How Not To Cook An Egg: When Pinterest and the Internet Lead You Wrong

published Mar 11, 2013

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The internet told me that if I shook my uncooked egg before boiling that it would come out with a beautiful yellow color and creamy texture. No whites, no yolks, just a pale yellow. Sounds cool, right? I saw multiple people liking the idea, so I hopped on board and tried it with the hard-boiled eggs I like for lunch. Folks, some ideas we should not try at home. Want to know what happens when you shake an egg before cooking?

There are many beautiful things about the simplicity of a hard-boiled egg. I for one happen to love both the yolks and the whites, their perfect soft and supple texture when cooked properly and their ability to be a meal by themselves.

Now recently the internet told me, via Pinterest of course, that shaking your eggs before cooking would result in an egg of even texture and color. Curious like most would be, I tried it. I felt ridiculous standing in my kitchen shaking my eggs before placing them in the water, but I obliged and fully followed the directions. See those directions here:

→ Hard-Boiled Eggs at Uustuus

The results? Disaster! The shells stuck to the flesh of the egg (which was still white), as if it had done away with that precious little membrane that aids in peeling. Once I got past that, the egg inside seemed relatively normal. The colors hadn’t mixed, so I shrugged it off as a loss, sprinkled some salt on them and sat down to dinner. A dinner which I promptly spit back in my bowl, ashamed at this childish act and saddened that these eggs weren’t edible. Not even a little.

The whites and the yolks had turned to hard rubber and the outside of the white was almost unchewable, like shoe leather. The soft egg taste had been replaced by something much stronger. Between the smell and the texture, folks, this is not an experiment we should ever try at home.

Have you ever had an internet food experience go horribly, horribly wrong? Share your food fails in the comments below. Surely I’m not alone in having a Pinterest fail?

Related:

Peel and Go: 5 Ways To Make a Meal With Hard-Boiled Eggs

(Image: Emma Christensen)

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