The Way You Crack An Egg Reveals A Lot About Your Cooking Skills

If you crack yours on the edge of a bowl, you might want to think twice. Here's why.

It’s hard to believe what people can find to argue about these days, but one big kerfuffle in the culinary world is about how to crack an egg. Some home cooks say hitting the shell on a flat surface, like a counter, is less likely to rupture the yolk, but others argue that the edge of a bowl produces a stronger break. And then there are those who suggest using a knife, or cracking an egg against another egg.

Who knew there were so many ways to complete this simple cooking task? Well, chefs, of course — and they shared their opinions with us. When you consider how many eggs a home cook cracks in a day, compared to how many a chef might crack, it’s probably wise to follow the advice of these professionals.

As Bjorn Thompson, executive chef at Breva at Hotel Ivy in Minneapolis, said: “After cracking a few thousand eggs, I developed a preference for how to streamline the process.” So with that, let’s crack on.

Which method do most chefs prefer, and why?

The chefs we talked to said that how you crack an egg does make a difference in your cooking. You want to keep as much of the shell intact as possible, so you don’t end up with fragments in your finished dish. You also want to keep the yolk intact ― especially when you’re poaching or frying eggs, or making something where the whites and yolks need to be separated. Because it’s more likely to protect the yolk, most chefs we talked to prefer cracking the shell flat against a countertop, rather than on the edge of a bowl.