7 Kitchen Hacks & Simple Solutions

Many baking recipes call for bringing eggs to room temperature before they are separated, but this can be a tricky business, as warm egg yolk can easily leak into the white. We have found that we have much better luck when we separate the eggs while they are still chilly from the fridge. Yolks are more taut and less apt to break into the whites when cold. If a recipe calls for the eggs to be brought to room temperature, simply separate the eggs while cold, cover both bowls with plastic wrap (make sure the wrap touches the surface of the eggs to keep them from drying out), and let them sit on the counter to warm up.

Hard-cooked eggs can be difficult to peel, especially when the shell shatters into tiny pieces. Here are some techniques to help.
For freshly hard-cooked eggs
A. Tap with a spoon
1. Tap the surface of a cooked egg with the back of a teaspoon to crack the shell.
2. Slip the spoon under the shell at the egg’s base, then continue to move along the curve to remove the rest of the shell.
B. Jostle in the pot
1. After draining the hot water from the pot used to cook the eggs, shake the pot back and forth to crack the shells.
2. Add enough ice water to cover the eggs and let cool. The water seeps under the broken shells, making peeling easy.
For day-old hard-cooked eggs
After sitting in a cold refrigerator for a day or two, eggs are even harder to peel. Try this method to make the shell release more easily.
1. Submerge the hard-cooked eggs in hot water for 1 minute.
2. Transfer the eggs to ice water for 1 minute for easy peeling.

If you want to use your handheld mixer to whip just a few egg whites for a recipe, you may find that the volume of whites is too small for the beaters to work. Solve this dilemma by transferring the whites to a smaller bowl and then removing one of the beaters from the mixer. The single beater is a perfect fit for the smaller bowl, and you will be able to whip the whites easily.

Try using the microwave for an easier way to cook up your poached egg in the morning.
1. Add 1½ cups of water, 2 teaspoons of distilled white vinegar, and ¼ teaspoon of table salt to a 2-cup liquid measuring cup and microwave the mixture on high until it reaches a rolling boil. Stirring the mixture in a circular motion, slip in an egg and continue to gently stir for 3 seconds.
2. Cover the measuring cup with plastic wrap or a plate and let the egg stand for 4 minutes before removing with a slotted spoon.

It’s always disappointing when you cook a perfect fried egg only to tear it while transferring the egg from the skillet to a plate. Avoid this mishap by applying vegetable oil spray to the spatula, which allows you to gently slide the cooked eggs onto the plate.

Slicing hard-cooked eggs can be messy because the yolk tends to crumble and stick to the blade of the knife. Solve the problem by spraying the knife with vegetable oil spray. The eggs can now be neatly sliced. Respray the knife blade as needed.

If you have trouble chopping hard-cooked eggs as fine as you like for garnishes, try pressing the eggs through a sieve for extra-fine, evenly crumbled egg.