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Why is water often added to the eggs when making an omelette? Also, is there a recommended amount of water?

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    I find that water makes watery omelettes, where milk makes a much richer omelette. I prefer to use heavy cream if I have it around. Water certainly makes a healthier omelette...
    – zzzzBov
    Jun 9, 2012 at 19:51

3 Answers 3

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Eggs are already 3/4 water anyway!

By mixing in a small quantity of extra water before you cook the eggs, you are slowing down the cooking process by making more water available that has be evaporated. This keeps the cooking temperature to less than 100°C (212°F) for longer, therefore increasing the the time for the egg proteins to foam and expand before setting

The amount of water you need to add depends on; personal preference, the type of egg, and how old it is. Older eggs generally require a little more water

Adding skim milk will enhance this process slightly too. Adding extra fat will generally not enhance this process

BONUS TIP To make even more spectacular omelettes place a loose fitting lid over the pan to increase the steam exposure all around, and let the egg fully develop

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  • and when should we add the water or milk? right from the start or when the egg starting to whitening?
    – KMC
    Jun 11, 2012 at 11:30
  • @KMC before cooking (answer edited to clarify)
    – TFD
    Aug 4, 2012 at 23:31
  • Bonus tip +1 I as kid I saw my mum doing and when asked she said "science science" haha ... common sense was so common in earlier generation but with us ;)
    – bonCodigo
    Feb 6, 2014 at 12:45
  • Thank you, TFD! I wondered why a meringue recipe called for a small amount of water to be added, and I think this is probably the reason.
    – Aster
    Nov 22, 2018 at 17:39
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To get fluffier eggs.

When the water is heated to 100 degrees C, the water will begin to evaporate. This will in turn make lots of small holes in the egg giving fluffy eggs.

Recommended amount of liquid (water or milk): 1 tbsp pr egg.

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Using water does make the taste a lot better because the protein is a lot richer.

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    Not deleting, because it seems vaguely close to a real answer, but there's nowhere near enough explanation here to be a good answer.
    – Cascabel ♦
    May 18, 2015 at 23:07
  • Beef, welcome to teh site. Could you please explain what you mean by "richer", especially if yiu are dilluting the eggs...
    – Stephie ♦
    May 19, 2015 at 10:23

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