How to Buy, Crack, and Cook Eggs | What's Eating Dan
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ธ.ค. 2022
- Have you ever wondered if egg color or source makes a difference in taste? And what about pasteurization? Dan helps you decode egg carton labels and shows you how to cook the perfect eggs.
Get our Perfect Scrambled Eggs recipe: bit.ly/3Vtbuvx
Get our Çılbır (Turkish Poached Eggs with Yogurt and Spiced Butter) recipe: bit.ly/3I81Hbx
Watch our Egg Whites Episode: bit.ly/3vj7eV3
Watch our Egg Yolks Episode: bit.ly/3WJssXE
Buy our best-buy Dutch oven: cooks.io/2L40FRB
Buy our winning non-stick skillet: bit.ly/3HCO97u
Follow Dan on Instagram: / testcook
Follow Dan on Twitter: / testcook
Follow Dan on Facebook: / dansouzacook. .
ABOUT US: Located in Boston’s Seaport District in the historic Innovation and Design Building, America's Test Kitchen features 15,000 square feet of kitchen space including multiple photography and video studios. It is the home of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and Cook’s Country magazine and is the workday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.
If you like us, follow us:
cooksillustrated.com
/ cooksillustrated
/ testkitchen
/ cooksillustrated
/ testkitchen
That comma between "Buy" and "Crack" is doing essential work.
The title of this video is much funnier without the first comma. 😊
I love all your videos Dan. Keep 'um coming. Thanks!
haha that's how I read it before doing a double take!
Came here to make this comment
Reported Video: Still don't know how to buy Crack.
I thought the same thing and was like, finally! Something useful on TH-cam for someone like me. 😂
😂😂😂
Dan doesn't even mention egg carton date codes: This three-digit code indicates the date of packaging, starting with January 1 as 001 and ending with December 31 as 365. These numbers represent the consecutive days of the year. For example an egg carton with a packaging date of 032, means the eggs were packed on February 1st.
Yes, that is the Julian Calender. I always look at it too see how old the eggs are. They are usually packed the same day or within 24 hours of being laid. The sell by date is usually about 30 days from that date. He was partly correct about the “grade”. It doesn’t mean it’s the freshest, it’s grading the thick white area. An egg laid on day 1 can still have a thin white and would not be considered AA. And eggs that had thick whites at the time they were laid which were labeled AA could degrade with age if not purchased shortly after being packed. They are still good but if you want the freshest eggs for poaching, it’s best to check the Julian date. There are Phone apps with the Julian calender.
@@patricialeonard9622 instead of an app, at the store you can ask Google/Siri, "What is the nth day of the year?"
Hell yeah Ken!
Excellent tip, thank you!
A simple way is to consider where you buy them. In descending order: directly from a farm, farmers market, city grocery store, small town grocery store, remote location stores (typically in the north of North America). The last are definitely not fresh but still quite edible in my experience. The whites are all runny and the yolks are pale. This might bother you - or not.
I’m really looking forward to the lesson on how to lay eggs. You crack me up! ❤
😂😂😂
We love Dan around our household. He's funny and we always learn a lot. I cook scrambled eggs the way I learned many, many years ago in France: a little added cream, some salt, low heat, and slowly scrape, scrape, scrape till they're a minute from being done.
I juggle eggs until I miss and one ends up on the floor/counter/stove. 100% success rate of cracking and obliterating the membrane. The worse you are a juggling, the faster the egg cracking goes.
LOL! I once had my right arm in a sling after an injury and I achieved the same score!
😂😂
That's exactly how I make my scrambled eggs (though I didn't know about the benefit of using extra yolks-good tip for when I have extras after using egg whites for baking)! I know the custardy French kind are all the rage, but I like being able to corral those big curds onto a slice of buttered toast and shove it into my mouth without worrying about them dripping all over the place.
I recall many years ago I worked at a restaurant that was lunch and dinner only but occasionally would do a breakfast for the Elks Club, etc. The way they made dozens of “scrambled” eggs was in a large stock pot with butter and milk and salt and just stirred them around until they formed curds. I thought that was strange until I tasted them. Wonderfully tender and rich!
