"Graham Toquer" > wrote in message
m...
> I wanted to post a reply to the "How do you make an omelet" thread but
> could not figure out how to do it. The best omelets I've ever
> personally seen made were at a chain of restaurants called Waffle
> House. They're common in the South, but moving into the north as
> well. (I suspect that their omelet expertise originally came from New
> Orleans.) I was just overjoyed to find two in Ohio where I can stop
> in while on vacation. I hadn't been in one in years.
>
> Anyway, a chef there explained his technique to me. They use a bare
> aluminum omelet pan, no non-stick coating. Each morning they season
> the pan by polishing it with steel wool and then heating shortning in
> it very hot, and letting it cool. I'm told this achieves a better
> non-stick surface than teflon, and it lasts all day.
>
> Being in a hurry, they don't thin their eggs with water, but they do
> whip a lot of air into them with a blender. They cook in vegetable
> shortning, essentially a commercial version of Crisco. They use quite
> a bit of it, and a very hot flame. When the eggs go in, they puff up.
> Because the pan is so non-stick, the chef can shake the pan a little
> and the cooked portion will float up on top of the uncooked egg, which
> runs underneath and cooks in turn. Add any toppings such as bacon or
> ham, give it one flip, throw on the cheese and fold it over. It takes
> an incredibly short period of time, and is untouched by human hands or
> spatulas. It's an incredibly fluffy omelet.
>
> I tried some while I was on vacation because I had access to a
> thirty-year-old aluminum omelet pan, and they came out almost as good
> as the ones at Waffle House. (I didn't have access to a gas burner,
> alas.)
>
> The problem is now that I'm at home, I'm having trouble finding a bare
> aluminum omelet pan. Mine are non-stick, and they're not non-stick
> enough. I know that from experience. I can get bare stainless steel,
> but I'm not sure that it will season the way alumninum does. (Anyone
> know one way or the other?) The absolute best omelet pans are copper,
> but they cost an arm and a leg. Anyone know where I can get a bare
> aluminum omelet pan?

I have one of those aluminum pans, 30 years old! Still works great. Try a
restaurant supply store.

Cooking an omelet in veg shortening seems like sacrilege to me - use butter!


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.