by R. Quill

Created on: February 13, 2007   Last Updated: December 01, 2011

Eggs are the most versatile ingredient in the kitchen. They can do plenty more than scramble in a pan, and they're just as useful for the beginning cook on a budget as for a trained chef.

Shopping for eggs:

-Egg grades refer to how well-formed the egg yolk and white are; different grades of eggs all function the same way in a recipe, but the higher the letter grade, the prettier the egg is on a plate.

-Out of all the sizes of eggs, large is standard - most recipes assume you're using large eggs.
-Brown eggs are laid by brown-feathered chickens, and the only significant difference is that they're more expensive.
-Nutritional supplement varieties of eggs like Omega-3 are available, and again, these are more expensive and strictly optional.

For basic everyday use, large white Grade-A eggs are fine for most people.

Before buying a carton of eggs, open it. Yes, this is alright, the grocery store employees won't glare at you. Turn each egg to make sure it's whole. An egg might look fine at a glance, but be cracked and stuck to the carton underneath. Shells protect eggs from contamination, so you shouldn't buy or use cracked ones.

Storage and sanitation:

Eggs can indeed have salmonella bacteria in them, but the chance of any one egg carrying salmonella are estimated at 0.005%. If you don't leave eggs or egg products lying around at room temperature for hours, and your immune system has no major issues, you'll be fine. If the meal is meant for someone young, old or with health problems, just be careful that the eggs are cooked all the way through.

Store eggs in the fridge, anywhere but on the door. The door of the fridge changes temperature every time you open it and eggs are better off constantly cold.

Egg preparation:

Contrary to popular belief, you shouldn't crack an egg on the edge of a bowl - that tends to drive fragments of shell into the egg, and they're a pain to pick out. Instead, tap the egg on a flat surface (like the countertop) and then pull it open over the bowl. If you do get shell fragments in the egg, use a large piece of the shell to scoop them out, since the shell is much sharper and more precise than your fingers.

If a recipe calls for egg yolks or whites, you'll need to separate the egg. You can slide the yolk back and forth between the broken halves of shell, but that risks nicking the yolk on the shell edge. Yolks and whites behave differently in recipes. An egg white with even a tiny bit of yolk mixed in won't fluff up the way it should. The most

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