6 common mistakes you're making when cooking eggs — and how to fix them

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A total kitchen staple, eggs count among the first dishes most at-home cooks learn how to prepare. They're cheap, versatile, and easy … at least, that's what many of us assume. But, in fact, egg-cooking mistakes happen constantly, resulting in unappealing textures and questionable flavors. Luckily, these snafus can be avoided with a bit of know-how.

INSIDER consulted a panel of chefs to learn the most common egg-prep errors and how to get around them.

When it comes to cooking eggs, "low and slow" does the trick

To make eggs correctly, plenty of patience is required.

"Folks often turn the heat up to cook their eggs faster, but that will severely affect the taste," cautioned Susan MacTavish Best, the chef and planning guru behind The Party Whisperer.

NYC chef and restaurateur Donatella Arpaia (Prova Pizzabar) agreed: "The biggest mistake when cooking eggs [involves using] a high heat and overcooking them. The key to perfect scrambled eggs is 'slow and low'."

Using the lowest possible heat setting on your stove-top prevents the eggs from seizing and burning, allowing you to achieve the perfect consistency.

If your scrambled-egg preferences favor a looser texture, Executive Chef Michael Reich of the JW Marriott Chicago advised removing the pan from the hot burner and allowing the residual heat to do its thing.

"To avoid overcooking eggs, you should remove the pan while [the eggs] are slightly softer [than you want them] and still wet. They will then firm up as the eggs continue to cook," Chef Reich told INSIDER.

Don't add liquid to your eggs before they're in the pan.

Adding a splash of milk or cream is a scrambled-egg strategy so common that many home cooks don't even think to question it … but according to Bon Appétit Food Director Carla Lalli Music, we absolutely should.

"People love to add liquid to eggs before scrambling them and believe that a splash of milk, cream, or even water makes them more tender. Not necessary! To scramble eggs, beat the eggs with a fork until completely smooth, then season with salt. Cook in butter over medium heat, stirring constantly if you like a fluffy, finer texture, or only occasionally for velvety ribbons," Lalli Music told INSIDER.

But you should be seasoning with salt ASAP.

If you really want to amp up the silkiness of your scramble, seasoning with salt should happen as early in the process as possible.

"Salt can have quite a drastic effect on how eggs cook," Celebrity chef and nutritionist Ariane Resnick told INSIDER. "When eggs cook and coagulate, the proteins in the yolks pull tighter and tighter together as they get hotter. When they get too tight, they begin to squeeze liquid out from the curds, resulting in eggs that weep in a most embarrassing manner. Adding salt to the eggs well before cooking can prevent the proteins from bonding too tightly by reducing their attraction to one another, resulting in a tenderer curd and lower likelihood of unattractive weeping. Adding salt immediately before cooking helps, but if you want the full effect, the salt must have time to dissolve and become evenly distributed through the mixture. This takes about 15 minutes—just enough time for you to get your bacon cooked or your omelet fillings ready!"

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