14 Egg Hacks We Wish We Knew Sooner

There's a lot to be said about the many fantastic properties of the humble egg. For starters, eggs are affordable, packed with protein, and wonderfully versatile in the kitchen. Not only are they a staple in Western cuisine, showcased in dozens of breakfast dishes and an important component of baking, but they are also prepared across the world, enjoyed in dishes such as Cantonese-style scrambled eggs or Scotch eggs. You can find them as the star attraction in a dish like an omelet or quiche, or they might be a subtle yet necessary component of a classic sauce like hollandaise. For a quick snack, you might enjoy a cold egg salad, or perhaps, pickled or deviled someggs for a change. 

If you regularly cook with eggs, although they appear to be mindlessly simple to prepare, you may find that you're prone to the occasional kitchen mishap. To ensure your egg-cooking techniques are up to par, we've selected our favorite egg hacks you'll wish you'd known sooner. The good news is, it's never too late to prepare the perfect eggs!

A visually stunning way to reimagine the simple sunny-side up fried egg is to create an extra fluffy white that makes the golden yolk look as if it is sitting in a soft cloud. A TikTok video that shows a hack to make so-called cloud eggs went viral thanks to the appealing result. The video creator cracks an egg into a pan and then proceeds to whisk the white until it creates peaks, keeping the yolk intact. 

While attracting millions of views, comments on the video included further tips, such as a recommendation to add in more whites for each yolk. Another suggestion was to separate the egg whites, whisk them first, and add the yolk on top later. Either way, the combination of a light and airy white with a soft yolk sounds like a heavenly recipe idea. If you're looking for a fun and easy way to try something different for your morning eggs, cloud eggs are a great recipe to enjoy for breakfast.

Everyone knows that frustrating feeling when you're trying to peel a hard-boiled egg and little pieces of shell stick to the white like glue. What often happens is that you yank off part of the cooked egg in the process, leaving behind a peeled egg that is fairly mangled. This is not a great look if you're planning to cut the boiled egg into halves or quarters for a salad or ramen dish.

Guy Fieri's executive chef David Alvarez shares a video suggesting that once you've cooled the eggs down in water, crack them on a hard surface with a solid thud and then roll them. You should find that the shell easily comes away without any pressure. Alternatively, a clever TikTok trick for peeling hard-boiled eggs instructs you to gently crack one end of an egg before boiling it. Then, once the egg is cooked, plunge it into a container filled with cold water, seal it with a lid, and shake it for about 10 seconds. This loosens the shell which you should then be able to easily remove in one piece. 

If you're a fan of poached eggs, then you can attest to the delightful combination of a delicate soft white encasing a runny yolk. When your knife cuts into a perfectly poached egg, whether you're serving it with bacon for brunch or toast and avocado for breakfast, it's guaranteed to be delicious. However, if you've tried making poached eggs, you'll know that the white can easily separate and go off in all directions in your pan of boiling water, ruining the look. 

According to Good to Know, adding something acidic like lemon juice or vinegar to the boiling water and creating a whirlpool in the pan before adding the eggs is a solid trick for great results. Celebrated chef Jamie Oliver offers his fans numerous ways to poach an egg, advising that the golden rule for success no matter what method is used, is to make sure that your eggs are really fresh. Meanwhile, Oliver's plastic-wrap poached egg hack is certainly unique. Place plastic wrap into a dish and oil it, then crack a raw egg on top. Tie the plastic with a knot and poach the whole parcel in a pan of boiling water. The egg won't be able to escape, and you'll be left with a perfectly rounded result. 

As with many egg recipes, scrambled eggs are a simple meal that can be difficult to master. You may prefer your eggs only barely cooked, or perhaps you like them quite well done. What you probably don't like to serve up are hard scrambled eggs or a mixture that's turned gray. Another common issue is watery scrambled eggs, which can happen if your eggs are not as fresh as they should be. Otherwise, watery eggs are also the result of insufficient whisking.

Chef and food writer J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is a columnist for The New York Times and regularly posts cooking videos on YouTube. Among his many tips, you'll find recommendations for making really creamy scrambled eggs. He suggests checking to make sure the pan is hot before you add the eggs. Splash in a bit of water and if it evaporates, the temperature should be suitable. 

