Some egg tricks that will help in your kitchen

How to check the egg is still good without breaking it?

Method 1

You need only a cup filled with water, not too shallow, an egg should be able to stand tall in it.

• Put the egg in the cup of water.
• If it floats - throw it away.
• If it is not entirely floating but only showing it's wide part on the surface - you need to eat it soon or throw it away after 1-2 days.
• If it sinks - it is still good.

Why does this happen?

Oxygen passes through the walls of the eggshell while the time goes. Older eggs = more oxygen inside.

Method 2

Put the egg in front of a bright light in a dark room.

If the egg looks quite transparent - it is okay. If there are clouds inside - it is probably rotten.

In all cases - if the egg sinks but it still stinks when you break the shell - throw it away anyway.

How to check if the egg is already boiled or not?

• Put the egg on hard surface
• Spin it with your hand.
• 1-2 rotations = raw.
• 3-4 rotations = soft boiled with liquid yolk.
• More rotations = hard boiled :)

How to boil absolutely round egg?

You know there is always a small bubble of air in the wide part of the egg?

And when you boil the egg, this bubble always stops the egg from being round.

Grab a needle an puncture a small hole in the back of the egg just before you put it for boiling.

This way the bubble will be squeezed out from the heat and you will receive absolutely round egg.

This method of course is not suitable for Easter eggs. They need to have strong shell.

But for egg dishes, it is quite useful. (Thanks to Julia Child and Jacques Pepin for showing me this trick)

How to make scrambled eggs in the Microwave without explosions?

• Scramble the eggs before this. Especially the yolks.
• If any connective tissue remains - there will be blowing and mess inside the MW.
• Pouring some yogurt and crushing some cheese will help the ordinary plain taste from the MW.

How to peel hard-boiled eggs?

This is by far, the most annoying part of the whole process of making egg dishes. So I am using 2 methods:

Method 1.

(See the video)

In short: Break the egg (a little) in its pointy and wide part.

Put your mouth around the pointy part and blow.

The whole boiled egg pops out in your palm, while the broken shell remains in your other hand.

Easy method, but a bit messy ;)

Method 2.

Halve the egg (still with the whole shell around it) using very sharp knife,

Spoon out the two egg halves. They get out gently, without much troubles.

This method is much easier but often you don't have suitable sharp knife and the shell shatters.

This leads to some shell parts inside the egg white, which is not quite tasty, so you need to clean them a bit.

Still very fast method though.

Method 3

Put the boiled egg into a glass with small amount of cold tap water.

Shake thoroughly, hitting the egg between the glass' bottom and the palm of your hand (see the video)

Remove the peel with one motion :)

Voila.

Nice and clean.

How to quickly stir/scramble eggs for omelette?

You need a clean jar with lid and some eggs (2 or 3 are okay for a big omelette).

• Break the raw eggs and put them in the jar.
• Screw the lid back firmly.
• Shake vigorously the jar 8-12 times.
• You are ready to put the eggs in the pan. They are mixed perfectly.

How to ensure the eggs will not crack while boiling?

• Put the pot on the switched off hot plate.
• Put the eggs inside.
• Pour cold water until the eggs are covered.
• Switch the hot plate on.
• Wait for the water to start boiling.
• Wait 5 minutes.
• Stop the hot plate and remove the pot.
• Leave the water to cool before pulling the eggs out.

Poached eggs

Those are only a bit tricky, if you don't use my method.

• Boil the water in the pot.
• Get a big scoop or ladle and get some boiling water from the pot.
• Break the egg into the ladle.
• Return the ladle in the pot and slowly leave the egg inside the water.

Using this method ensures the poached egg remains whole in the boiling water.

Easter eggs

Apart from the advices above, there are some Easter-specific things I am doing every April.

Purity and hygiene!

Always buy the eggs from a proven vendor. Never use eggs that are bad or unchecked.

The worst bacteria called Salmonella can be hidden inside the egg and we are talking about eggs that will stay for a whole week in room temperature.

DON'T (and I can't stress that enough) DON'T ever buy eggs from unknown source.

Salmonella can kill you in 5 to 8 hours.

Wax.

Use melted wax to make inscription or a figure on the boiled egg before the actual painting.

Light a big candle and use a small brush or a matchstick. Dip it in the wax and quickly draw something on the egg surface.

The same can be done with a small leave. Dip the leave and stick it to the egg for few seconds and then remove it. For this, a lit candle may pose a risk, so you better melt a candle in a shallow pan or pot on low temperature hot plate (don't boil the wax, just melt it).

In both cases the egg paint will not stick on the egg surface where you waxed it.

Some more creative ideas may pop in your head - just experiment with it as your heart desires.

Painting.

If the egg natural color is too dark or brownish, get a cup of vinegar and hold it for 1 minute inside. The color will get lighter and the paint will look lot better on it.

For all natural paints below - add a tablespoon of sea salt for each liter of water (2 pints) and 2 tablespoons of vinegar.

With this you ensure the paint will "stick".

The following can be used as a natural yellow paint:

• Onion peels (yellow onion).
• Turmeric.
• Lemon or orange skins.
• Yellow/Gold apple peels.

Boil a liter of water and add the turmeric or whatever you have for this case. (Turmeric is best). Left it to boil for at least 10 minutes.

Let it cool naturally and put the eggs you designated for yellow colors inside.

Roll few times until happy with the color.

The following natural products can be used to paint the eggs green:

• Spinach
• Nettle
• Walnut leaves

The paint must be prepared from the previous day by boiling nettle or spinach for 20 minutes and left overnight. (Nettle gives best results).

The ingredients must be left with the water, so the natural pigments are dissolved.

If you are in a hurry - add the nettle in the water where you will boil the eggs, but you need to boil it with the eggs for 20 minutes (there is a risk for the eggs to shatter). And there will be a scent of nettle in the eggs when you eat them.

The only lasting blue color I know of are the blueberries. They are hard to find at spring, so you probably need to find frozen ones or abandon the blue color.

Boil blueberries for 20 minutes and leave them to cool.

This paint can leave a mess if spilled, so be careful.

Leave the boiled eggs for 10 minutes inside or until the color is okay with you.

Use the following natural paints:

• Red radish
• Red onion
• Maple leaves

Those need more boiling, about 20-30 minutes and the red radish has quite strong dark color (hard to wash if you spill, so beware)/

Leave the eggs inside for as long as you like. The red paint is quite strong in all natural red products.

Another good paint would be a forgotten strong coffee from yesterday. (if you are okay with the light brown color).