Check an egg freshness in a snap! Place an egg into a pan of cool salted water. If it sinks to the bottom, it’s fresh! If it rises to the surface, time to toss it.

Storage
While eggs will keep in your refrigerator for several weeks, it’s important to note that they can lose some quality.

A little known fact about eggs is that they can absorb odors from your refrigerator if stored in an open container, although this shouldn’t be a major problem unless you’re storing eggs along side opened containers of onions and garlic or other such strong smelly foods.

Do you need only egg whites or only egg yolks for a particular recipe?

Don’t throw out the leftovers, find another recipe to cook which will use the other portion). Once out of the shell, you can keep eggs whites for about a week in the refrigerator and egg yolks will keep for two or three days, although be sure to cover them with water).

How To Separate Eggs
Cold eggs are easier to separate. Gently crack the egg open in the center, either hitting it gently with a knife, or using a convenient counter edge. Hold the egg upright and gently pull off the top half of the shell. You now have three options:

• Hold your hand over the egg white bowl, pour the egg into your hand and let the egg white ooze through your fingers while retaining the yolk in your hand ?? a very easy, albeit un?elegant, way to separate eggs. Make sure to wash your hands first.
• Over the egg white bowl, gently pour the contents between the two shell halves, allowing the egg whites to pour out in the process, leaving just the yolk in the shell.
• Buy a handy?dandy gadget called an egg separator, which looks like a small measuring cup. The egg yolk is retained in the cup while the whites are allowed to drip through.

Beating Egg Whites
Egg whites WILL NOT WHIP (they just won’t) if they come into contact with even the slightest trace of fat, grease or egg yolk. This is why it’s a good idea when separating eggs to have three bowls: one for the yolks, one for the whites and one bowl to separate over so that you won’t have to throw out a whole batch if one yolk breaks while separating. It is also a good idea to wash your hands, beaters and bowl before beginning as well, to make sure they are grease free.

Egg whites that are at room temperature will whip easier and faster. You can add 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar to help the process along (although it is not necessary unless your recipe calls for it. Use an electric mixer for best
results, although you can use a whisk if you want a good workout.

How To Cook Eggs

• Boiled ? Put your eggs in a pot (avoid aluminum as it will darken) and cover with cold water. Add a pinch of salt. Bring the pot to a boil over high or medium high heat, then lower the heat and simmer. Depending on the size of your egg, they will need to simmer for 2?3 minutes for soft boiled, about 4?5 minutes for medium and 15?20 minutes for hard boiled. Drain the eggs and immerse them immediately in cold water to stop the cooking process. Refrigerated boiled eggs will keep for about a week.
• Fried ? Add a small amount of butter or oil to your skillet (non?stick pans will need very little to none of this) and heat. When you can drop a drop of water into the pan and hear it sizzle, it’s time to cook the eggs. Carefully crack the eggs into the pan. For sunny side up eggs, allow them to cook for about 3?4 minutes without turning (or until they’re done to a consistency you like), before removing them from the pan. If you prefer your eggs turned over, first cook the eggs for about 2 minutes before using your spatula to flip the eggs over. The amount of time the turned eggs are cooked will depend on how you like to eat
  your eggs.
• Scrambled ? The cooking procedure for scrambled eggs is the same as for fried. First beat your eggs in a bowl (you can add a tablespoon or so of milk per egg as well as salt, pepper, seasonings etc.). Pour into the skillet and cook while gently stirring until the eggs reach the desired consistency.
• Poached ? Cover the bottom of a small pot or skillet with about two inches of water and bring to a simmer. Break an egg into a small bowl. Stir the water to create a small whirlpool effect and drop the egg into the center. Cook for 3?5 minutes before removing the egg with a slotted spoon.

How to Preserve Eggs

To preserve eggs it is only necessary to close the pores of the shells. This may be done by dipping them in melted paraffin, or packing them in salt, small ends down; or pack them in a keg and cover them with brine; or pack them in a keg, small ends down and cover them with lime water; this not only protects them from the air, but acts as a germicide.

Eggs should not be packed for winter use later than the middle of May or earlier than the first of April. Where large quantities of the yolks are used, the whites may be evaporated and kept in glass bottles or jars. Spread them out on a stoneware or granite plate and allow them to evaporate at the mouth of a cool oven. When the mixture is perfectly dry, put it away. This powder is capable of taking up the same amount of water that has been evaporated from it, and may then be used the same as fresh whites.

How to Check the Freshness of your Eggs

To ascertain the freshness of an egg without breaking it, hold your hand around the egg toward a bright light or the sun and look through it. If the yolk appears quite round and the white clear, it is fresh. Or, if you put it in a bucket of water and it falls on its side, it is fresh. If it sort of topples in the water, standing on its end, it is fairly fresh, but, if it floats, beware of it. The shell of a fresh egg looks dull and porous. As it begins to age, the shell takes on a shiny appearance. If an egg is kept any length of time, a portion of its water evaporates, which leaves a space in the shell, and the egg will “rattle.” An egg that rattles may be perfectly good, and still not absolutely fresh.

How to Make Shirred Eggs

Cover the bottoms of individual dishes with a little butter and a few fresh bread indoblogrecipe14crumbs; drop into each dish two fresh eggs; stand this dish in a pan of hot water and cook in the oven until the whites are “set.” Put a tiny bit of butter in the middle of each, and a dusting of salt and pepper.

How to Make Omelet Souffle

It must be made at the last moment and sent from the oven directly to the table.

The eggs must be beaten to just the right point and the oven must be very hot. Get everything in readiness before beginning to make the souffle.

Select a bowl, perfectly clean, and arrange the star tube and pastry bag, if you are going to use one. If not, get out a baking dish. Sift six tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Separate six eggs.

Put three of the yolks aside (as you will only use three), and beat the other three until creamy. Beat the whites until they are very stiff but not dry or broken. Now add three tablespoonfuls of the sifted powdered sugar. Beat for fully ten minutes. Then add the beaten yolks, the grated rind of a lemon and at the last a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Mix carefully and quickly, but thoroughly.

Put four or five tablespoonfuls of this in the bottom of a platter, or baking dish. Put the remaining quantity quickly in the pastry bag, and press it out into roses. It is easier to make it in small rosettes all over the foundation. Dust quickly with the remaining three tablespoonfuls of sugar.

Bake in a quick oven until golden brown. This will take about five minutes. Serve immediately. To be just right, this must be hot to the very center, crisp on top, moist underneath. If baked too long, the moment the top is touched it will fall, becoming stringy and unpalatable.

Note: Omelet souffles are frequently flavored with rum, which must be mixed with the sugar. Sometimes they are sprayed with sherry just as they are taken from the oven. They may be built up into different forms, and garnished with candied or maraschino cherries, or chopped nuts.