Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer – Separating Eggs

Separating Eggs are easier than you think. There are gadgets and gidzmos that will do it for you but for me I’m all about these 2 hands (shows you her hands).

Eggs are natures perfect kitchen ingredient. One simple little thing can transform into a bajillion different recipes and creations. They are super high in protein and nutrition and for me one of my favorite ingredients. I always have at least 3 dozen on hand at any given time. Now sadly, even though I live in the country I have zero access to buying farm-fresh eggs as honestly those are absolutely the best. Oh sure my actual next door neighbor has a ton of chickens but we don’t like them therefore we don’t like their eggs. lol #worstneighborsever

What prompted this post was I had someone say to me the other day that no matter what they did they always screwed up separating eggs. She had been trying to make meringue however hers never whipped. You see, the issue is even if you get the teensiest bit of yolk in it, the egg whites will not whip up. Also some may say “Well hey, they sell cartons of egg whites. I can just use that. Eh… sort of.. It *may* work but 90% of the time it doesn’t. Just watch using carton egg whites as depending on their age I’ve had them not whip up at all.

So then what? Well you have those fancy gadgets that you crack the egg into and the yolk is supposed to sit on this ledge while the whites drain through. Ehhhh.. doesn’t always work. Dependent on how you crack your egg and where you can actually bust the yolk or hit the yolk on the edge of the ledge thus piercing it and allowing some of the yolk drip into the whites. The pros of this is you don’t get your hands messy. The cons – it often doesn’t work.

Next we have the YouTube trick when you can use a bottle to suck in the yolk in one piece. I find this can bruise the yolk and yes, pierce it.

After that we have the Shell-to-Shell method. You crack an egg in half as best you can and then almost dump the yolk and white back and forth into the empty shell while allowing the whites to drip down. This can work but you have to be careful as you’re rocking this delicate yolk back and forth over a sharp, cracked egg shell. This is probably my 2nd method of choice.

For me I’m all about using what God gave me – my 2 hands. My best advice to crack and separate eggs is to have 2 bowls – one for the whites and one for the yolks. Crack the egg into your hand. Let the whites trickle through your fingers to where only the yolk remains in your hand. At that point, put the yolk into the other bowl. It’s messy, sure but it’s the easiest way for me. Now if you’re squeamish, obviously you’ll have a fit about having a raw egg in your hand but suck it up buttercup. It’s just an egg and it can’t hurt you. So that’s the biggest con – your hands get eggy but that’s nothing a little soap and water can clean up. I mean you have to wash your hands anyways, right?

Often I get asked “So I separated eggs and now I have X-many yolks left or X-amount of whites. What do I do with them?” Well egg whites are excellent in frittatas and they freeze beautifully! Egg whites are excellent on meringue and absolutely needed in Angel Food Cake. Also, egg whites can be frozen. I put them into an ice cube tray and freeze. Once frozen, pop in a freezer bag and pull them out when you’re ready to use them. When ready to use just thaw and add to your recipe.

Egg yolks – some say you can freeze while others say no. I’m a “no, don’t freeze”. They have a funky texture when you freeze. Instead I’ll use them up in a pudding or custard. They can be kept refrigerated for about 2 days but keep them in a bit of water to prevent them from sticking to the container or each other.