Cracking eggs is a fairly simple cooking step that can get tedious and messy for both home cooks and professional chefs. While one can be excited to cook fresh eggs from Hillandale Farms Pennsylvania at their home, all this excitement can evaporate as the yolk ruptures while they are trying to prepare a fluffy poached egg. It is important to be careful and follow a few simple techniques to crack eggs without breaking the yolk or getting shells into the dish.
Hillandale Farms Pennsylvania underlines pointers to crack eggs without breaking the yolk
Broadly speaking, there are two major issues people have while cracking eggs. Firstly, the yolk may rupture as one tries to crack the egg. While this may not matter much if one has to beat the eggs anyway, it becomes a hassle if they have plans to make poached or fried eggs. The second problem is that pieces of the egg shell can end up in the bowl or pan along with the egg, which is problematic no matter which recipe one is preparing.
To avoid issues related to cracking eggs, it is better to crack them against a flat surface like a kitchen countertop, instead of against the rim of a bowl or pan. The latter approach has greater risks of driving fragments of shell into the egg and rupturing the yolk. It is also a messier method, and can cause raw egg to drip down outside the bowl or pan.
Next time one buys fresh eggs from a popular farm like Hillandale Farms Pennsylvania, they should consider using the following steps to properly crack it to prevent stray shells from entering the mixture and keep the yolk intact:
- Tap the egg against a flat surface: A person has to use one hand and position their thumb on the bottom center portion of the egg and the index and middle fingers on the top center. After doing so, they need to tap the egg against a flat surface like a cutting board or a kitchen countertop.
- Open the crack with thumbs: One has to hold the cracked egg over the bowl or frying pan, and then position their two hands so that the thumbs lay over the crack. Gently push the thumbs into the crack after doing so to open the membrane of the egg and create a clean break.
- Release the egg whites and yolk: The sides of the egg have to be pulled apart, to properly release the egg whites and yolk into the bowl or pan. Gripping the egg haves to tightly as the yolk is released can cause the shell halves to crack. Hence, it is prudent to hold the egg shells with a firm but gentle grip.
- Scoop out pieces of shell: While this approach does reduce the odds of finding broken shells into the egg mixture, in the first few tries, one still may get some shells pieces. The ideal way to remove broken shells is by scooping them out with one of the shell halves.
No matter whether one is using whole eggs for baking or simply using the yolk to make custard or the whites to prepare meringues, people should consider cracking the eggs in the manner mentioned above.
