Does the idea of separating eggs make you a little nervous? Have no fear my friends, I want to show you how to separate egg whites from yolks with two different ways you can do it!
How to separate egg whites from yolks
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I know a lot of people who are excited to make certain recipes. This is, until they read it closely and find that it requires you to separate eggs. And suddenly, that very recipe that called to them in the first place now seems a bit daunting.
And I totally get it. Eggs can be tricky. If you hit it too hard, you run the risk of cracking it so hard that you break the yolk. Sometimes you get a rogue eggshell that infiltrates your egg white. Things can get messy really quickly.
Questions about separating eggs:
- What does a recipe mean by “separated egg”? Sometimes a recipe will call for only the egg yolk or only the egg white. Sometimes it will call for them both but use each one at different times. In order to achieve this, you need to separate the egg white from the yolk.
- Why do you separate eggs when baking? Typically egg whites can be used for leavening when whipped and added to batter and are also used make merengue. On the flip side, egg yolks can add a certain richness and are often used in making custards and mayonnaise.
How to separate eggs:
I’m going to share two methods for separating eggs. Neither one is better than the other, it really just comes down to personal preference. The second method is a bit messier, but it provides you a chance to make it work in the event that certain things go wrong with the first method.
Are either of them foolproof? No. Nothing is fool proof. I cook and bake every single day, sometimes multiple times a day and I still ruin recipes and break egg yolks. But give these a try and make all those recipes that look so good to you!
Helpful tools:
- Raw eggs
- A bowl
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Carefully but firmly crack the egg on the counter or table that you're working on. Try to be firm enough that you only need to do it once because the more you hit the egg against the surface, the more of a chance you have of breaking the yolk.
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Once its cracked enough, slowly and carefully begin to separate both halves of the shell over one of the bowls. As you do this, the white will begin to drain over the sides of the shell into the bowl.
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As you separate the shells, keep the yolk in one of the halves of the shell.
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Once the shells are fully separated, pass the yolk back and forth between both shell halves being careful not to break the yolk. As you do this, the white will drain out into the bowl until you're left with the yolk.
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Carefully but firmly crack the egg on the counter or table that you're working on. Try to be firm enough that you only need to do it once because the more you hit the egg against the surface, the more of a chance you have of breaking the yolk.
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Place one of your hands over a bowl with your palm facing up and your hand creating a bit of a cup.
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Using your other hand, carefully open the egg so that both the yolk and the white go into your hand, trying not to break the yolk.
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Move your fingers slightly apart so that the egg whites drain out into the bowl but the yolk stays in.
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Do this until the white has fully drained and you're left with only the yolk.
If you're starting method 1 and you end up cracking your egg in a way that makes it so that one half of the egg is in a really small piece, you can pour the egg into your hand and begin method 2.
Here are some other great how-to’s:
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