Why Does An Egg Crack While Boiling

Small air balloons between the eggshell and egg whites begin to expand as the egg warms, and hot air presses against the shell, causing cracking.

What should we do to prevent the egg from cracking while boiling?

• If you take it out of the refrigerator and put it directly in hot water, your egg will crack because of the hot-cold reaction, so store your eggs at least 30 minutes at room temperature
• Soaking the eggs in warm water for a few minutes or rubbing them with lemon will prevent cracking.
• Before you boil, wash the egg thoroughly and poke a small hole with a needle into the top (skinnier) end of the egg, which will prevent the shell from cracking.
• If you add a pinch of salt or a teaspoon of vinegar before boiling the water in the container where you boil the egg, small air balloons will not force the shell.
• Boiling in a small container, reduces the space between eggs that prevents the eggs collide between them and reduces the risk of cracking.
• Gently leave the egg into the boiling water with a spoon to prevent the egg from hitting the bottom of the pan and cracking.
• One of the most important tips is to lower the heat when the water boils.
• Laying a small dish to the pan or adding 1-2 pieces of wooden toothpick to the boiling water will also prevent cracking.

If you have difficulty in peeling the egg;

Don’t bother at all, because that means your egg is fresh. You can easily peel your fresh egg with a few tricks

• Before boiling, start by putting a small piece of tape over both ends of the egg. The tape will help keep the egg shell from cracking when you poke a hole. Take a needle or straight pin (or something else small and pointy) and poke a hole into the top (skinnier) end of the egg, through the tape. Wiggle the pin around a bit to make the hole just a little bit wider than the pin and to help break up the yolk inside the egg.
• After removing the egg from boiling water, immediately immerse in cold water and soak for a while. Cold water provides shock to the egg and makes it easier for you to peel through the pores of the shell.
• Put a pinch of salt or sodium bicarbonate into the boiled water.
• Hold your boiled eggs vertically, open a little from the top and bottom of the shell and blow into one of these holes
• Throw the boiled egg into a glass of cold water and shake it vigorously several times by closing the mouth of the glass with your palm
• After hitting the egg on a hard surface and cracking it in several places, roll it between the two palms by pressing lightly
• Cut the eggs with the help of a knife in half, using teaspoon separate the shell from the egg

How do I know if the egg is fresh or stale?

Boiled eggs:

• Fresh eggs hardly peel, the air gap is small. The egg yolk is central and the white part is homogeneous in color and elastic.
• On non-fresh eggs, the yellow part is close to the shell and the white part is rough.

Raw eggs:

• Fill a bowl with cold water and place your eggs in the bowl. If they sink to the bottom and lay flat on their sides, they’re very fresh.
• If they’re 7-10 days old but still good to eat, they’ll stand on one end at the bottom of the bowl.
• If they float to the surface, they’re no longer fresh enough to eat.

How to boil an egg?

Soft boiled eggs:

Obviously every single one of us has a personal preference as to precisely how we like our eggs cooked. Over the years I have found a method that is both simple and reliable, and the various timings set out here seem to accommodate all tastes.

First of all have a small saucepan (or the right sized saucepan depending on how many eggs you need) filled with enough water to cover the eggs by about 1cm.

Bring it up to the boil and when large bubbles are breaking on the surface quickly but gently lower the eggs (from room temperature) into the water, one at a time, using a tablespoon.

Now switch the timer on and give the eggs exactly 1 minute’s simmering time.

Then remove the pan from the heat, put a lid on it and set the timer again, giving the following timings:

6 minutes will produce a soft, fairly liquid yolk and a white that is just set but still quite wobbly.

7 minutes will produce a firmer more creamy yolk with a white that is completely set.

I sometimes start to count to 100 when water boils.

Hard boiled eggs:

Some people hate soft-boiled eggs and like to eat them straight from the shell, hard-boiled. All well and good, but if you want to use hard-boiled eggs in a recipe and have to peel them, this can be extremely tricky if the eggs are too fresh.

The method is as follows: place the eggs into a saucepan that is the right size so that they sit comfortably and don’t crash into one another (and as an extra precaution, to prevent cracking you can prick the round end of the shell with a pin) and then add enough cold water to cover them by about 1cm.

Bring the water up to boiling point then turn to a simmer, put a timer on for 6 minutes if you like a bit of squidgy in the centre, 7 minutes if you like them cooked through. As soon as they are cooked drain off the hot water.

Then, the most important part is to cool them rapidly under cold running water. Let the cold tap run over them for about 1 minute, then leave them in cold water till they’re cool enough to handle – about 2 minutes.

This rapid cooling helps to prevent dark rings forming between the yolk and the white.

To peel them crack the shells all over on a hard surface. Then peel the shell off starting at the wide end.

After peeling rinse again in case there are any bits of shell still clinging.

Once you’ve mastered the art of boiling eggs you can serve them in a variety of ways.