Emma Miller
Everyone has a favorite way to prepare eggs. Some people prefer hard-boiled eggs, while others consider poached eggs to be the best. Few people know how to break eggs properly.
How to break hard-boiled eggs
You’ve probably noticed that sometimes a hard-boiled egg is quite difficult to peel from the shell. This is especially true for fresh eggs. So how do you break a hard-boiled egg without breaking the whites?
To do this, you need to immediately cool the boiled eggs. Transfer them to a bowl of cold water. Ideally, add some ice to the water. In the process of cooling, there will be a slight contraction of the egg under the shell, which will make it easy to peel it from the shell.
For best results, we suggest hitting the egg with a spoon. You can then pick up the shell and remove it easily. In contrast, hard-boiled eggs are broken a little differently. Because the texture of hard-boiled eggs is more delicate, it is best not to peel them until you eat them.
What usually breaks the shell of a hard-boiled egg? In order to clean such an egg from the shell, it is enough to break it gently on the sharp end of the egg, then scrape it off on the spout and then pull out the white and yolk with a teaspoon. It is quite convenient to use special stands for hard-boiled eggs.
How to break a raw egg properly
Knowing how to properly break raw eggs is an incredibly useful skill in the kitchen, as eggs are often found in recipes for various dishes and desserts. In doing so, it is important to break the egg so that no pieces of the shell get into the dish.
The most effective way to break an egg without cracking the shell is to hit it against the table. This should be a single blow. Ideally, you should hit the table with the middle of the egg. Imagine that this is where its “equator” passes.
If you break an egg on the table, the shell will just crack and not damage the inner film. That said, if you beat the egg against the edge of a bowl or skillet, there’s a good chance of getting the shell inside the egg itself.
Also, in many recipes, the key ingredient is either the white or the yolk. In such cases, it is very important to break the egg and not damage the yolk. And agree, the frosting turns out much more appetizing when the yolk does not spill all over the pan.
You can use a special egg opener to avoid damaging the yolk, but it is unlikely that you can find such a tool in every kitchen. To break an egg without damaging the yolk, we do not recommend hitting it against the edge of a bowl, pan, or the corner of the table. It is advisable to use a sharp knife. At the same time, it is necessary to beat the egg with a blade.
Also, if you want to leave the yolk intact, you can beat the egg closer to its blunt edge. When doing so, we recommend pouring the egg as close to the pan as possible so that the yolk does not spill out as a result of hitting the surface of the utensil.
How not to break an egg
As we wrote earlier, one way to break an egg is to hit it with a knife. However, hitting eggs with a knife is not the best way.
Stabbing with a knife can break the eggshell finely, and its particles are bound to end up in the food, adding to the trouble. Then the particles of the shell will have to be removed from the dish, which will take some time. In addition, the stabbing can destroy the integrity of the yolk. You shouldn’t forget about your safety either. If the knife is very sharp, there is a significant risk of injury.
Surely many people have heard that you should not knock an egg on the table. Mostly this is due to superstition. It turns out that such an omen exists for firemen and rescue workers. They may consider it a harbinger of disaster. At the same time, folk wisdom says that you can not break an egg on the table, so as not to break your lucky fate.
How professional chefs break eggs
Chef and cookbook author Mike Hayes told TikTok what ways professional chefs use to break eggs. The chef compared two popular ways. In the first, he cracked an egg directly on the table, as many hostesses do. However, when he poured the contents of the egg into a bowl, the shell cracked into small pieces and got into the white and yolk.
The second method, on the other hand, is to simply drop a whole egg into the bowl. This manipulation also breaks the egg in half, but the shell does not crumble and does not get into the egg itself.
Important: Remember to wash eggs before cooking.
How to break an egg with one hand
Surely everyone at least once in his life has tried to break an egg with one hand. In order to do this, you need to follow a number of simple steps.
First, it is necessary to hold the egg itself correctly. To do this, you need to clasp three fingers, and the index finger and the thumb should be slightly bent. Another important point is the position of the egg in the hand. It should be held so that the blunt edge of the egg is clasped with the middle finger, and the index and thumb are near the sharp end.
Secondly, it is necessary to knock the egg on the table or the edge of a bowl or a water pan (at your discretion). It is important to calculate the force of the blow. It is necessary to knock the egg hard enough, but still not with maximum force.
After that, you should bring the egg over the container and slightly spread the fingers in different directions to open the shell. Then the egg white and yolk can be easily poured into the container.
