# Orientation of raw egg to crack most efficiently **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 28, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665 "2011-12-28T21:26:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/21 "2011-12-29T13:42:10Z")
I’m not sure more words will make it clearer, so here’s a video instead: [How to Crack an Egg - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PepwmWipzE&noredirect=1) She’s also got a good point I hadn’t considered, which is that salmonella (she says “e. coli”, but she means salmonella) very frequently hangs out on the outside of the egg. If you crack your egg on the edge of the bowl the eggs are going into, you run a higher risk of contaminating your bowl, and then your food. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/22 "2011-12-29T14:45:29Z")
Crack them in the middle on a flat surface. I can also do the trick with an egg in each hand, although there’s really no point in it for a couple of eggs. I remember my father actually getting angry with me when I was showing off by doing the one-handed egg crack. “Cook like a white man, for chrissakes!” I don’t even know what that means. Eggs + salmonella: never had a problem in 40 years. I used to wash the outside of my eggs when I lived in Africa, but otherwise. . . ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/23 "2011-12-29T16:08:21Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > The pro egg cracker that I know was a cook in the army and he can crack eggs one-handed with both hands simultaneously. I can do this. If one of the eggs fails to crack, it is the loser and I mock it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/24 "2011-12-29T16:18:32Z")
This thread has been kind of educational to me in that I’ve never heard of cracking an egg on the end and cannot fathom how that would even work. I crack mine on a flat surface and it seems to work fairly well although I do end up with some counter gloppage. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/25 "2011-12-29T16:22:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Cook like a white man, for chrissakes!” I don’t even know what that means. Over-salt and under-spice your food? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/26 "2011-12-29T16:24:38Z")
Wait, is thread actually about eggs? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/27 "2011-12-29T16:29:03Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > This thread has been kind of educational to me in that I’ve never heard of cracking an egg on the end and cannot fathom how that would even work. I crack mine on a flat surface and it seems to work fairly well although I do end up with some counter gloppage. Yeah, I wish the OP would come back and explain. Does he mean that some people crack their eggs along the poles rather than the equator? 😕 This is just…bizarre…to me. If he means do we crack along the middle, latitudinally, but closer to the small end or the big end, I tend to crack in the middle, a little closer to the big end of the egg. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/28 "2011-12-29T16:29:49Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Over-salt and under-spice your food? Egg-zactly. That would pretty much describe him. That was one of his fall-back phrases, along with “drive like a white man!” and “quit drivin’ like a farmer!” The man was an enigma. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/29 "2011-12-29T16:32:12Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Egg-zactly. That would pretty much describe him. That was one of his fall-back phrases, along with “drive like a white man!” and “quit drivin’ like a farmer!” The man was an enigma. For some reason, this makes me chuckle greatly. Dads are funny. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/30 "2011-12-29T16:39:33Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > This thread has been kind of educational to me in that I’ve never heard of cracking an egg on the end and cannot fathom how that would even work. I crack mine on a flat surface and it seems to work fairly well although I do end up with some counter gloppage. The end cracking refers to soft boiled in the shell eggs as depicted in Gulliver’s Travels. It spawned the term ‘endian’ used to refer to the order of bit and byte addressing in computers, known as ‘little endian’ and ‘big endian’, little endian of course, being the proper way to do it. I don’t know anybody that cracks raw eggs on either end. **TriP** Proud one handed cracker of eggs ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/31 "2011-12-29T16:45:30Z")
In the case of hard-boiled eggs (which the OP didn’t ask about), the answer is the fat end, of course. That’s where the air sac is and gets the peeling going with ease (if the eggs aren’t too fresh, that is. Super fresh eggs are a pain in the ass to peel, usually.) Or you just roll them. In the case of soft-boiled eggs, of course you begin from the small side. Who puts their eggs upside down into their egg cup (or shot glass, as we did it.)? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/32 "2011-12-29T17:19:29Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’m not sure more words will make it clearer, so here’s a video instead: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PepwmWipzE&noredirect=1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PepwmWipzE&noredirect=1) > > She’s also got a good point I hadn’t considered, which is that salmonella (she says “e. coli”, but she means salmonella) very frequently hangs out on the outside of the egg. If you crack your egg on the edge of the bowl the eggs are going into, you run a higher risk of contaminating your bowl, and then your food. Eww, she got raw egg all over the counter! I don’t use the bowl anyway, I crack them against the island. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/33 "2011-12-29T17:44:19Z")
I learned the one-handed cracking thing while on KP in the army. I could do one in each hand. The cook who taught me could do two in each hand. Now that’s efficient. We cracked them on the wide rolled-over edge of a big stainless steel bowl. These days I crack them flat on the counter. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/34 "2011-12-29T17:45:34Z")
Egg white on the counter? Why don’t you slobs use a small plate to crack them on? Or a paper towel? ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/35 "2011-12-29T18:10:07Z")
After reading this thread, I tried the flat surface cracking technique while making breakfast this morning. It’s definitely better. I’m a convert. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/36 "2011-12-29T19:44:19Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Egg white on the counter? Why don’t you slobs use a small plate to crack them on? Or a paper towel? Because we’re too lazy to get another plate or, as is probably the real case, just didn’t think about it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/37 "2011-12-29T19:46:00Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The end cracking refers to soft boiled in the shell eggs as depicted in Gulliver’s Travels. It spawned the term ‘endian’ used to refer to the order of bit and byte addressing in computers, known as ‘little endian’ and ‘big endian’, little endian of course, being the proper way to do it. I don’t know anybody that cracks raw eggs on either end. > > **TriP** > Proud one handed cracker of eggs Oh, OK, but, in my defense, the OP didn’t say that. I can’t say I’ve ever eaten a soft-boiled egg and my hard-boiled ones I just roll on the counter. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/38 "2011-12-29T20:24:26Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Because we’re too lazy to get another plate or, as is probably the real case, just didn’t think about it. 🙂 Eh, that’s why I have a sponge. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/39 "2011-12-29T20:37:30Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Eh, that’s why I have a sponge. 😃 That’s why I have a cat! 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665/40 "2011-12-29T20:47:47Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > The pro egg cracker that I know was a cook in the army and he can crack eggs one-handed with both hands simultaneously. It’s fun just to watch him plow through a couple dozen eggs. The cook on the Navy ship could do it even faster – he just poured a few cups of powdered egg concentrate into the mixing bowl. Then he threw in a couple whole eggs, shell & all! When the scrambled eggs were served, a few sailors would complain loudly about shell in their eggs. And somebody else at their table would say “at least on this ship you’re getting real eggs, instead of that powdered crap.” And all the sailors were happy about the food onboard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orientation-of-raw-egg-to-crack-most-efficiently/607665.md?page=3)