I’m not a baker where the use of eggs is far more common, however I do make meatballs etc. Whenever something I make requires egg(s) I always pre-beat my eggs, however when I watch many cooking / recipe videos I notice they just throw / crack whole eggs into the recipe. I don’t know why but that just seems so wrong to me.
Do you pre-beat or do you just crack the whole egg in?
I break them into a bowl and then dump them into whatever I am mixing and mix everything together. I don’t beat them separately unless I am incorporating air into egg whites, or the final product only needs to be mixed slightly (where the eggs won’t incorporate thoroughly).
I always crack the egg into a separate bowl first, even if I’m not going to beat it. Because shells.
Never occurred to me to pre-beat the eggs. I just crack them into the mixing bowl.
I think the only time I whisk them is if I’m doing scrambled eggs or (ahem) French Toast.
Ditto. I always felt like pre-beating was just a way to dirty another bowl and fork - and I dirty quite enough dishes when I cook as it is!
Yes! I enjoy cooking and baking. I hate the clean up and try to minimize it as much as possible.
I get eggs from a local farmer and very rarely (twice in the last 10 yrs) there have been sort of funky eggs that I didn’t want to use thus a separate bowl for eggs before going into the food.
It depends what I am making. If it’s baking then I’ll probably just put the eggs in unless the recipe calls for beaten eggs. But, when I make a meatloaf or meatballs I do beat my eggs and I add the chopped herbs and other seasonings to the eggs instead of the meat as the herbs, etc. tend to incorporate into the meat mixture more evenly.
Depends on what I’m making. For meatloaf or maybe a lasagna with ricotta and eggs then yes, I’ll beat until somewhat cohesive. For rum cake or other baked goods I add the eggs whole.
For savory recipes that just need an egg for binding, moisture, etc. I do pre-beat. Always separate bowl first in case it’s a bad egg, and then I just like to make sure it’s a more consistent texture, in case I get odd bits of yolk and egg that didn’t blend as well into the substance.
Not much baking here either, but I usually don’t pre-beat for baking. I still try to break them into separate bowls though. I might be traumatized from one too many rotten eggs that have gotten into my good food in the past.