Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cooking and eggs

No, seriously, how do you peel an egg?

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:19:41 -0800

What can you do ensure that the shell of a hard boiled eggs comes off easily every time? Lately things have been really hit or miss when I peel hard-boiled eggs.

Here's what how I peel them: I crack the shell by rolling them on a hard surface with a bit of pressure so that the entire shell is cracked. Then peel off the shell. This method has literally worked for decades, except for the past month. Using the procedure described above, sometimes the shell comes off easily, sometimes not, it's been about 50/50. When the shell is hard to peel, I literally have to take off each cracked piece, which tends to pull off bits of the actual egg. There hasn't been a pattern that I can find as why this occurs.

The eggs have been from different stores.

They've been different sizes (Large or extra large).

The variation in the ability to peel them has varied even among eggs in the same damn carton, but trends towards either an entire cartoon being hard or not.

Nothing has changed about the way I cook them. Just boil for 10 minutes, take them out and put in a big bowl of room temperature water to cool off for several minutes, then eat one or two, put the rest in the 'frig.

1) Any ideas on why this is suddenly happening?

2) What can a person do ensure that the shell of a hard boiled eggs comes off easily every time or even 90% of the time?

why do french eggs taste stronger than american eggs?

helios — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:51:28 -0800

It seems to me that French eggs taste much stronger than American eggs. And therefore, any dish with eggs that I prepare in France tastes bad because the strong egg taste overwhelms all the other flavors (this especially ruins sweet dishes). Does anyone have advice on how to get rid of the taste (or better yet, to find eggs in Paris that don't have the strong taste)? I'm guessing that it has to do with the fact that French eggs are not refrigerated at the supermarket. I've tried all 3 kinds of eggs (Organic Free-range, "non-caged", and caged) and there isn't much difference in terms of taste.

Of course, it's possible that the eggs actually taste the same, and I am cooking things differently without realizing what I have changed...

Is there a better way to crack an egg?

Zoyashka — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:24:43 -0800

Is there a better way to crack an egg? Every morning I fry myself up an egg. I crack it open on the edge of the pan and inevitably, a little bit of the yolk dribbles down the side on to the cooktop. Is there some egg-cracking skill my mom never taught me?

Help me figure out how to microwave an egg

Coventry — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:10:57 -0800

If I cook an egg in the microwave it explodes, often with spectacular and messy force. If I microwave one fully immersed in water, will the same thing happen, or will the water absorb all the microwaves, so that the egg will effectively be boiled? One of the prior answers dredged up by Ask Metafilter's automation suggested cracking the egg before microwaving it, but I've had eggs explode even when I've cracked and beaten them.

I'm staying in a hotel room with a microwave, and I'm trying to figure out how to make my usual breakfast. In the past I've had eggs explode with such force that a fair portion was blown through the grill and into the microwave chassis, and I'd prefer to avoid that here. Plus, I don't have any convenient containers for controlling the potential blast.

Are there recipes where using very fresh eggs makes an especially big difference?

nebulawindphone — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:49:55 -0800

Of all the recipes that call for eggs, which are improved the most by using very fresh ones? Someone who keeps chickens recently gave us 18 eggs straight out of the bird. They're beautiful, and I'm excited about eating them, but it seems like a shame just to scramble 'em or something — we can do that with eggs from the supermarket and they turn out fine. Are there recipes where having very fresh eggs makes an especially big difference?

19 eggs, cooking for 1

thinkingwoman — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:39:36 -0800

help me use up 19 eggs! so, i forgot that i had almost a full carton of eggs in my fridge and picked up another dozen at the store. i live alone.

can anyone recommend a good egg-heavy recipe?

alternatively, does anyone have any experience freezing them? the advice i have read on the internets is to scramble them first, because the shells will burst otherwise, but does anyone have any real experience with this?

Gotta keep 'em separated

aubilenon — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 13:21:56 -0800

How do they separate eggs on an industrial scale? A pastry chef friend of mine told me she separated > 200 eggs yesterday, by hand. That seems like a pretty large scale to me, but it's hard for me to believe that the cartons of egg whites you can buy in the grocery store were separated by hand.