Lopez-Alt uses cornstarch in the egg mix and also recommends adding tapioca and potato flour to prevent the proteins from tightening together. He admits he got this top tip from a Taiwanese blogger, Lady and Pups, who perfected scrambled eggs for a sick dog! Finally, the chef makes sure to add some cubes of butter and beat them into the eggs with salt. As the eggs cook, you'll notice that the melted butter adds an extra creamy texture to your dish.

If you love eggs, then you no doubt also love any associated hack, whether it's a tip on how to cook eggs or interesting things to do with eggs besides eating them. Often, these hacks come from chefs who have tried and tested different ways to perfect their dishes over time. However, some of the best suggestions come from unlikely places, and none more so than internationally renowned country singer, Dolly Parton. 

When the songstress is not busy touring and making music, she likes to cook a weekly breakfast for her husband. And as she has been married since 1966, you can bet that she's made a lot of scrambled eggs! The songwriter shared her tip for making fluffy scrambled eggs with Insider during a Zoom interview, explaining that she adds in a few drops of iced water while the eggs are scrambling. She reveals that this tip was given to her to guarantee fluffy eggs. 

Take a pan, some Asian cooking techniques, and a pair of chopsticks and you have the makings of a pretty impressive egg food hack: the Korean tornado omelet. What's great about this recipe is that you end up with a stunning swirly shape. Not only does this type of omelet look fabulous, but it also tastes delicious. 

At first, heat up some oil or butter in a non-stick pan while you crack and whisk the eggs in a bowl. Then, pour the mixture into the pan. Hold one chopstick at each edge of the omelet on opposite sides of the pan so it doesn't move. From the edge, move the chopsticks toward the center, pushing the egg towards the middle. Once in this position, slowly turn the chopsticks so that the omelet twists and creates a raised tornado shape. 

Another method to make a super soft Korean tornado omelet is to keep the chopsticks still and twist the pan instead. A classic street-food dish in Korea, the omelet is served over rice and is really another version of the classic Japanese dish omurice.

While you may enjoy an egg on a grilled burger, you might not have thought about actually barbequing an egg before. However, eggs on a grill are a popular street-food snack in Thailand and Cambodia. While there are so many different ways to cook eggs, grilling them in their shells with a stick for easy handling is certainly a unique one! This method results in a light airy texture that looks a bit like a boiled egg but is distinct. For starters, when you bite into it you'll notice that the egg the same color all the way through.

There are different recipes to make grilled eggs, but most start by emptying out the contents into a bowl. Global Table Adventure recommends removing the mixture through a small hole, then whisking the eggs and seasoning them with black pepper, brown sugar, and fish sauce. Then, pour the egg mixture back into the shells (a funnel works well) and steam them for 20 minutes. Refrigerate the eggs overnight, and the next day, poke sticks through the holes while you warm up your grill. Heat the eggs on the barbecue until they are warm, then enjoy their wonderfully bubbly texture and smoky flavor. This is a fun and delicious egg hack that's well worth the effort.

While Dr. Seuss' Sam-I-Am may have been keen for others to try green eggs and ham, it's not a culinary delight for most people. However, such is the popularity of this children's story that Subway imaginatively created a green eggs and ham sandwich, by dyeing the yolks green with spinach. Nonetheless, you'll probably agree that a grayish, greenish ring between the yolk and white of a hard-boiled egg is not so appealing (even though it isn't harmful). Of course, if a boiled egg has a foul odor, green spots, or a slimy shell, then chances are that it has gone bad and you need to throw it out.

According to the American Egg Board, a chemical reaction between sulfur in the egg white and iron in the yolk causes discoloration. The outlet notes that boiling eggs for too long or at an excessively high temperature can be responsible. Another factor at play depends on how quickly your hard-boiled eggs are cooled down. For starters, it's best to cook the eggs in hot water, as opposed to boiling water. Once they're cooked, plunge the eggs into iced water or let cold water run over them. Keep the eggs chilled by storing them in a refrigerator, where they will maintain their freshness and color. 

If you ask anybody how they get their boiled eggs just right with the white cooked all the way through and the yolk gloriously drippy, you'll no doubt get a different answer each time. Taste.com.au suggests starting off by placing your eggs in a pan of cold water, and slowly raising the heat so that the eggs don't crack. Also, using room-temperature eggs is ideal, because if you plonk an egg straight out of the fridge into hot water, then the heat contrast can cause the shell to break. 

