Put your hand up if you’ve ever tried to fish out some slippery, slathery egg shell pieces from a bowl full of raw egg.
Brother, I been there, too and we both know ain’t pretty. Yes, Shell Diving is high on the Kitchen Humiliation List, together with dropping a piece of toast jam-side-down on the floor, opening the oven door and having massive clouds of smoke blow out, or cracking an ice cube tray too strongly and sending rogue cubes scattering all over the floor.
Yes, the Awful Egg Crack is guaranteed to redden some cheeks and knock amateur chefs down a few pegs. Nobody wants to be That Guy, who cracks that egg, that badly, and that’s why it’s so sweet when you finally do master The Perfect Egg Crack. You can do it at home, by yourself, with a bit of practice. Just follow these three easy steps:
Step 1. The Tap N’ Crack . There is some debate on where exactly the egg should be tapped. Most folks like to tap the egg against an edge, like the side of a mixing bowl, but some argue that you should only tap the egg against a flat surface, like a kitchen counter or cutting board. Whatever you choose, just be sure to only dent the shell lightly instead of giving it a career-ending stab wound. Pushing too hard will result in a Slime Explosion, and unless you want to be called Salmonella Hands for the rest of your life, you don’t want that.
Step 2. Big Thumbs. This is the moment of truth. Stick your two thumbs in the dent you made and in one swift move just dig them in there deep and pull them apart. If you did it right, the shell should snap easily into two beautiful pieces, dropping its slippery plunder into the bowl below. Now, some people opt for the One-Handed move instead of ol’ faithful Big Thumbs, but I say that’s too risky. Besides, what are you really going to do with your free hand anyway?
Step 3. The Inspection. Go ahead, give it a once over. Grab a magnifying glass or hold it up to the light if you need to. But I’m going to guess it’s looking pretty pretty, my friend. Because you just performed a Perfect Egg Crack.
So beat that egg, fry that egg, whip that egg into some cake batter. It’s time to say goodbye to Kitchen Humiliation and hello to some well-deserved Kitchen Pride.
AWESOME!
um. has to be the tap and crack. but the second most important item to master is the boiled egg peel… can you do it in one fell swoop? tune in tomorrow.
I can. I crack it in a major crack then roll it around until it gets all those small particles. I then peel a piece off, get to the skin underneath and peel. Voila. Peeled boiled egg.
even better: getting good at cracking eggs one handed. people are incredibly impressed by this skill.
easy peasy. Comparable to cracking open a roll of loonies, toonies, or quarters, one handed.
13 years of being a cashier has to have some perks…
I always use a fork. Easy to get a nice sharp cut, without the potential mess of using the edge of the bowl.
The other day I was making cookies with my mum’s boyfriend’s 4-year-old daughter and she cracked 3 eggs perfectly in quick succession. I was awestruck. It was, indeed, awesome.
I always crack eggs one handed, and I must admit I’m quite proud of that. :D If I had to crack more than one egg I put the empty shells to my other hand, it’s pretty handy actually.
I strongly disagree with this post.
I like the even, strong smash-down onto the edge of a bowl, practically slicing the eggshell in half. If done decisively, purposefully, then there will be no bits of shell scattered about and the shell will break cleanly in two.
I agree that the thumbs shouldn’t make the crack, you need to crack the egg open on the bowl. who wants to put their thumbs in the egg?
I got pretty good doing it over the years. If I get a piece of shell in the bowl, I usually get it out with the side of a fork. Not easy.
The one-handed is the best…I do it better left handed than right handed. My mother gets mad because I can do it and she cannot….neener neener neener! :P
I’ll see your one-handed cracking and raise you one in each hand cracking! I used to have a job where cracking several dozen eggs was almost a daily thing… I think cracking two eggs at once is about the most useful skill I learned in the five years I was there.
Making a dent in the egg and then gently pulling apart the two sides pretty much guarantees no shells – at least that’s what the French chef Jacques Pepin says!
To remove a bit of shell, use another (larger) piece of the broken shell. Amazingly, it acts like a magnet. It’s a lot harder (and messier) trying to grab the broken bit with your fingers.
Cheers!
Kathy
As a pro and a chef, I disagree too: Two ways to crack an egg to avoid shell:
hit the center with a small but sharp paring knife to break the shell into two halves OR
crack against the countertop, firmly enough to break the shell, then separate.
Check out my latest (Nov/08):
Tried and True Recipes from a Caterer’s Kitchen—Secrets of Making Great Foods
http://www.eloquentbooks.com/TriedandTrueRecipes.html
http://www.howfoodswork.blogspot.com
I prefer to just shoot the suckers out of a bazooka. :o]
nothing puts you in a worse mood then cracking a bad egg at the beginning of the day
I worked at a fast food joint for years and have mastered the art of cracking 2 eggs, single handed, simultaneously. For some reason people are impressed, but it’s pretty easy. As someone stated earlier, use the edge of a bowl (I perfer the pan instead – it’s thinner and slices better) and try to slice the egg ALMOST in half. Then using your thumb and first two fingers, pull one half of the shell away from the other while tilting your hand over the pan/bowl….presto! Perfect one-handed egg crack
I haven’t cracked an egg two-handed since I was a kid
Valuable info for anyone who needs one way backlinks for no cost. Anyone need free one way backlinks for their webite? I thought I would share some great information I found a little while ago. Free backlinks for your website. I have been using this for my blogs and it absolutely works super! Click my name to see what I mean. Not selling anything, it’s totally free and it works.
I’ve perfected this because I got sick of being The-Person-Who-Is-In-The-Kitchen-Gasping-Because-She-Can’t-Get-The-Stinkin’-Egg-Shell-Out-Of-The-Glop.
For those who crack one-handed, are you able to seperate the yolk from the white that way too?
Rock Pottery.com have the coolest little clay master pieces for you to crack your egg into, one handed…sure thing AND then 2 part perfect separation usually through a smiley face=D
Let’s get cracking!
How awesome is that!
:)
thanks for the great post
My Mom got a double-yolked egg the day before she found out she was pregnant with all 4 kids. 4 double-yolked eggs! I freak out a little bit every time I get one, but so far none have been followed by babies!
Thanks for sharing, I will bookmark and be back again
Another one on the Kitchen-Humiliation-List: Making hedgehog slice, cracking the egg fine, beating it fine, pouring it into the pan with the chocolate mixture fine, but then some of it cooking before it can mix into the chocolate= not fine. I had to fish the bigger bits out, while mum was saying “It’s fine! We’re not going to eat it and no one will notice…” at 10 at night haha…
wait, lol i said fine a lot… and some were unintentional :P
What’s even better than the perfect egg crack? The perfect one-handed egg crack!
Thanks for see my blog! My best post what does asbestos look like. Thanks for read this and collaborate with the health.
I always crack mine on my head… works like a charm :)
is it posible to crack an egg with only on hand and only using your index finger and thumb
My mom can do two one-handed egg cracks at once, so she gets her egg on twice as fast!
Love it! *high fives Neil*
I cant crack an egg without little pieces in the egg, never mind one handed with no pieces I really gotta work on my egg cracking
süperbahis üyelik, süperbahis üyelik açma, süperbahis üyelik alma, süperbahis üyelik kaydı, süperbahis üyelik ücreti, süperbahis üyelik şartları, süperbahis üye ol, süperbahis üye olma, süperbahis üye olmak, süperbahis kayıt