The Easiest Way to Quickly Warm Eggs
A lot of times in baking, recipes call for the eggs to be at room temperature. This can present a problem for those of us who don’t plan or read the recipe ahead. (I’ll admit I’m guilty of this most of the time.) Luckily there’s a quick trick that will bring your right-from-the-fridge cold eggs up to room temperature in no time.
Why Room Temperature Eggs Are Better
Eggs warmed to room temperature will mix more easily into a rich dough or batter and also help increase volume. Some recipes call for it specifically, but we’ve gotten in the habit of using room-temperature eggs in most of our baking. Warming them up is a piece of cake (no pun intended)!
An Easy Method for Quickly Warming Eggs
To bring cold eggs up to room temperature, all we do is put them in a bowl and cover them with warm tap water. We do this first thing when we walk into the kitchen and the eggs are at a perfect temperature by the time we finish gathering the rest of the ingredients.
When warm, the yolk breaks easily and will mix more evenly with the whites. Warm eggs also get frothier and whip up faster — but they also deflate more quickly, so be sure to use the eggs (or the batter they go into) right away!
This post has been updated – first published April 2010.