I've tried the single egg separator kitchen gizmos and they tended to break more eggs than doing it by hand.

What do they use to fill cartons of egg whites?

Making an omelette, the Pepin way.

Brian James — Thu, 25 May 2006 14:32:02 -0800

Help me master this simple, straightforward omelette recipe. I'm trying out the omelette method seen in Jacques Pepin's Techniques, the same recipe is also present almost verbatim on Pepin's website, seen here.

1. Beat £ large eggs with a dash of salt, finely groundpepper and 2 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs ( a mixture (or plainof parsley, tarragon, chervil and chives) in a bowl with a fork until well combined; pieces of egg white should no longer separate from the yolk; the egg should be well homogenized. Melt 1 1/2 teaspoons of unsalted butter non-stick 6 to 8 inch skillet. Swirl the butter in the pan and, when the foaming has subsided, add the eggs. Holding the fork flat, stir the eggs as fast as you can while shaking the pan with your other hand so the eggs coagulate uniformly.

These instructions seem pretty easy, but it's that last sentence that's giving me trouble. I cannot get my omelette to look anything close to how it appears in the photo (#2) on the website. I'm doing this with 3 eggs in an 8-inch nonstick omelette pan under high heat. After adding the eggs, I wait 6 seconds for them to coagulate, then, using a silicone spatula (so as not to scratch the nonstick coating), I stir up the coagulated eggs at the bottom. What I wind up with is a bunch of peaks surrounded by raw egg, producing a runny omelette--if i wait for all the egg to cook, the bottom will be burnt. (Even if I went to a 10-inch omelette pan, I still don't think I could match the pictured result.) I can't get the omelette to form the evenly coagulated, textured surface that is in the photo:

So, can someone expound on how to reach the result shown in the photo? Is Pepin omitting a step? Should the omelette be flipped at some point?

[Mind you, I'm not interested in just any omelette recipe--I want to better understand this particular one.]

How to clean sticky egg from pans?

wackybrit — Tue, 09 May 2006 10:50:17 -0800

How do you clean a saucepan and utensils that have been used to prepare eggs? I don't eat eggs, my girlfriend does. I do the washing up in the house. Whenever she cooks eggs she does it in some way they all go 'fluffy' (is this 'scrambled eggs'?). When it comes to washing up, even boiling water can't shift the white sticky gunk from the pan! Instead I have to scour and scrape and end up smushing the white waxy stuff all around the pan. It really is like wax and takes forever to remove. The same applies, to a lesser extent, with utensils, but with a smaller surface area I can eventually scrub the egg off.

As most people tend to eat quite a lot of eggs, surely there's some simple way to clean away the white waxy nastiness without spending five solid minutes with a scouring pad destroying our pans?

Perfect Fried Egg

jonah — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 09:18:41 -0800

I am looking for advice on how to make the perfect fried egg (in your opinion). Much more inside. I am pretty good at poaching, scrambling, and omlette-ing eggs. I have always hated fried eggs, but recently starting making them and am a convert. What is the best way to cook them, please be as specific as possible, include things like:

Pan type
Fat used (butter, oil, none, etc)
Heat setting
Cooking Time (I generally like yolks to be runny, whites not)
Flip?
Egg Introduction Method (crack in pan, crack in bowl...)
Garnishes?
Any other tips...

Mastering egg cookery - best way to poach an egg

obiwanwasabi — Sun, 24 Oct 2004 18:47:41 -0800

What's the best way to poach an egg? Should the poaching water be deep or shallow, boiling or simmering, on the heat or off the heat, covered or uncovered, acidulated with vinegar or lemon juice or unacidulated, salted or unsalted? Should the eggs be room temperature or straight out of the fridge? Cracked straight into the water or slipped in with a teacup?

And while you're here, what's your favourite way to serve poached eggs?

eggs over I can understand. over easy, though, is hard.

Mwongozi — Mon, 22 Mar 2004 10:57:40 -0800

I can understand "sunny-side up", but where does the phrase "over easy" come from in relation to frying eggs? Why easy?