Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

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PaulME
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Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by PaulME »

Ok see a lot of videos social media type things recommending to crack eggs on a flat surface (counter) to minimize chance of getting shells included. Any video showed an incredibly slow process using two hands to carefully break through the membrane.

My guess is this is almost never done in a pro kitchen as it’s much too slow when cracking lots of eggs, and is not a one handed method which is obviously much much faster.

I’m not a pro so I’m speculating. What do the pro’s on here do?
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bruin
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by bruin »

Pro that’s been in brunch hell here - one egg in each hand cracked on a flat surface is what most chefs do. Advanced technique is two eggs per hand.
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by STPepper9 »

If I really need to worry about shells I will usually be pretty careful, a flat surface is good. I usually load up about 4-6 Eggs in my hands and crack them against each other over the container they're going into, then when I'm down to one I load up again. If I'm doing something that will get strained later (like a custard base), I will use a much faster method of one in each hand cracked and emptied independently of each other..
Buying quality eggs should speed things up as the shells will generally be thicker
Also, you can save time on clean up if you want by putting a little plastic wrap down on the counter where you're cracking eggs. At the end just pull up the wrap and hit your surfaces quickly with your sanitized rag.
J david
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by J david »

I'm not a pro, but I worked in a big kitchen at a conference center while in high school. Last thing we did before going home is crack eggs into 5 gallon buckets in preparation for the next morning's breakfast. Depending on the number of guests, we would do as many as 25 gallons. I got to where I could do 3 at once using both hands. Still took a long time.
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by Nmiller21k »

I didn’t worry about shells much when I was deep in breakfast.
I’d plastic wrap under a bucket
Two stacks of egg flats on each side and a deep hotel pan behind the bucket
I wouldn’t worry about shells as I’d pour off all of the eggs the next day minus the bottom inch of the bucket where the shells would sink.
I could do two cases of eggs in 7 minutes this way.
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by Kalaeb »

One in each hand here. Give it a good whack on a flat surface the pull apart with your thumb and pinky.
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by Rufus Leaking »

Two at a time on a flat surface works every time. One on a flat surface not so good.... Wierd
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by Chefspence »

As a pro, I've only ever attempted one in each hand. Works well, every now and then I get a bit of shell, but it beats one at a time time.

Stupidest thing I've seen was when I worked at a Holiday inn. The chef thread a case of eggs in a large mixer, shell on, with her whip attachment. He'd whip the whole eggs, then strain them. It did work, but there were plenty of little shell bits even after straining. Needless to say I never picked up the technique
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by ChefKnivesToGo »

Place the egg in your off hand, then stab the egg with your Fujiyama. Then twist the knife to open. ;)
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by Wjhunt »

^^ I will stick to the flat surface method.
I would not want to tip my Fujiyama.
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by STPepper9 »

Nmiller21k wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:01 pm I didn’t worry about shells much when I was deep in breakfast.
I’d plastic wrap under a bucket
Two stacks of egg flats on each side and a deep hotel pan behind the bucket
I wouldn’t worry about shells as I’d pour off all of the eggs the next day minus the bottom inch of the bucket where the shells would sink.
I could do two cases of eggs in 7 minutes this way.
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by Nmiller21k »

Chefspence wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:44 pm As a pro, I've only ever attempted one in each hand. Works well, every now and then I get a bit of shell, but it beats one at a time time.

Stupidest thing I've seen was when I worked at a Holiday inn. The chef thread a case of eggs in a large mixer, shell on, with her whip attachment. He'd whip the whole eggs, then strain them. It did work, but there were plenty of little shell bits even after straining. Needless to say I never picked up the technique

The mixer "technique" is the dumbest one I've ever seen / heard of.
Steel+Fire
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Re: Pro chef egg cracking method - curious

Post by Steel+Fire »

If you need to do a large quantity for a brunch line or something we used to crack them willy nilly, two eggs in each hand with a stack of egg flats on both sides of the bucket. Just crack them into a China cap strainer and it will get all the shells. I have PTSD from working brunch.
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