Separating a lot of eggs

[paulraphael]

What's the prefered way to separate a whole lot of eggs, if they're going to be used raw? I have to do a bunch tonight. Normally I'd just strain them with my hands, rather than doing the housewife method (with the egg shells) or straining with a skimmer. But this recipe has a ton of raw yolks in it, and I'm thinking it might be best to keep my paws off of them.

I could also quasi-pasteurize them over heat, but I've never done this and I'm afraid of cooking them by mistake.

Thoughts?

[Chris Amirault]

Hmm. Would cracking the eggs over a fry pan splatter screen do the trick? They have holes that might be big enough to allow the whites to seep through, and they'd certainly hold the yolks up.

[gfron1]

My splatter screen is just that - screen, so I can't imagine that working. But what about those light covers that are honeycomb design...might just be big enough holes, but not too big.

[paulraphael]

This must come up in commercial pastry kitchens. Do the pros handle the eggs differently if they're not going to be cooked?

[dougal]

There are cheap and simple tools available here in the UK

like this http://www.lakelandplastics.eu/product.asp...nsils!10896

presumably something similar where you are - its just an egg yolk sized cup with a strainer overflow...

[Fat Guy]

A lot of professional pastry chefs -- even at the top levels -- use commercially available pasteurized egg yolks (they come in cartons, like milk) when the yolks are going to be served raw or nearly raw.

[Fat Guy]

P.S. if it's just your hands you're worried about, you can wear latex gloves and do the hand-picking method that way.

[Pam R]

What is a 'bunch' of eggs? I think using gloves (I'd go for vinyl over latex/) is a good idea. The fastest way I've found for separating eggs is to crack them into a bowl and use your fingers to pull the yolk out of the bowl.

[alanamoana]

common sense says to use gloves, but really, the salmonella doesn't come from your hands (especially if they've been washed before separating the eggs). if it is anywhere, it is already in the egg or on the egg shell. if you're concerned, then why bother using raw yolks in a recipe in the first place? just to be safe though, i'd wash the exterior of the eggs before cracking them.

edited to add: and don't serve this dish to - very young children, pregnant women, the elderly or anyone with a compromised immune system...or at least warn them.

Edited December 20, 2007 by alanamoana (log)

[naes]

Follow these steps --

1. Put the eggs in a bowl and cover with very warm water. Let sit for about 5 minutes. This brings the eggs to room temperature very quickly and makes the whites easier to separate from the yolks.

2. Setup a bowl to put the yolks into, a large container to crack the whites into and to throw the shells in, and a towel.

3. Grab an egg out of the water, shake your hand over the towel to remove some of the water, crack the egg on the table, and finally open the shell into your other hand, which is held over your waste container. Throw the shell into the waste container.

4. Let the white run between your fingers. With the fingers of your other hand, gently grab the yolk (thus separating and leaving behind the rest of the whites) and put the yolk into your bowl.

5. Go to step 3 until there are no more eggs.

[chezcherie]

if you don't want to use your hands, for whatever reason, a large slotted spoon works pretty well.

[Serj]

I had to crack/separate 10 flats of eggs the other day. I found I couldn't stick to one method of separating the eggs - I got extremely bored, so I alternated between eggshell to eggshell, straining through my hands, and picking the yolks out of the white. With gloves on of course. Fun times.

[Preserver]

what i have done before is to break all the eggs in one big mixing bowl then reach in and pick out the yolks.. it's alot faster than separating it one by one.... hope this helps... well of course this is done with gloves...

[emilyr]

what about cracking them into a big plastic colander? something with biggish holes over a mixing bowl. it should work like your hands or a slotted spoon.

[jaynesb]

I just saw this link to a video: http://newyork.grubs...ating-eggs.html (The video is credited to the Chinese website Jifenzhong.)

If for some reason, the video is removed or not available, basically, what you are seeing is this:

A woman breaks an egg into a bowl and then inverts an empty plastic water bottle over the yolk and basically slurps the yolk into the water bottle by squeezing the bottle gently. (Bottle looked to be about half-liter size.) She then plopped the unbroken yolk into a separate bowl.

Jayne

[liuzhou]

Here is the YouTube link to the video Jayne is referring to.

The bottle she uses is a 596ml standard bottled water bottle in China. But I doubt the precise capacity is a huge issue.

Should it have disappeared (unlikely) let me know; I've saved a copy.

Edited August 26, 2012 by liuzhou (log)

[dcarch]

The bottle trick is not perfect.

I can't find a bottle big enough for my ostrich eggs.

dcarch

[Chocolot]

I did this yesterday with a dozen eggs. First two broke before I got the hang of it. It works great!