ChatterTip of the Month February 2010

Some Tips About Eggs

© Adriana Mullen

http://www.adrianamullenphotography.com/

Separating eggs – instead of cracking the egg and then passing the yolk from one half of the broken shell into the other while the white drips down into the bowl – let alone the risk of breaking the yolk in the process – here’s a cool tip on how to separate eggs for you – crack the entire egg into a small funnel – providing the egg is fresh the white will pass through the funnel, apparently, leaving the yolk behind. I can’t wait to check this one out myself!

Boiling eggs – I remember learning this tip from my mother, and that is to put a little of our old faithful friend, vinegar in the water when hard or soft boiling eggs, to stop them from cracking and the whites leaking out of the shells.

Fresh eggs – and here’s a way to tell if the eggs are fresh or not – fresh eggs have chalkier shells, whereas older eggs have shiny shells. And always use eggs at “room temperature” so if you keep them in your refrigerator make sure you take them out to warm up for a little while before you start to cook with them. The same also goes for cooking meat – if you put a piece of “cold meat” straight from the refrigerator into a hot pan, the meat will literally react and go “aaaggggggggh!” and consequently turn out a lot tougher than if you were to cook it from “room temperature” in which case, the meat is more relaxed when it goes into the pan and therefore turns out much more tender!

Beating eggs – when beating egg whites, again, make sure they are at room temperature and be certain there is no yolk in the whites and that the bowl and beaters are perfectly clean. On the other hand, when whipping cream, you want everything to be chilled. Adding a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon juice will apparently keep the beaten egg whites firmer, longer.