A force dispersed over a greater area of an object allows it to withstand much more pressure than if the force is focused on a small area. This makes it nearly impossible to crush an egg when your hand is wrapped around the egg and creating a lot of pressure dispersed over the whole egg.
But when you squeeze an egg in your bare hand, its strength is amazing. That's because eggshells are quite strong under compression but there's a bit more to it than that. The real strength of an egg lies in its shape. A side on blow from a sharp object puts pressure across the thin shell and easily breaks it.
Using your thumb and index finger, pull the smaller end of the eggshell away from the other end. No need to separate the halves too much—the egg white and yolk will easily slide out of the crack between your index and middle finger. Now, get cracking.
Although many recipes require eggs to be at room temperature, it is easiest to separate eggs that are cold. Eggs that are at room temperature can be separated, but this requires greater caution to avoid breaking the yolk.
Beating whole eggs or egg yolks for chiffon and sponge cakes is even easier than beating egg whites. Since the egg yolks contain fat, they are almost impossible to overwhip. Use a hand-held mixer to beat the eggs with sugar, if sugar is called for in the recipe, until a thick and fluffy mixture forms.
Stirring the eggs in a circle proved close to useless, taking me a full 12 minutes to create a stiff foam. Side-to-side whisking was far more effective, requiring just 5 minutes of whisking. However, beating with a looping motion proved the speediest, producing tall, pillowy mounds in only 4 minutes.
There is such a thing as too strong. If your whipped egg whites become curdled and dry, they have gone too far. After excessive whipping, the proteins can get so close to each other, they essentially suffocate and expel the water contained within their circle, causing your foam to separate.
Whipping the mixture too long will make it too fluffy to make the ribbons, resulting in more of a foam consistency. On the other hand, under whipping will make your recipe dense. If you have reached the ribbon stage, stop whipping the mixture and continue with your recipe.
2 minutes - The white isn't fully set and the yolk is totally raw. 4 minutes - The white is fully set, but the yolk is thick and runny. 6 minutes - The white is fully set, and the yolk is mostly set, but still a little runny in the middle. 8 minutes - The white is fully set, and the yolk is set, but tender.
Due to the presence of high-cholesterol, people discard egg yolk considering it unhealthy and eat only the white portion. One egg has around 186 milligrams of cholesterol, which is all found in egg's yolk. It is true that egg yolks contain high-cholesterol, but it is not as bad as it is said to be.
The British Egg Information Service estimates a double yolk to happen once in every 1,000 eggs, and a triple yolk to happen once in every in 25 million eggs. There are no official odds for four yolks.
Why don't they sell double yolk eggs? Many poultry farms remove double yolk eggs and don't sell them because health-conscious consumers are becoming more averse to cholesterol-packed foods. As a result, some farms actually package double yolk eggs and sell them separately.
As you know, eggshells are pretty fragile little things. But when you squeeze an egg in your bare hand, its strength is amazing. That's because eggshells are quite strong under compression but there's a bit more to it than that. The real strength of an egg lies in its shape.
Even if you don't recognize them in the mixer bowl, over-beaten egg whites become tauntingly obvious when you fold them. Instead of blending into the batter, over-whipped whites form stubborn, dry clumps.
Crack the egg into a bowl and use a fork or a whisk ($6, Target) to beat the entire egg until the yolk and white are combined and have a uniform color. There should be no streaks of white or yolk, just a solid pale yellow. It should only take a few seconds.