I have similar experience...One boss required me to sieve the beaten eggs. Even though I cracked carefully, it might have been 8 dozen (that's a lot to crack), and the sieve caught tiny shell bits that were invisible. He was right.
If you need to separate more than a few eggs and the whites are going to be whipped, use three bowls. Separate the whites into a small bowl and when you've done one or two eggs, pour the whites into the bowl you're going to whip them in and start over. That way, if you accidentally get some yolk into the whites, you don't contaminate six or whatever whites with it.
This was a very useful video. I grew up on a very isolated sustainable branch and didn't even see eggs in a carton until I went away to boarding school and on a trip where the nuns took a couple of on an errand to an egg farm I saw how indoor chickens are kept and I was astounded.
Our chickens and guinea hens ran around free range and I even had my favorite. She consistently laid double yolk eggs! I've been told that is not usual but that's why she became my favorite!
“Let’s learn this stuff”! Thanks, Dan (please don’t cry).
ATK, It's 9:00 AM! I wasn't ready to see Dan cry.
Thank you Dan! I'm always happy when things I know are confirmed, and things i didn't know are revealed. I crack my eggs on a flat surface, and I have my students do that too, because cracking on another egg would quickly lead to competitions in the classroom that would derail whatever else was in the lesson plan :)
I've lived all over the world and "how to store / crack/cook eggs" is a worldwide debate! I was 80% right with all that I had learned over a lifetime... but you can always learn a few tricks!
Thank you, Dan, for acknowledging the role of preference in determining the "ideal" method for cooking scrambled eggs. A lot of cooking pros seem to have a preference for very wet, soft eggs. Not my preference. I like them firmer, but still soft and moist (not wet). Cooking rapidly at high heat with fast stirring, and removing from heat when half done and ending gently is the foolproof way to cook eggs to my preference. Your mileage may vary. Go ahead with your mushy, soft globs of slimey gooey eggs, if that's what you like.
Planning to follow your explanation on egg purchases. It's always confusing to me. I plan on using your method on cracking 2 eggs together. Very appreciated the info. No others have ever mentioned any of these issues.
The scrambled looked bomb! I crack them on a flat surface as Jacques Pepin suggests…
Yes, flat surface all the way.
“We’ve all been there, standing the dairy aisle of the supermarket, your stomach in knots, your knees weak, your head aching, your hands trembling, tears running down your face, as you try to pick out a carton of eggs.”
And I thought I was the only one! 😢
Dan you're the more entertaining chef at ATK! Thanks for all the videos you do! I usually add 1 tsp of milk per egg when I make scrambled eggs. Is this common?
I love this series so much!
The best eggs are fresh from your own backyard chickens that are allowed to free range, get plenty of kitchen scraps, are fed a home blend of feed with scratch grains and come running when you call them each by name. You get the biggest eggs with bright orange color yolks and firm whites! The eggs are so bi that the jumbo size cartons won't close!
No mention of the Julian Date printed on every egg carton? The three-digit number on the side of an egg carton references which day of the year that a particular egg was packed. So 003 means the eggs were packed on January 3rd.
I didn't know it was called a Julian Date.
Thanks!
I crack eggs on the edge of the sink/countertop. The 90 degree edge gives clean crack without creating tiny shell fragments. A good middle ground between countertop and edge of bowl.
There’s so much more to food than just buying it! Amazing! So much science behind all foods, who knew? Thanks for helping us understand how to better choose and cook all foods!
Yes! I have always cracked my eggs head to head and you are the first pro that I have ever seen promote that method. And, I do always have a king of the carton contest.
Fun tip about cracking eggs! But…how do you crack the last egg??? Seems like there will always be one that can’t be cracked against another. 😊
As usual, great information. I have for decades cracked my eggs using the egg-on-egg method. It’s fun (like Dan says) AND less messy. 👍
I miss my chickens. Not only for the beautiful eggs they were great company while doing chores around my acre. They knew I would be scaring up bugs, mice and scorpions while I weeded and kept the land tidy. They also helped me weed by eating the tender weed seedlings and seeds.
You forgot Fertile eggs. They may or may not be fertilized. It simply means there is a rooster in or around the hen house/pasture who may or may not be feeling frisky that day/week.
