You have to break eggs to make an omelet

[Margaret Pilgrim]

So how do you crack your eggs?     it seems everyone is now touting cracking eggs on a flat surface rather than edge of pan or other sharp edge.    I'm a pan-edge cracker, but willing to learn.    So I've started cracking eggs on the flat stovetop.    They never open with one whack, and many/most times the yolk is broken.     So I'm not convinced and am going back to my old wrong ways.

 

And do you think that kind of egg makes any difference on shell toughness?    Supermarket, organic, cage free, free range, pasture, farm?   

[TdeV]

I'm an edge cracker.

[robirdstx]

I crack them on a flat surface. Usually accomplished with one try. Finish opening the shell with my hand. Have never had a yolk break, yet.

[ElsieD]

I am an edge cracker.  I tried cracking them on a flat surface but it takes me more than one whack and I end up with a mess.  I never have a problem cracking them on the edge.  Very occasionally I may have a bit of shell in the egg but I just fish it out.

[Smithy]

I learned about flat-surface cracking from a friend who'd been trained as a chef, way back in the '80's, and have never looked back. The reason Dean gave me was that an edge could drive the shell into the egg, with possible contamination as a result. 

 

At one time I was proficient enough that I could hold an egg in each hand, crack each on the counter, and open each with the hand that was holding it...simultaneously. I don't remember the last time I felt the need to hurry (or was it showing off, even to myself?) that much, though. Maybe I'll try it and see how much of a mess I make, now that I'm out of practice 🙂

 

[Orbit]

I crack them on a flat surface, and ocassionally end up with a mess if I crack harder than is needed.

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

And do you think that kind of egg makes any difference on shell toughness?    Supermarket, organic, cage free, free range, pasture, farm?   

 

It makes sense to me that the chickens' diet, general health and possibly breed would affect the shell strength, but I haven't kept records to test the idea. I'd like to know what others have observed. 

[btbyrd]

Conventionally raised layer hens are typically fed a diet that contains supplemental calcium, which yields a more shelly shell. Hens raised on pasture often do not get as much calcium in their diet, and their shells can be flimsier with less crackability -- at least in my experience. But I don't buy eggs for the shell.

[ElsieD]

Whenever I can, I buy eggs from this place.  The chickens roam freely and peck away at whatever.  I have not noticed any difference in the shell between those and what I buy at the grocery store but I can't say I've paid attention.  I'll be getting some in the next couple of weeks so I'll check it out.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Fabulous!    I always roll my eyes when I read on the carton that the hens have been fed a vegetarian diet.   Poor deprived hens!    There is no such thing as a naturally vegetarian chicken. 

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

I learned about flat-surface cracking from a friend who'd been trained as a chef, way back in the '80's, and have never looked back. The reason Dean gave me was that an edge could drive the shell into the egg, with possible contamination as a result. 

🙂

 

I'm surprised that Alton B. hasn't done a show on the correct way to crack open an egg shell 😎 . Unless he has.

 

In any event, edge cracker here, either on the pan or on the bowl. And rarely does any shell end up in the opened egg. If it did, it's probably not the end of the world, as I think it can be easily removed, usually using a larger piece of shell.

 

I have found some egg shells from farmer's market eggs to be a little thicker (?) than the cheapo supermarket eggs I sometimes buy in an emergency. 

[Kim Shook]

I guess I’m kind of a half and half cracker.  I crack them on the curve of my stainless sink.  It almost never takes more than one whack and never gets shell inside the egg.

[gulfporter]

Flat cracker. one handed.  Our eggs here in Mexico are always very fresh, ungraded, unwashed and sold by weight.  

[JoNorvelleWalker]

57 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

I guess I’m kind of a half and half cracker.  I crack them on the curve of my stainless sink.  It almost never takes more than one whack and never gets shell inside the egg.

 

I was hoping someone would admit to this!  I either use the curve of the sink or crack on a bowl rim.

 

[chromedome]

I'm a "closest available surface at the time" cracker, but usually flat. Not doctrinaire about it.

[gfweb]

Flat cracker, one hand. 

Rarely a bit of shell has to be fished out with my long forceps...which btw is one of those tools I can’t do without. 

[Alex]

I use my forehead -- the brow ridge, if possible.

 

🤪

 

But seriously, folks, more often than not I use a careful whack with the back side of the knife from our everyday silverware set. The eggs from our preferred purveyor -- certified organic and genuinely free-range -- tend to be thicker than any others we've used.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

And then there's "egg rolls off the counter."

 

[Katie Meadow]

13 hours ago, chromedome said:

I'm a "closest available surface at the time" cracker, but usually flat. Not doctrinaire about it.

A flat surface seems to be the most reliable and consistent way to make a sharp, effective crack in the center of the egg--helpful if you are separating the white from the yolk. But it seems to me that using the same surface every time you break an egg means that you know exactly how much force to use. And my counter is always available.

[barista]

On 8/26/2019 at 5:28 AM, Kim Shook said:

I guess I’m kind of a half and half cracker.  I crack them on the curve of my stainless sink.  It almost never takes more than one whack and never gets shell inside the egg.

I do that too.

[liuzhou]

Flat. It's how I was taught and I've never really questioned it or felt the need to do so.

[chileheadmike]

There's a lip on the edge of my stove that makes a perfect egg cracking surface. I use that. 

[EatingBen]

I’m pro using whatever method gets you to your end result that wont hurt other people. So I am opposed to using other people to cracking open eggs for cooking reasons. 

 

I use the edge of the sink, or chopping board or counter or bowl or pot or even the back of a knife. As long as I don’t beat the hell out of the egg the yolks don’t normally break. 

 

I don’t believe there is a “correct” way to open an egg at least none that has been proven in any scientific way.

[Jayycl]

i crack my eggs with another egg. but when it is the last one left, usually on whichever edge nearest (the lip of the bowl, edge of the table, etc...)