You've Been Cracking Eggs All Wrong

Whether you are making poached eggs, eggs sunny side up, a cake, a frittata, or any other recipe that calls for eggs, it is essential at some point to crack a few. (You can't make an omelette without doing so, after all.)

We see it all the time on TV: a chef cracking eggs on the side of their mixing bowl, effortlessly releasing the egg from within and letting it fall, perfectly intact, leaving the shell behind without a second glance. They're doing it all wrong.

It looks good, casual and easy — but have you tried to recreate the very same movement? It leads to disastrous results for many, often allowing pieces of shell to invade a mixing bowl full of ingredients. Cracking eggs on the edge of something almost guarantees that pieces of the shell will end up falling into whatever vessel you are using. But there is a solution, a way to crack eggs that will significantly decrease the number of times egg shell bits dare to encroach upon your pristine bowl.

The way you should be cracking your eggs is upon a flat surface applying enough force to the equator of the egg to crack the shell neatly without forcing any of the shell inward (as happens when cracking on the edge of a bowl). One sharp tap on a hard table is all it takes, compromising the integrity of the shell and allowing you to then drop the egg into an awaiting vessel.

If you do happen to end up with any shell in your egg, drop in a larger piece of the shell to attract the shards, then fish them out without getting into a big, eggy mess.

For more egg-cellent egg information you might not know, click here.