Break an Egg
Being able to crack an egg is a handy kitchen skill. Cracking an egg is necessary to make everything from a basic scrambled egg to an elegant Crème brulée. When you're cracking an egg, the key is to rap it on the widest part of the shell, around the middle. That way you'll get a clean break instead of ending up with bits of shell in your breakfast. Move down to Step 1 to learn how to break an egg.
Steps
- Grasp the egg in your dominant hand. You'll want to have maximum control over the egg; if you use your other hand, it might accidentally slip.
- Hold it between your thumb and first two fingers.
- Tap the belly of the egg firmly against a hard surface. Make sure the part of the egg you tap is the widest part; if you break the egg near the top or bottom, it'll be more likely to shatter in your hands.
- Some say eggs should be cracked against a flat surface, while others swear by rapping them against the edge of a metal bowl or pot. Either method works as well.
- You can also tap something hard against the egg, rather than the other way around. Try taking a heavy knife or another heavy utensil and tapping it firmly across the center of the egg.
- Open the egg halves. Use the thumb of your second hand to push gently into the cracked part of the eggshell, then pull the halves apart with both hands. Do this gently, to minimize the chance that the egg will shatter or that small pieces of shell will get into your bowl.
- Experienced chefs who have to crack dozens of eggs at a time are able to open the egg halves with one hand. To do this, center the cracked egg in your palm and hold it face-down over your bowl. Use your forefinger to stabilize the back of the egg, then pull it apart using your thumb and middle finger to separate the halves. This method takes a lot of practice!
- Empty the egg into a bowl or pan. If you're using the whole egg, go ahead and pour it in, yolk and all.
- To separate the whites and the yolk, position the egg over the bowl and gently pour the yolk back and forth between the egg halves so that the egg white drops into the bowl and the yolk is preserved whole in a shell half.
- Finished.
Tips
- Do this over a bowl.
- Sprinkling broken egg shells around the base of your garden plants works great to keep the critters away.
- Wash your hands before and after breaking an egg!
Warnings
- It is best not to crack eggs directly into the bowl that you are building your recipe in. Instead, crack eggs into a separate bowl and transfer each into the main bowl, one at a time. This give you a chance to remove bits of shell, or withhold an egg from the recipe if there is objectionable material in the egg.
Things You'll Need
- Egg(s)
- Flat surface
- Bowl
