As I was making mayo yesterday afternoon, I decided on a whim to try and crack the eggs like Giada De Laurentiis on Food Network.
Have you ever seen Giada crack eggs? I saw her making a cheesecake over the weekend and watched in amazement as she effortlessly pushed her thumbs simultaneously into each egg creating a small hole that was easily pulled apart into 2 egg halves.
This approach didn’t work so well for me.
As I started to apply pressure to the egg, I realized that the shell was so hard that my thumbs couldn’t make any headway.
I should have stopped right there. Taking a step back for a moment to contemplate the situation would clearly have been the smart thing to do.
But noooooo.
My stubborn side kicked in and I pushed even harder and then HARDER until finally my thumbs lobotomized the egg creating a small explosion of egg white and yolk into my hair, blouse, and face as well as the kitchen counter and the floor!
Smart move, I thought sheepishly. Why in the world was this so difficult? Giada made it look so easy!
Then, it hit me. Giada’s eggs are not the quality, local, free-range eggs I get where the shells are quite hard. Effortlessly pushing one’s thumbs into the shell to crack these types of eggs is basically not a possibility (unless, of course, making a mess is your goal).
Giada’s eggs are most likely regular old store eggs with soft shells where a made for TV demonstration showing how to crack an egg is quick and easy.
At least, that’s what I told myself to soothe my sore ego.
So, the next time you see Giada crack her eggs so perfectly on Food Network, remember: “Don’t try this at home! This stunt is strictly for Food Network professionals who use grocery store eggs!”
Oh, and white sugar.
Hmmm. White salt too, come to think about it.
Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about the Teflon pan with the metal spatula and the Springform pans. YIKES!
I’ll stick with being an amateur, thank you. At least I know how to not poison myself while cooking.
Speaking of eggs, I gave my 5 month old a soft
Boiled pastured egg yolk for the first time yesterday and he spent the night spitting up and had a rash this morning. Obviously, it’s not right for him. What could I try giving him instead or should I just wait another month or two before introducing any other solids? He’s exclusively breastfed, I eat a nutrient dense, High fat, paleo-ish diet, and I give him and myself FCLO daily. He’s a big, sturdy, heavy feeling unvaxed boy and until last night he’s
Never been sick so he seems to be thriving w/o solids so far. Any advice?
Hi Ashley .. egg yolks from pastured hens are very very rich so it is best to start with just a bite or two and work up from there. Giving the whole egg yolk the first time the baby tries it can give them a problem in some cases.
Yeah, leave to anemic, weak eggs to Giada! LOL, loved this post! We used to have chickens and my mom would throw away every egg that had a bit of blood or was fertilized. I used to think that I had to do the same, that somehow the eggs were diseased or something. Then, one day, I spent a good amount of money on farm fresh, free range, organic eggs. I threw away every single egg in that bunch because they were ALL fertilized. It ticked me off, so I thought, “why? What’s wrong with these eggs?!” A little research and I realized I was throwing away perfectly good eggs! Healthy eggs! Better for me eggs!!! No more. I cook the chicken with the egg now (and I’ve had baby chicks the size of a pencil eraser top in my eggs).
Sorry this is off-topic, but I had to tell you how pleased I am to see Celebrity Cruises advertise on your site. I’m a regular speaker on their top of the line cruises, so it’s nice to see the synergy of their ad appearing on my favorite (and most informative) food blog! BTW, I have spoken to their executive chefs about healthy food and they do what they can within corporate limits. When I had a bad cold on board, they made me delicious chicken broth with ginger that cleared me right up! Now, if only we could persuade them to ditch the no-fat yougurts and provide rich, Greek-style instead … that’s my favorite breakfast.
Oh my! So glad to hear that Melinda! Chicken broth on a cruise? That is fantastic news!
yes it is important not to poison self while cooking, what is sad is that people watching those show think that is is ok or good for them and it is not keep sharing thank you
I almost fell out of the chair reading this. I have had the same thing happen to me. Fresh Real Eggs definitely are harder to crack. But so worth the effort.
This made me laugh too! I used to enjoy watching Giada (though I always subbed zucchini or spaghetti squash in her recipes instead of pasta!) and I admired how she cracked eggs. I do slice onions the way she does now- saves a lot of time!
As far as the eggs go… we got chickens a few months ago, and while they are free range, I put out a small container of oyster shell and sand for them to scratch in. A few days later, I noticed that their shells were so hard, we practically had to hit them with a butter knife to crack them.
Heh!, that was a missed video opportunity 🙂
About the shell hardness of eggs from incarcerated hens, I thought the ‘farmers’ added arsenic to the feed to toughen up the shells.
Ciao,
Pavil
Yes, that would have been a great video addition!
Arsenic is fed as an appetite stimulant to make them eat more and grow faster. It also has a side effect of being a good antibiotic. That allows them to claim the eggs are antibiotic free if they don’t use any other antibiotics. The increased amount of food could possibly increase the nutrients going to shell production. I do know that the CAFOs in our area are forced by the integrator to feed lots of oyster shells to the hens to help with the thin shell issues.
Oops. I meant to say “the only one who HAS wondered….” I think you know what I meant even if I can’t type. 😉
Christi
Too funny! I can totally understand why you ended up with such a mess though, and I definitely agree with you that having fresh, pastured eggs are MUCH better than having a flashy egg-cracking presentation (not that anyone’s ever watching when I crack eggs anyway -lol).
I feel a little ignorant here in that I seem to be the only one who hasn’t wondered about your comment on the metal spatula and springform pan. I know about the dangers of Teflon, but haven’t heard a thing about metal spatulas or springform pans (unless it’s non-stick of course). Can you please explain?
Many thanks,
Christi
Lol, that was great! I love my farm fresh eggs no matter how you crack them. I did learn a little trick about peeling hard boiled though, add about ½ tsp baking soda to the water and it makes the shell come away easier even on fresh eggs. There is a youtube video about it where the guy basically breaks each end blows the hard boiled egg right out of its sleeve! Worked well for me.