Monday, February 25, 2008
retrieving broken egg shells
As someone who manages to drop an average of 1 to 2 egg shell pieces in each baked good batter, I’ve discovered a trick: The easiest way to fish them out is not with a cooking utensil or, heaven forbid, your finger but with another egg shell. I don’t know how or why it works better, so I just chalk it up to magic.
Don’t you worry about the cleanliness of that eggshell? I mean, it did come out of the vent of a chicken, and it’s not like they sterilize the shells before they sell them…
Obviously, if the eggshell is question looks like it has questionable matter on it, I’d not use it. But given the high probability that any food item in question requiring an egg is likely to be cooked, I’d venture that most microscopic troublemakers will be well disposed of. Besides, there’s no guarantee your fork/spoon that’s been sitting in your drawer may be any more sterile.
I wash my eggs before I break them (in cool water, of course), just because there was a problem in my city when I was a teen with eggs having e.coli on the shells.
Anyone who has had to peel a bunch of boiled eggs can attest to how sticky and stubborn that membrane can be. That sticky membrane is why eggshells pick up eggshells so easily; it sticks to itself like an ACE bandage ;)
Any germs on the part of the shell that didn’t drop into the batter/skillet will also be on the part of the shell that did drop into the batter/skillet. I usually use fingers, but that gets a bit dicey when you’re making omelettes. I’m going to try this trick.
PS If you buy organic or kosher you’re a lot less likely to have bacteria problems because of the way they’re processed.