I love eggs. So versatile. So easy. Usually I crack them on a flat surface, but sometimes I crack them on the edge of a bowl or sometimes on the edge of the pan depending on circumstances.
Small tip I'd add for scrambled eggs: Cornstarch. Cornstarch helps gelatinize the mixture and retain moisture. Its a nice hack to create creamy, luscious scrambled eggs.
Yup, or even better, tapioca flour/starch, which has an extremely smooth texture
That’s like adding sugar to healthy eggs.
@@engc4953 except it’s nothing like adding sugar to “healthy” eggs, whatever that means
@@maxcourval2045 the body turns starches into sugar.
@@engc4953
The body turns everything to sugars.
I Crack eggs one handed on the bowl rim. But one cooking method you left out was coddled eggs! I LOVE coddled eggs even more than poached. So buttery and silky, and elegant in their pretty porcelain cups. Delicious!
Love Dan so much!
So happy to see Cilbur in the video, I discovered it years ago and it is simply amazing.
This is a helpful hint that my mother told me decades ago… If you’re using more than one egg, break it into a clear glass container, that is each eggs one at a time. In other words if you need six eggs don’t break them all in the same bowl because one egg could be spoiled and how do you dig that one out when they’re all broken in the same bowl?
Have you ever, in your life, cracked a spoiled egg?
At this point you’ve wasted more money in water and dish soap cleaning the extra bowl than you would have wasted by throwing away a half dozen eggs if one was spoiled every 10 years
In 45 years of cooking, I've never seen a spoiled egg.
@@mattsnyder4754 Strangely, yes.
I have tiny lil bowls that can be washed quickly specifically for dipping sauces, but I also use them for holding eggs separately if I need them ready to go in one at a time or as mentioned, to avoid the risk of spoiled eggs.
We always have eggs in bulk and once every few months, the occasional spoiled egg or two does happen.
@@johnrielley7756 Nor have I, however we were taught to do that in Home Economics, back in the 1960s. (Really!)
.....and, in my day, this was even recommended by our state extension agent's office. I have opened spoiled eggs....once you do, you never forget.
Have not tried the egg-on-egg tournament of champions approach but will as this is what I used to do with skittles as a child. Up until now it was the flat surface approach per Alton Brown’s recommendation for sanitary reasons
Egg on egg method was what I was taught. I’ve tried the other two, but find egg on egg is less messy and works great.
Have you never had the double egg break causing a huge mess on the counter? It happened me the second time I tried it. Maybe I'm smashing too hard and it takes some skill to do this.
How do you crack the final egg? (Seriously)
I love your videos, Dan. Always so much information and great humor. I was hoping you were going to address egg size here. My mother always told me to bake with Extra Large eggs, but lately all I can find is Large and Jumbo.
Great video, simple yet efficient techniques to crack eggs. Thanks Dan.
Dan, liked your explanation of the different classifications for eggs. I always look for organic and certified humane, only to find most packaged in plastic or styrofoam. Cardboard/paper packaging has now become another criteria for me.
Yes!!
Great video! Will be sharing with friends and family!
I needed this information thank you!
I do the egg-on-egg cracking. This was loaded with great info!
Yes Dan I absolutely want to know how to lay eggs. I cannot seem to be able to do it without shedding my endometrial layer. It's a doozy
He's obviously cheating, he doesn't even HAVE an endometrium
I mean, probably
Thanks for the video Dan. I'll try the egg-on-egg deathmatch technique for cracking them. I like the look of those scrambled eggs, so I'll add some half-and-half to my shopping list and give those a go.
I already use the steamed-in-shell eggs recipe from ATK; it's magical! Whether I'm doing 2 or 12, they always come out perfectly.
Have a great New Year.
What happens when you're down to one egg and you favor the egg on egg cracking method. Well, my Mother once got some marble eggs. Yeah, they were decorative. And, I would have totally used them for that, even though she might have said "O.K., now clean them." Totally worth it.
cant wait to find out how to lay eggs :D
thanks for the great video Dan!
Dan, I love all the ways that you described but two of my favorites are soft boiled 3 minute eggs, and hard/soft boiled 8 minute steamed eggs. Steamed, shocked peeled and stored. an't wait to hear more about eggs!! Thank you!
