cooking, is that I like to melt cheddar in with them. I find that I have more control over the seasoning if I do the SnP at the end.

I have always put S&P in the wet beaten egg and my wife always asked what my secret is with eggs. I never knew that it retained the moisture I would have thought the opposite! Thanks for making this. I also add a splash of milk to the beaten eggs. Not sure why but it was always something my grandparents and parents did.

Nicely done. Jean Pierre master French chef also salts 15 or 20 minutes before and adds butter, cream, and sparkling water to the eggs.

so interesting i love it

@JKenjiLopezAlt Would salting the eggs before you beat them into a scramble have any major impact compared to salting them after beating?

Very interesting video.

What about chives? add fresh at last minute or dried at the start? Or always fresh? Thanks for the breakdown and science lab in this video! 🙇

I salt them right before I get them out of the pan, and give them a last stir. this way I need less salt overall as the salt remains largely on the outside of the curds for the tastebuds to taste. But the overall intake of salt is less. Usually a pinch of sea salt/fleur de sel suffices for two eggs.

Thank you. ありがとう。Gracias

I just want to thank people like Kenji, Andrew Rea, Ben Ebbrell and their ilk. I’ve always enjoyed cooking and consider myself a pretty competent home cook, but the people who give context to what you’re cooking & how you’re cooking it are the heroes. It’s people like Kenji who give everyday cooks the power to cook their way without screwing up. Thanks for giving the power to the people, chefs. Here’s to years of fun experimentation.

Definitely going to start salting ahead of time from now on.

Also if you like egg-white omelettes, salting them before cooking still loosens up the protein and you can whip more air into them and they become fluffier as a result.

wow great video!

You mentioned protein breakdown. Do you think it changes the amount or quality of the protein? Or is it just separation?

Im curious with the second batch and salting at the last minute I note in the video he shows adding the salt immediately after adding the eggs to the pan, is there any distinct difference adding the salt then as opposed to adding salt after they have cooked and your plating them?

Kenji, i would love to hear your thoughts on this. I got it from my dad - when we do scrambled eggs, we just crack the eggs into a buttered, hot pan. Then we season them with salt and pepper. Only then, we are starting to mix them around. You get an egg scramble that isnt boring and all the same. The idea is, and thats what i love about this method: you end up with a scrambled egg that still has different textures.

an interesting thing ive noticed is that the temperature of your pan also drops way lower in the non-salted eggs, probably because of the leaking water that absorbs a lot of the heat when evaporating

I use finishing salt, and very little of it. Cutting back on sodium.

So that's why I seldom experience differences in the texture of my scrambled eggs despite always cooking them for 30 secs always. This info definitely gives me more control on how I'd want my scrambled eggs to be with rice vs on a slice of bread.

Does salting before still apply if using something with more variability than oil, specifically butter? Or would it be better to switch to oil instead of butter?

When to salt or when not to salt... that is the question. Eggsceptionally feather-splitting. Thanks, Kenji. You da best!

really good to know, gonna try salt and sit. cool

Curious to see the results when cooking the eggs at a lower temp. When making my eggs in the morning, purely out of desire not to create an extra dish, I crack my eggs directly into a cold non-stick saucepot, no salt yet, no oil or butter at all, and then "whisk" them with a silicone spatula. Then start cooking them over medium-low and "whisk" constantly. Just before the eggs come together and still have some amount of liquid I throw in some kosher salt and do one last scramble. I prefer a slightly soft scramble, but certainly not watery and these are the perfect egg for me. If I do this same method but salt them before I start cooking, they come out with a texture that I find really off-putting.

This was cool. I've never salted my eggs first, but will try it. It makes sense that the salted eggs hold more water, not just because of the proteins unfurling, but also because salt will attract the water and help hold it in, particularly when you let it sit with the eggs for a while before cooking. It makes me think of brining and salting meat. If you salt meat, the salt draws the water in the meat to its surface, forming a shallow brine, which is then absorbed over time. The meat cooks up juicer because the salt in the meat continues to attract and hold onto the water. But if you salt the meat and then cook it immediately, it may be drier because the salt will draw the water out of the meat before it has the chance to get absorbed back into the meat.

Oh wow. TiL. I always just crack, salt and cook instantly. Huh. Gonna try the "pre salting"!

Great vid as always! I would run the test again with the unsalted eggs cooked first. I'm interested to know how the conclusion changes

I believe you, I always pre salt, but I challenge you to do unsalted first, stop the timer when you judge they're done, then cook the presalted ones according to that time. Salt could (probably does) change the cook time...cause dissolved solutes and chemistry things I can't remember. I'd be interested to see how it'd change things.

I am convinced but still curious, is that just water in the bowl at the end or uncooked egg? What happens if the eggs salted last minute cook for a few seconds longer? Could it be that the pre-salted eggs get a "head start" on cooking but with adjusted cooking times end up in the same place the as the other eggs?

Thanks

To me it depends if you want to have the salt crystals at the end or not. If you want ‘salty’ eggs, or ‘seasoned’ eggs. I do it both ways but I like the pre salted better. One person was saying it takes 30 mins. No it definitely doesn’t. As soon as I notice the eggs gettin darker I cook them. I just keep beatin them until the color changes

Excellent video, as always. Question: does this technique translate to making an omelette?