Eggs, General

Preparation

1. Cold

   Step 1

   Eggs should be at room temperature for baking. To bring an egg from refrigerator temperature to room temperature quickly, without cooking it in the process, dunk it in lukewarm water for 5 minutes.

2. Dropped on the floor

   Step 2

   Cover the mess with a lot of salt. Then cover the salt with a bowl or pot, so the dog doesn’t get into it and nobody walks through it, tracking salt and egg all over the house. In 20 minutes, the whole mess should sweep up easily with a broom and dustpan. (Does anybody have a recipe calling for egg-flavored salt?)

3. Eggshell in egg

   Step 3

   Probably the simplest way to remove bits of eggshell from eggs is to use an empty eggshell half as a scoop.

4. Not enough

   Step 4

   In baking, you can generally replace about one egg in three with a tablespoon of cornstarch. Other possible substitutes for one egg in baking include: 1 tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons water (works great in whole-grain items); 1/4 cup silken tofu (best in dense cakes and brownies); and half a mashed banana (good in muffins, quick breads, and pancakes).

5. Overcooked

   Step 5

   Overcooked fried, poached, scrambled, and other such eggs tend to be tough. So why not continue cooking them until they are totally overcooked, and then use them instead of hard-boiled eggs in salads, sandwiches, and the like?

   Step 6

   However, if your problem is that the breakfast eggs have overcooked and everyone is sitting there clamoring for breakfast, there is still hope.

6. Stuck to carton

   Step 7

   Wet the carton and the eggs will come out without cracking.

7. Stuck to egg beater, pots, etc.,

   Step 8

   The secret to cleaning up eggs is to use cold water, not hot.

8. Too much fat in them

   Step 9

   There’s not much you can do to remove the fat from egg yolks, but you can often use just the whites alone, or mostly whites and a small amount of yolk, in recipes calling for whole eggs. Feed the yolks to your pets, if that’s something they can eat, or just consider them the “pits” of the egg and toss them. Sure, it’s extravagant, but hospitalization for a coronary is even more expensive!

9. Uncertain quality

   Step 10

   Test for freshness by lowering raw eggs into water. If they float, that means there are air pockets under the shell and they are old.

10. Yolk in the white

    Step 11

    When you separate the eggs and there are bits of yolk in the white, it is important to remove them, because the whites may not whip unless you do. Remove the yolk with a yolk magnet, which consists of a cloth moistened in cold water. Touch it to the yolk and it will cling.