Cracking an egg, why didn't I think of that before?

[Spinnor]

Part of my morning routine involves making "enhanced" oatmeal for my wife and myself. This has been going on for easily two or more years. A single egg is included in the oatmeal along with other ingredients. So for years now every morning I crack open an egg and add it to my mixture without much thought. Only recently I realized by a slight modification of my egg opening technique I can do the job of opening the egg much better. So my question is this, should I find joy in my little discovery or criticize myself for taking so long to come to this technique? This happens all the time, do something the same over and over again and only later to come up with a better way to do something. Normally I criticize myself for taking so long to get it better and don't pat myself on my back.

What, if any, is the proper amount I should criticize myself for taking so long to figure out stuff?

Thanks for any advice!

Video showing my technique,



Technique of others,

 

[audire]

kinetically speaking i think you would just need to crack it sharply for it to crack along a straight line, aka shearing force.

Thus along with the motion crack it on top of the edge of a bowl or something sharp so as to create such a force.

 

[Evo]

This is a joke, right?

 

[audire]

^ Hey that's what i was thinking but it's hard for some men to take care of themselves :(

 

[Spinnor]

This is a joke, right?

Sorry, no.

 

[Evo]

Sorry, no.

Oh dear. You know that one of the videos you posted shows the same technique you use, they insert (push in) the thumbs and then separate.

The best technique is to hit the egg sharply against the edge of a counter and then pull the halves apart. it's worked for me for half a century.

 

[Silver_rose]

The best technique is to hit the egg sharply against the edge of a counter and then pull the halves apart. it's worked for me for half a century.

Best part about that technique is you can learn to do it one handed quite easily.

 

[Spinnor]

kinetically speaking i think you would just need to crack it sharply for it to crack along a straight line, aka shearing force.

Thus along with the motion crack it on top of the edge of a bowl or something sharp so as to create such a force.

There is an inner membrane that is pretty tough and does not rupture with the initial crack, at least with the eggs our chickens lay.

 

[Evo]

Best part about that technique is you can learn to do it one handed quite easily.

Yes, for those that are coordinated! I am not, I am doomed to be a two-hander.

 

[Evo]

There is an inner membrane that is pretty tough and does not rupture with the initial crack, at least with the eggs our chickens lay.

So you would use the example in the video you posted showing two thumbs to pull the egg apart, that prevents unnecessary breakage.

Anyway, good examples for people that don't know how to crack a raw egg.

 

[Spinnor]

Oh dear. You know that one of the videos you posted shows the same technique you use, they insert (push in) the thumbs and then separate.

The best technique is to hit the egg sharply against the edge of a counter and then pull the halves apart. it's worked for me for half a century.

Your technique is what I think I have done in the past and may not work best with my fat fingers?

 

[Spinnor]

So you would use the example in the video you posted showing two thumbs to pull the egg apart, that prevents unnecessary breakage.

Anyway, good examples for people that don't know how to crack a raw egg.

The first video I made this night. I squeeze with one hand and pry open with the thumb and fingers of the other hand.

 

[Spinnor]

Best part about that technique is you can learn to do it one handed quite easily.

What would my other hand do?

 

[Silver_rose]

What would my other hand do?

Use your imagination? :p

When I used to do it I would be mixing the ingredients I put the egg/s into. But I guess it would always depend on what it was I was cooking/baking.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Video showing my technique...

I don't understand what your breakthrough idea was. You need to do a video showing the 'wrong' way you were doing it.

 

[Spinnor]

I don't understand what your breakthrough idea was. You need to do a video showing the 'wrong' way you were doing it.

The technique Evo uses I think. Video of the old and new technique below.

 

[Borek]

I see what you mean - squeezing the egg adds forces that help deform the shell and forces sides of the crack apart. I have not tried it yet but I feel like it should ease growing of the crack in the wanted direction and produce crack that is much cleaner and easier to control. It calls for drawing a diagram of acting forces, simple physics at work.

