The Secret Shortcut Hotels Use For Those Buffet-Batch Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs are a staple at nearly every hotel breakfast buffet — they're ready throughout the entire breakfast service and never seem to run out. Eggs are the go-to breakfast for many people, so it's understandable hotels want them well-stocked. And yet, the pursuit of quantity too often sacrifices quality. If you've been imagining there's someone in the hotel kitchen cracking a ton of eggs, whisking them, and turning them into fresh scrambled eggs every single morning, you'll be disappointed to learn that's usually not the case. Most hotels use either dehydrated or liquid eggs to make their staple dish.

If you've ever eaten scrambled eggs at a hotel, you've likely noticed something was amiss. Breakfast buffet eggs are notoriously dry, rubbery, and very bland. The color is not the expected bright yellow, but a pale, dull shade instead. A viral TikTok video that amassed over 19 million views showed dehydrated eggs being prepared for a hotel breakfast, lifting the veil on why buffet eggs are so unappetizing. The powdered eggs were packaged in a sketchy-looking blue plastic bag, microwaved (we can just hear Gordon Ramsay screaming about "Chef Mike"), mixed with water, and heated up again. Um, we'll pass.

Some hotels opt for liquid eggs instead of dehydrated ones. A different TikTok video shows a hotel employee unloading several plastic bags containing liquid eggs and — you guessed it — putting them in the microwave. The gooey, jelly-like eggs are then poured from the plastic bag directly onto the serving tray. It's a similar process to preparing powdered eggs, which clues you into the main reason hotels don't like to use fresh eggs — they're much less convenient. Freshly preparing soft and fluffy scrambled eggs requires more time and money than they are willing to invest. Highly processed egg mixtures are also more shelf-stable, allowing for bulk purchases and easier storage.

Although liquid and dried eggs are not the most appetizing, they are generally safe to eat, according to the FDA. All egg products must be pasteurized before they are sold to eliminate the possibility of Salmonella. However, it's still important that the cooked processed eggs have an internal temperature of (minimum) 160 degrees Fahrenheit — if the hotel you're staying at doesn't have heated trays, that could pose an issue as the eggs cool off.

Knowing all this, you'll probably want to skip scrambled eggs the next time you're in line for a hotel breakfast. But thankfully, you don't have to skip hotel breakfast entirely: Check out our verdict on the best hotel buffet foods and, if you're dead-set on eating eggs, make your way to the omelet station.