Tip Tuesday: Eggcellent Ideas

When baking, one of the number one ingredients you will be working with is eggs. Here are just a few tips to make eggcellent baked goods!

• How to tell if your eggs are still good?
•   An easy test to check if your eggs are still fresh is to place them in a cup of cold water. If the egg sinks to the bottom they are still fresh. If they stand on one end they are still good to use, but need to be used right away. If the eggs float they are no longer good and need to be discarded. 
• What is the best way to crack an egg?
• The best way to crack an egg is on a flat surface, such as a counter top, rather than on the edge of a dish. If using the edge of a dish there is more of a chance of pushing bits of egg shell into the egg or breaking the yolk with a sharp bit of the shell.
• What is the best temperature for eggs to be for baking?
•  It is best to bake with eggs that are at room temperature. If you are in a pinch you can put eggs in a dish with warm water to warm them up in a hurry. 
• Why use a separate dish to crack eggs into? 
• When you're baking it is very important to crack eggs into a separate dish to check for imperfections. If you have a bad egg and crack it right into your dish with other ingredients you will have wasted all the ingredients. 

Fun egg fact: The color of the shell, is determined by the chickens earlobes....yes they have earlobes!