I have been cracking my eggs with the egg-on-egg method all my life. With scrambled eggs, I add 1 Tbsp of mayo & 1 Tbsp of cream - whisk - add 2 eggs & whisk. Also, I fold the eggs. Thanks from Kamloops, BC Canada. 🇨🇦
Finally, I have found someone who likes scrambled eggs with large clumps and very tender! ❤ Thank you for the info about half and half. Being a FACS ( aka Home Economics) major, I thoroughly enjoy your science approach and I absolutely enjoy your humor. I am about to binge on more of your videos 👏👏👏👏 I have to add that lots of your science is above my pay grade but still awesome.
Don't let your pay grade set the bar too low: the more you learn, especially about science, the better your cooking will be!
Cracking the 2 eggs together is the best way. That’s how my family did it while I grew up. I’m Persian and I don’t know if it’s a Persian culture way or just my family’s. Thanks for always proving great content Dan.
Great job , Dan . Thanks
I grew up watching my mother use the egg-on-egg method, and I wouldn't do it any other way. 😄 But I also use her method of scrambling: cracking the egg right into the melted butter in the pan and stirring. This results in a white and gold dish. Lovely!
Thanks for demystifying buying eggs and I’ve learned some new tricks as well!
Ever since you demonstrated the super egg on egg method, that’s how I do it now. Also, if you haven’t tried it before, eggs akoori, and boiled egg curry, are my all time favorite ways to eat eggs!
that first comma in the title is doing a LOT of work there!
😂😂😂
Great video! Funny and good information.
Great video as always! I was surprised that Dan didn't mention the 3-digit Julian date code on the carton. I've found eggs fresher then others with earlier expiration dates using the Julian code.
I’m just going to say this, for Christmas this past year, there were Anson Mills grits with what were supposed to be poached eggs. I ended up with sous vide eggs, which are brilliant.
At this point, the most important labeling requirement for me is price. A year ago I could get eggs for $1.50 to $2.00 dozen. Today they're edging into $7.00 dozen category. And the increase is vertical. I bought a flat of 30 two weeks ago for $11.00. Yesterday they were $13.00.
The price of eggs has gotten really CRAZY! I don’t even understand why. I don’t know where you live. I still don’t pay as much as you though.
@@MsAppassionata I have heard that the avian flu has gone around and many chickens needed to be destroyed, so the price of eggs has gone up.
4.50 a dozen at Aldi.
@@kfra170 I really wonder if that’s even true. You do realize that they could be scamming us?
@@MsAppassionata it is true. Farmers have had their flocks decimated. Wild birds are dying all over the place. The costs to replace the flocks will be passed on to the consumer.
Great informative video! I know the egg shell color shouldn’t matter but I seem to find more blood spots in brown eggs and I’m not sure why so I avoid them.
This is so so interesting!! Thanks for all the interesting info. ♡D
I am fortunate that a lady who works with my wife has a small farm where they produce eggs. Chickens get to run around and be chickens. Eggs are big, the yolks are YELLOW and don't get me started on the flavor. OK, I will start, all kinds of yum. Custards made with these eggs are firmer and smoother, cakes have better structure and flavor, and just cooked in a pan as eggs or omelets, total yum. Highly recommend if you have access to a local small scale egg producer, get those eggs.
9:54 Best line of the year. Thanks, Dan, for making me smile and for teaching us :)
I appreciate the way Dan combines good information with humor, even if the humor is a bit corny.
Great info. I find that there is 1 key factor that helps with cracking eggs and also improves all aspects of cooking them including scrambling, frying, poaching, whipping whites and for hard-boiled eggs, peeling. BRING THE EGGS TO ROOM TEMPERATURE FIRST!. A bowl of warm water will get this done in about 20 minutes if you are in a hurry.
I have a flock that is still on egg laying hiatus. They should pick back up in about 3 weeks when there is more daylight. I will try the egg on egg cracking. I have been a counter cracker. Of course fresh from my coop you can almost drop them the shells are so hard. :) Great video.
Yes, will try the egg to egg technique! Would you use a correspondingly smaller skillet when preparing only 2 or 3 eggs? Instead of a 10", maybe a 6"? Wondering what the ideal ratio would be. Thanks for breaking down the terms on the egg cartons - very useful!
