We just read a tip at Saveur's website and learned something new. No, not about separating an egg in your hands, although that's a good one, too. There's something else...
How to Separate an Egg
Saveur claims eggs will separate more easily when they are cold, not room temperature. We occasionally do have trouble getting that last bit of white film away from the yolk.
In the past, we've tried those plastic separators- you know, the ones where you have to land your yolk in a tiny well and let the white dribble through the slats on the side. It can be hard not to bust the yolk on the edge of the plastic holder. Same goes for passing the yolk back and forth between broken eggshell halves. We sometimes pierce the yolk on a jagged edge, and we find that there's always a dribble of white left in the bottom of the shell.
We like using our hands. It's easier to control and coddle that delicate little yolk, turning it slightly to get the whites to fall through our fingers. But would that last smidge of white roll off more easily if the egg were really cold?
So many baking recipes call for the ingredients, eggs included, to be at room temperature. Everything blends together more smoothly that way, and cold eggs don't turn soft butter into hard chunks. We usually let whole eggs roll around on the counter for a while, but now we know that if the recipe calls for yolks or whites, we'll try separating them first, then letting them warm up.
• See the tip here: Separating Eggs, from Saveur
Have you found this to be true? How do you separate eggs?
Related: How Do You Break an Egg?
(Image: Andre Baranowski for Saveur)
Comments (8)
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I do the thing where you just roll the yolk between the two halves of the egg shell letting the whites fall through. I've always found it fairly effective. Maybe because I always do them straight out of the fridge. If they need to be room temp ill let them warm up while i prepare/gather other ingredients.
The hand methood seems like it would be really effective but I dont usually like getting my hands so dirty while cooking!
view adamwa's profile
This explains why my eggs were more difficult to separate than usual the last time I made an angel food cake. Thanks!
view asinner's profile
I usually use the shell-to-shell method and it works well enough for me. I never worry about that last bit of white since recipes that call for the yolks usually are fine if a little bit of white gets in, but the reverse is not true.
view angorian's profile
In one of Julia Child's shows, she talks about how the French like to get the last little bit of white out of the shell after separating an egg (I think she demonstrates just kind of digging it out with her finger). Then she grins and says, "And if you do this with five dozen eggs, you save yourself a teaspoon of egg white."
I do the shell-to-shell thing, too.
view Joan A.'s profile
i've heard that shell to shell is more unhygienic because the outsides of the shells are dirty.
view fardaesm's profile
This was too difficult to test before writing it up?
I do shell to shell. If I'm making meringue, where it's crucial not to get a speck of yolk, might use my hands, but either way, I separate into a small bowl one at a time.
And I separate or otherwise crack the eggs when they are cold only because it seems they'll reach room temp faster that way. Maybe I'm wrong, but haven't thought too much about it.
view renata's profile
if I only need one or two, I do it shell to shell. if I need more, I use the plastic thingy that was gifted to me. I've never broken a yoke and it goes quite quickly!
view foodefafa's profile
I tried the shell to shell thing for a long time, resulting in many broken yolks. Using my hands works perfectly every time, but I've only done this with cold eggs, never room temperature.
view inertia's profile