This Viral TikTok Egg Separating Hack Changes Everything

There is no shortage of egg separating hacks out there on the internet, many of which (like the water bottle method) are not all they're cracked up to be (via Kitchn). Most home cooks are probably better off passing the yolk back and forth between the egg shell halves, or cracking the egg into their hand and letting the white drip through their fingers, rather than looking for some fancy life hack (via Martha Stewart). That is, unless they have some brown bread lying around.

In a recent TikTok video, a man cracks two free-range eggs into a bowl, rubs his index and pointer finger on some "brown bread," which looks like regular whole grain sandwich bread, and then pinches one egg yolk by the membrane and plops it into another bowl without it tearing or slipping from his fingers. He then tries to do the same with the other egg yolk, but finds it too slippery, and so he repeats the step of rubbing his fingers on the bread and then it works again. Of course, this TikTok hack raises as many questions as it answers, as evidenced by the comments.

Within four days, the video has gained 158,000 likes and over 3,500 comments from incredulous TikTok users, one of whom commented: "I REFUSE to believe this isn't witchcraft." Another reported that the clip: "Caused an argument between me and my mum cause she won't let me try it, now we're not talking."

Of course, plenty were left baffled by the video, its origins, and the science behind it, with one user asking: "How does that work? I need science!" and another posing the obvious question of: "Why brown bread in particular??" to which the creator replied: "My grandad told me 20 years ago, that's all I know." Others commented that they tried out the hack and it actually worked, but why? 

The trick seems to be that you need very dry fingertips in order to grip the membrane of the egg yolk, hence the bread rubbing (via Manchester Evening News). If you do end up trying this hack the next time you need to separate some eggs, give yourself the best shot at success by using very fresh eggs that are still cold from the fridge (via Kitchn).