separating eggs

I'm new here and getting familiar with things - all you great people and all the information in all these wonderful forums!

I just thought I'd pass along here one of the most helpful hints I stumbled across years ago.  It's a nearly fool-proof way of separating the whites from the yolks in eggs.

Use your hands!

Now, we raise chickens, so I'm also very used to the fact that you need to wash your hands when handling eggs to begin with-- so this is a given.

But, a quick study of the structure of your hand (fingernails aside), shows there is nothing sharp that could puncture the yolk.  So, wash your hands.  Then gently crack the egg shell and, over a small bowl, pour the"contents" into your cupped hand.  Pour this slowly from hand to hand, allowing the white to slip through your fingers into the bowl below.

Following this procedure, you will find absolutely no white left on the yolk-- and the yolk completely intact.

Wash your hands once more when done.

- Cathy

This is a new one for me!  I will have to try this method when I make my next angel food cake. Thanks.

 Hope it turns out well for you! 

A lot of people I've told about this approach are apprehensive about getting egg all over their hands.  But hands wash!  And egg doesn't stick to the hands like shortening or butter do.  I wash my hands often when I'm cooking, anyway-- and I'm sure I'm not the only one.  This has just been such a wonderful way to do eggs, I highly recommend it to anyone!

- Cathy

I always use my hands. It is so much easier. Another trick.....if you get any yolk in the whites, use the eggshells to remove. Just scoop it up . It works really well.

Maybe this will work for me...I can't separate an egg with an egg separator,lol!It's awkward for me.I'll try it the next time I bake a cake.Thanks!

Beckie