The Best Way To Perfectly Separate Eggs Has Been In Front Of You All Along

If you're someone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen either cooking or baking, then you may have come across the task of separating eggs. For anyone unfamiliar, separating eggs simply refers to separating the egg yolks from the egg whites, usually because a recipe calls for one or the other. For example, the hollandaise sauce for eggs Benedict calls for egg yolks, while a French meringue calls for egg whites.

The process of separating eggs can be a bit harder than you expect — and intimidating if you haven't done it before. Luckily, there's an easy tip to help you successfully separate the egg: Make sure the eggs are cold when you separate them.

When eggs are cold, both the yolks and the whites are firmer, meaning that they will separate more easily. With this in mind, go through with the separating process when the eggs are straight out of the fridge. Or, you can even pop them in the freezer for a few minutes to really ensure that they are nice and chilled.

There are plenty of recipes out there that call for room-temperature eggs. For example, room-temperature eggs are the key to the fluffiest possible cake. All in all, if a recipe calls for the eggs to be room temperature, you don't want to ignore it because room temperature eggs, importantly, blend with other ingredients much more easily than cold eggs — this can mean the difference between a smooth versus a clunky batter. 

So, if you come across a recipe that calls for separated eggs that are also meant to be at room temperature, your first thought may be that you have to scrap the cold egg trick and just attempt to separate the eggs at room temperature, even though they'll be more liquidy and harder to separate. But there's no need to worry — there's a way to still be able to use the cold egg trick for separating.

After you've separated the eggs, put the yolks and whites in different bowls or ramekins. Then, place these containers in a square or round pan and add hot water to the pan until the water level is about halfway up the containers. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. This trick should get those egg yolks and whites to room temperature so that they are ready to go for the recipe.