Also, per Science of Cooking, dropping an egg into boiling water may cause the proteins to react and your egg to become rubbery. To counter this, Brit + Co suggests not actually boiling the eggs but instead, steaming them. Simply fill a pan with a small amount of water with a steamer and add the eggs. With the lid on, let the pan bubble away for six and a half minutes. Once they're cooked, you can transfer the eggs into iced water if you want them to stop cooking further or enjoy them immediately.

While it's common to grate cheese, have you ever thought about grating eggs?  Food blogger Sarah Thomas-Drawbaugh from Healthyish Foods developed a recipe for grated egg on avocado toast that went viral, setting off a trend on TikTok. In an interview with TODAY, she offers some tips on how you can successfully recreate this interesting topping: "I see some people using bigger cheese graters, which is fine, but a Microplane keeps it really light and fluffy. Also, make sure the yolk is fully set and egg is cold. If it's still warm from hard-boiling, it won't work as well." The result is a light egg sprinkle that looks just like cheese. 

There's already a Russian dish of grated egg served over herrings, as the airy texture makes it a versatile topping for many different dishes. Thomas-Drawbaugh has also come up with a creative recipe for a grated pickled egg with tuna on toast, as well as a decadent grated egg with caviar on a toasted bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon.

Every chef and home baker knows that many recipes require either only egg yolks or whites. A freshly made mayonnaise, creamy crème brûlée, or meringue all count on this careful separation. While there are many techniques, a viral TikTok video from the UK demonstrates what has to be one of the most original ways: using a piece of bread! In the hack, the cook rubs his fingertips on a piece of brown bread and pinches the yolk to easily lift it away from the white, still intact. 

Of course, there are other ways to separate eggs such as by using an empty plastic bottle, as shown on the Free to Cook YouTube channel. Place the opening of the bottle close to the egg yolk and squeeze the top to suck the yolk into the neck. Then, release the pressure as you transfer the egg to a different bowl. Meanwhile, Egg Farmers of Ontario recommends simply cracking the egg into your hand, slightly widening the gap between your fingers so that the white escapes, leaving you with the yolk in your palm. 

It's fair to say that Martha Stewart knows a thing or two about cooking, yet her ingenious trick for making cappuccino-steamed scrambled eggs is definitely a unique food hack. This recipe bypasses the need for a pan, cooktop, and wooden spoon, and instead, all you need is a cappuccino machine to do the trick. Crack the eggs into a tall cup, whisk and season them, stick the steam wand into the egg mix, and let the hot steamer work its magic. 

The Kitchn suggests another variation on this theme by making scrambled eggs with a milk frother. With this method, use a hand-held frothing tool to whisk up the eggs first. Then, prepare them in a pan conventionally, using a spatula to fold the eggs as they cook. Whatever method you use, be sure to properly clean your steam wand or milk frother before making your coffee!

It can be difficult to offer a food hack for making the best fried eggs since everybody enjoys them differently. Plus, there's a lot that can go wrong when frying an egg, from undercooking it to accidentally burning it. However, when it comes to sunny-side up eggs, The Washington Post recommends using both the skillet and range. 

Preheat the oven between 325 and 350 degrees to start. Then, cook the eggs in a hot, oiled skillet for just a few seconds until the whites start to set. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake them for a few more minutes to your liking. By both frying and baking the eggs, you can make sure that the white is cooked through without overcooking the yolk. Since the heat doesn't just come from below, it will ensure that every part of your fried egg is cooked to perfection. 

It's all good and well experimenting with egg hacks, but any recipe or tip is only as good as the egg itself. In other words, you need to make sure that you're cooking with fresh eggs, whether you've grabbed a dozen from the store or picked up local farm fresh eggs. 

The Pioneer Woman recommends a simple float test to check if your eggs are still okay to eat. Gently drop a fresh, uncooked egg into a glass of water and watch what it does next. If the egg seems to settle at the bottom, on its side, or close to it, then the egg is not only fine to eat but pretty fresh too. If the egg stands on its end then it's still fine, but perhaps not as fresh. Finally, if the egg floats to the top, then it needs to be thrown away. With fresh eggs in hand, you're ready to get creative and even come up with some eggs-traordinary hacks yourself!