Check before adding
Ever since I started living on my own, food shows were the number 1 thing I watched. And one of the tips that always got brought up no matter what show you were watching, was to crack the egg into a separate bowl before adding it to the mix. This was to ensure that you didn’t add a rotten egg to the entire mix thus ruining whatever you were attempting to make.
Pfffttt! Was my response to that. One of my major goals that I try to achieve every time I cook in my kitchen is to minimize the number of things used. The more you use, the more you have to clean. I don’t mind spending hours cooking, but I have no desire to spend hours cleaning up. The thought of bringing out another bowl just to check an egg was ridiculous to me. I’m talking Rachael Ray garbage bowl ridiculous is how I viewed this tip. I had never come across a rotten egg, and wouldn’t you know you had a rotten egg on your hands? I mean it would stink as most rotten things do, right?
Yeah, this all changed when a few years back I was making a quiche for dinner with the remaining four eggs that we had in the fridge. I’m happily cracking and dumping when it happened. I just cracked and dumped a rotten egg into my bowl with all the other ingredients. A rotten egg is gross. It is nasty to look at and there will be no doubt that you are dealing with a rotten egg. I was so flaming ticked off. There went dinner and I had to scramble around to make something else. And you know? It didn’t smell, look, or feel any different than a regular egg. So the answer is No. I had no idea there was a rotten egg hiding just waiting to cause culinary chaos in my kitchen.
Now I always check my eggs. I open them into a little glass dish before adding them into the bigger mixing bowl. Thankfully I have not come across another rotten egg, but in the event it happens, I am prepared to deal with it quickly. If you haven’t started doing this as you cook, I would reccomend it. Again, I repeat, rotten eggs are gross. Like me, maybe this is a tip you’ve heard over and over again finding it silly. As silly as it sounds, I will now gladly wash an extra little bowl if it prevents me from cooking disaster. 
Doing this also allows you to pick out any eggshell fragments more easily.
I would know because my 3.5 year old insists on breaking all eggs. She’s pretty good, but not great, and I would much rather fish an egg shell out of a small bowl than a big bowl that might have other ingredients in it.
Also, if you’re separating yolk from whites, using two bowls is a good idea, just in case you screw up, even just a little bit!
Thanks for the tip, I didn’t even think about the whole rotten eggs business!
I never knew that was why you are supposed to put the egg in a separate bowl – I always thought it was a fancy TV thing!
Instead of using a garbage bowl I use a bag. ie a produce bag (which you are just going to throw out anyhow) or a plastic shopping bag. Or you know I just grate my carrots, etc and put the stuff directly in the garbage. It’s not THAT hard. ;)
LOL, I never ever knew this. And I consider myself kitchen savvy. Goes to show what I know. Heh.
I’m going to start doing this because I don’t eat eggs that often and they could easily go bad on me. Good idea! ;)
I never knew that before! I only eat local farm eggs, so the potential to come across a rotten one is pretty high. I’m going to be doing this from now on!
man but I’m lazy…
I’d never heard that before but learned the hard way line you did. I can deal with rinsing out one extra bowl if it saves a batch of cookies.
Mike, ugh! Isn’t that frustrating?! Yeah, so now I’m always sure to check the eggs. :)
I saw the Barefoot Contessa do that and gave the same recommendation :) I think I hit one rotten egg before but I was doing single eggs for breakfast, so it fortunately didn’t ruin my recipe.