Ever wondered how to crack an egg with just one hand? Those chefs on TV make it look so easy. Well, it is! And it's more than a party trick; being able to crack an egg with one hand lets you stir or whisk with the other as you add your eggs. It's actually pretty useful. Here's a quick little video (less than a minute long) where Emma demonstrates the keys to cracking an egg with just one hand.
What You Need
Ingredients
Eggs
Equipment
A bowl
Just one hand!
Instructions
1. Hold the egg across your fingers, ends pointing outward, not towards your fingertips.
2. Swiftly rap the egg on the countertop, just enough to crack the shell through, but not hard enough to crush the egg.
3. Over a bowl, use your thumb to pull half of the shell away. Think of the egg as if it had a hinge in the center. Pull half the shell away on that hinge, and let the yolk and white drop out into the bowl.
Additional Notes:
• Confidence and speed are the most important parts of this little technique. Also, practice makes perfect; try doing this each time you crack an egg for a recipe, and see how quickly you'll master it.
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(Images: Faith Durand)
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While it's nice to know, I still crack my eggs into a bowl before adding. Otherwise, you may find yourself fishing a bloody egg out of your batter!
This makes me think of the original Sabrina movie with Audrey Hepburn! :)
@misplacedtexan: I thought about Sabrina, too!
I also remember Caroline from "Little House on the Prairie" cracking eggs that way when she worked in Nellie's restaurant.
@ Mochene
Yuck, I never even considered that. I just crack them seperetly incase of egg shells geting in, as well as being prepared equals less stress.
My dad was the head chef at a resort -- think feeding 600 people in a sitting -- I remember seeing him crack 4 eggs at a time, two in each hand. The did always use a strainer "just in case" -- the eggs were from a local farm, so some were quite natural, if you catch my drift.
Emma is adorable! Thanks for the video!
I learned to do this from an old Columbo episode
Oh man. I was mad for a chef a couple years ago and it all started when I was watching him crack eggs with one hand.
Turns out, that should have been the end of it, too... Hindsight, haha.
comin from a cook-honestly, until you learn how to crack one in each hand at the same time, then this doesn't do much for you. Now, if you use this egg to actually spend the 5 min to make your own mayo or hollandaise, then that's time well spent.
I know you're supposed to crack an egg on a flat surface like a counter, and never on the edge of a bowl, says everyone. But I just don't see why!
Cracking on a counter seems to always leave a mess and lose some egg (like in the video). And I've never had an issue where cracking on the side of the bowl pushes the shell into the egg white, or whatever the issue is supposed to be.
Just wondering if anyone could help me understand this better, or convince me to change, or let me know my way is OK and not a horrifying breach of Kitchen Rules... :)
Another person who thought of Sabrina. My older sister and I were watching that movie on TV when I was a little kid, and she told me that it was really hard to crack eggs with one hand. I had never done it before but told her I bet could do it. On my first ever attempt I cracked two eggs perfectly, one in each hand. I've done it that way ever since.
Thanks! I've been trying to do this for years. ;)
All I could think is 'how many eggs will I obliterate as I practice this?'
Now...how does one dish out crushed eggshell bits that plop into the bowl?
'marymother', I'm up to seven, so far, I think that is about enough. Time to quit.
My son works in the prepared foods dept at a grocery store. He was taught to crack the egg on the counter, then twist the shell with your fingers to release the egg. Works great.
Is there a way to crack an egg with one hand that avoids spilling albumen on the kitchen counter?
@criv227 - I can't help you answer your question except to say that I have the exact same experience. Cracking eggs on a flat surface almost never goes well for me, but cracking eggs on an edge has never gone wrong (fingers crossed!), so I'm going to keep doing it.
I was holding the egg wrong all this time...lol Thank you for this tip!
Cracking on a flat surface significantly reduces the chance of shell splintering off. A sharper edge will push the splinters into the egg, breaking them off the membrane.
I taught myself the trick after seeing Sabrina as a little girl. Sadly, eggs this year [and my friends agree with me] have thinner shells and haven't been cracking properly at -all-. I'm going to have to shell out for organic, free range.