How to Quickly Separate a Large Quantity of Eggs

There are many reasons we need to separate raw eggs. Some people are removing egg yolks from their diet, or others may be making meringue or simply need egg white or yolk as a recipe ingredient. Some recipes, such as those for Hollandaise sauce, use only the yolks, while other baking recipes use the entire egg, yet calls for the separated egg white to be whipped before folding in the yolk.

You can find kitchen gadgets that help you separate an egg. Normally, you break the egg into the little cup-like object, the yolk sits on a platform of sorts within the cup, and the white oozes out of the slits in the bottom of the gadget, and into a bowl.

Many cooks simply crack the egg shell in two over a bowl, then pour the yolk from half to half, as the white slowly drips into the bowl, with the yolk remaining in a shell half.

When we had our restaurant, one of the cooks showed me a nifty trick that allowed us to separate eggs quickly and cleanly. This is by far my favorite egg separating technique.

First, slip on a pair of sanitary latex food prep gloves. If you don't have any gloves, wash your hands thoroughly. Make sure you also have clean fingernails!

This may sound a little gross, but it really works well and is quick. Over a bowl, crack an egg into your hand, and let the yolk rest in your palm as the white drains out, between your fingers, to the bowl below. Wiggle and move your fingers gently, rolling the yolk in your hand, encouraging all the white to slip into the bowl. When the yolk is free of any egg white, place it into a separate bowl, and repeat.

Using this method enables you to produce yolks free of white. You also have less of a tendency to break the yolk. When pouring a yolk from shell to shell, there is always the possibility of scratching and breaking a yolk. If even a little yolk spills into egg white intended for meringue, it will produce inferior and flat meringue. Using a separating gadget can also scratch and break a yolk.

When we use our hands, there is less possibility of breaking a yolk, and it allows the cook to work quicker, completing the task in less time, with better results. While this may initially sound unpleasant for some people, you might discover it is actually rather fun. But please, first wash those hands!