HEB grocery stores in Texas have plenty of AA eggs. Only ones I buy unless local. And thanks for the tip about egg shell color and shell color. I'm gobsmacked!. I will try your egg to egg. Usually I use the inside of the bowl.
Happy New Year 2023 from California. 🥳 😋
So... I watched this video at 8 p.m. and took notes as you went along. The minute I finished this video, I started making scrambled eggs. It is super fun to crack eggs against each other! The eggs were so delicious that I almost didn't use ketchup! Now, I have to make cookies with the whites. And buy twice as many eggs.
Great video… a thought for future videos is some clarity on the size of eggs.
Obviously most of the time it doesn’t matter too much but some recipes are a bit more finicky.
For instance, I make the ATK chocolate chip cookie recipe which calls for large eggs. In my grocery store, the large eggs were not large enough and I ended up with the wrong texture. I switched to jumbo eggs and now they’re perfect every time. It appears that when the egg is most of your moisture that a few grams here and there make a difference.
Yes more egg episodes!
Egg on egg is my fave. I love how you scrape, not scramble
We raise "Red Star" hens in 'chicken arks' (we move the coops every day) - Spectacular eggs! Cracking method - - - drop the egg into a glass or china bowl from +/- 4" high: the egg won't shatter, but will release all contents with no tiny shell pieces . . . discard shell and repeat as needed. Cluck from East Texas 🤠
I recently purchase eggs with brown shells. The shells were noticeably thicker than the white-shelled eggs I usually buy (they were out of stock). Surprising how much difference that makes in the pressure required to crack them.
I'm usually only cracking one egg at a time so just use the side of the skillet. If any shell gets in I've yet to notice it.
I crack the egg on the side of the bowl and never had to worry about any eggshell bits because I give it a few gentle taps. I never realized you were supposed to impale the egg!
Great video! This technique reminds me somewhat of the method for Cantonese scrambled eggs, which fully cooks the eggs but also adds cornstarch for texture. I wonder how these eggs eat on their own without another supporting structure such as bread.
How to lay eggs? 😂😂 I can't wait for that episode! As far as cracking, I used to use the edge of a bowl because that's the only way I knew how. Then I discovered cracking them on the counter, and have been doing it that way ever since. I will try your egg on egg method, though. Thank you!
I’ve been doing egg on egg for probably 40 years now. Love it! Cannot convince friends and family to try it. 😢
LOL
I love your videos. Funny and informative.
We have our own little farm now and have fresh eggs, vegetables, herbs and fruit. I have not tried the egg on egg method of cracking but will give it a try.
Thanks for the videos. I have learned a lot since discovering ATK on TH-cam.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy new year.
BTW I'm wondering why there's no potager on that beautiful property for Cooks Country? I can't imagine not having a kitchen garden.
ATK hasn't used that Vermont farmhouse as a set for Cook's Country for several years since moving to their current location on the Boston Seaport where they constructed test kitchen sets more suited to producing TV and video. The exteriors used for CC since moving were much closer to Boston although there hasn't been much exterior footage produced since the beginning of the pandemic. Exterior segments will apparently make a return to both ATK and CC in the upcoming TV seasons in the form of Julia's own backyard. Not sure if they'll actually say that's where they are, but that's were they were. 🤷🏼♀
The Vermont farmhouse was and apparently continues to be a vacation rental property, however it does appear some landscaping and a garden were added in the past couple of years.
Dan is the man 👍
Love ya Dan!
I never have done the egg on egg but will definitely try it.
🥚🥚
Genius cracking egg on egg - worked a treat! One Question - what about the last egg? Crack it against another and put the unbroken one back? Worried a bit about micro-fractures in the "unbroken" egg. I just did the last one the old-fashioned way (hit it with a hammer :)
Thanks for adding captions for the Deaf - makes it easier to follow!
