Eggs in recipes, do you pre-beat?

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?

1 Like

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).

1 Like

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.

1 Like

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!

2 Likes

Yes! I enjoy cooking and baking. I hate the clean up and try to minimize it as much as possible.

1 Like

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.

1 Like

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.

1 Like

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.

1 Like

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.

1 Like