No idea if it is worth the effort though.

 

[Spinnor]

I see what you mean - squeezing the egg adds forces that help deform the shell and forces sides of the crack apart. I have not tried it yet but I feel like it should ease growing of the crack in the wanted direction and produce crack that is much cleaner and easier to control. It calls for drawing a diagram of acting forces, simple physics at work.

No idea if it is worth the effort though.

I think the squeezing compresses the fluid in the egg membrane and puts the membrane under greater tension which allows the thumb to more easily rupture it? It just "felt" right when I did it.

Three eggs in this mornings batch of oatmeal instead of one. Scrambled eggs for dinner.

 

[Doug Huffman]

No military cooks here? I remember being taught to open four eggs simultaneously, two in each hand, in order to maintain an adequate rate.

 

[Borek]

I think the squeezing compresses the fluid in the egg membrane

I think it is more about tensions in the shell, please remember there is an air bubble inside of the egg and it makes the content easily compressible. Empty shell would behave similarly.

 

[audire]

Some people just aren't good at common sense things.. they say that about a lot of scientists or people who don't regularly perform "activities of daily living" as we in

Yes, for those that are coordinated! I am not,! I am doomed to be a two-hander.

Just like the brain it's all muscle memory! Repetition repetition repetition.

 

[audire]

There is an inner membrane that is pretty tough and does not rupture with the initial crack, at least with the eggs our chickens lay.

Using more force (the right amount mind you not too much) I believe would then work. If they are "free-range" farm animals then yea I believe the shell is going to be naturally harder and isn't softened by preservatives or whatever industrial grade chemicals they are putting in the food these days.

 

[NascentOxygen]

Pushing your thumbs into open the shell is the step where pieces of shell break off and fall into the bowl.

Expert cooks (of which I'm not one) bump the shell onto a hard flat surface and open it one handed.

 

[JorisL]

If they are "free-range" farm animals then yea I believe the shell is going to be naturally harder and isn't softened by preservatives or whatever industrial grade chemicals they are putting in the food these days.

You mean the food the chickens are fed right? Although I'm still skeptic towards your last sentence.

Also in my experience the inner membrane toughness is not really correlated to free-range or not.
At home we have 2 chickens and sometimes the membrane is tough sometimes it isn't.
The same with store bought eggs, depends on the batch.

 

[Mark44]

No military cooks here? I remember being taught to open four eggs simultaneously, two in each hand, in order to maintain an adequate rate.

I wasn't a cook in the Army, but I worked in a restaurant chain (now departed) in So. Calif. I worked the breakfast shift for a number of years. As I recall, I would also take four eggs at a time and crack them in pairs. I typically had six egg pans going at a time, and would flip them two pans at a time (except the sunny side up or scrambled eggs).

As a nice round number, I probably cooked a million eggs, although this estimate could be wildly off...

I also cooked a "million" pancakes. To this day, when I see someone cook pancakes and either flip them more than once or "smoosh" them down, I want to slap them...

 

[audire]

You mean the food the chickens are fed right? Although I'm still skeptic towards your last sentence.

Also in my experience the inner membrane toughness is not really correlated to free-range or not.
At home we have 2 chickens and sometimes the membrane is tough sometimes it isn't.
The same with store bought eggs, depends on the batch.

Yes the industrial grade "food" the chickens are fed, because of patent laws or outright corporate litigation I don't think the farming industry has had to tell consumers the complete truth.. and when it comes to food this is important

 

[zoobyshoe]

I neither squeeze nor push my thumbs into the egg. The action I use is that of opening a little box with a hinge. The hinge is on the side opposite the one you rap on the counter. This goes very fast and I rarely drop any shell bits into the bowl. Never had any problem with the membrane not rupturing during the cracking part of the operation.

 

[zoeschmoe]

Hmm surprised there is a video necessary for this, but the ol' crack it against the frying or sauce pan does the trick for eons :)