Lol, I'd describe Dan's sense of humor as "surrealist Dad jokes"
I tried using your egg on egg method, and it worked fine. But, my years of experience tapping on a flat surface is still my favorite. After retiring, I worked at McDonalds before Covid, and showed off by cracking 2 fresh eggs simultaneously - one in each hand, then immediately simultaneously dropping the eggs into the clamshell cooker, where we cooked a dozen at a time. It's actually easier to open the shells and empty the egg contents when only using one hand, once you get the hang of it. One day on the grill at McDonalds and you can crack 100-300 eggs in a shift. So, really, anyone can learn to do it in a day. It's all in how you twist you fingers and thumb to split the shell cleanly.
This guy just does not miss!
You tha man Dan!
People complain about the cost of eggs especially organic but I think they are a bargain considering all you can do with them. When I don't know what to fix for myself eggs often hit the spot. Poached on toast are a favorite.
Edge of the bowl, but I'll be using the egg-on-egg method from now on. I enjoy your videos.
My favorite scrambled egg tip has been from J Kenji- adding a pinch of cornstarch. It's hydroscopic so keeps the moist silky egg texture even if you cook them till well done.
I’m now going to try cracking the egg to egg method!
We have our own chickens and I can never go back to store bought eggs. The eggs taste so much better! Dan's right that chickens are NOT vegetarians. Our chickens are free range and I have seen them catch and eat toads several times. And the chicken that caught it is chased around the yard by all the other chickens. It's quite hilarious! We also give all our food scraps to our chickens. They will go for the meat or cheese first every time. They also love watermelon, apple cores, and corn cobs. They of course get their chicken feed and cracked corn but they really love the extra goodies.
And bugs! I'm wanting chickens and guineas for tick control.
That’s so funny, thanks for sharing!
@@keepthefaith813 ticks are freaking deadly around here! Lyme disease and all the other tick borne pathogens aren't trivial nor imaginary. Birds eating them before they can infect the blood of humans and other mammals is a viable strategy. Some years they are just out of control.
I used to get c flocks of wild turkeys, but not for several years. I got an infected tick on the back of my neck at the hairline. They inject a numbing substance with the bite and then suck your blood while exchanging infected fluids of there own. I got toxic anaplasmosis. Not funny. Sort of like malaria with brain damage.
I crack eggs one handed by tapping on the counter. A habit that I picked up as a teenager working at a rest area restaurant on the highway that had bus loads of customers at a time on their way to ski slopes in the winter. We would crack eggs in clean 55 gallon cans so we would have enough to make scrambled eggs for the masses!
When I was a small child I would play that "battle" game with M&M candies my grandmother would give me to keep me out of trouble when she started dinner. Epic!
Hi Dan - Love your video's. Don't remember where I learned this but on every egg carton there is a 3 digit number that represents the "born on" date. It tells you exactly how old your eggs are if you know your purchase date by the DOY calendar. Better info than using the "sell by" date.
The terminology and buying tips pretty much only apply to the US and are vastly different in Europe (at least here in Sweden), but it was still genuinely interesting, as usual. Quality work, keep it up!
I usually break my eggs on the counter or (induction) stovetop. Scrambled eggs depend on mood, sometimes half-scrambled (like Kenji does) or the way it was done in the video, minus the cream
I cannot tell you how excited I am for your lesson on how to lay eggs!
But seriously... Would you consider doing a lesson on ouef en coquotte, and shirred, and any other baked varieties? I love them but I feel like I'm not really nailing them from reading recipes....
Best scrambled recipe
I’m sure I’m in the minority when it comes to loving overcooked and pulverized scrambles…I like mine firm with a crust, not soft, wet and squishy…
Yes, dry, not shiny and slimy.
Same for me!!!🙋🏼♀️ NOT a fan OF egg Whites myself. I'd LOVE to be able TO buy just straight egg🥚YOLKS!🙌 CARTONS upon CARTONS OF JUST the egg whites!!👎 So, where'd ALL those YOLKS actually GO??🤨 Because I'D certainly buy them!!🙋🏼♀️🙌🤤🤤🤤 GOBS OF cholesterol or not!🤷🏼♀️ I don't care!!👎 I JUST want the egg YOLKS!!👍🙌🤤🤤🤤
@@christylaugen5226
Egg yolks are the most nutritious part of eggs. They don't raise cholesterol. That's a bunch of hype. Turns out our bodies create more cholesterol when needed. That is, we need the stuff. It is not our enemy.