Wolfgang Puck believes cooking an egg can be very telling when discerning a chef’s skills. In fact, according to the Passionistas Project, the Spago chef often asks potential employees to cook one as a test. As he explained, To me, I judge these chefs often on how they can cook an egg. If it’s an omelet or it’s scrambled eggs, generally I have to give people a pan and eggs and I say, ‘OK, make me an omelet.’ Because [they] say, ‘We worked in all of these fancy restaurants.’ And often now chefs forget about learning the basics.
Well, when learning about the basics of eggs, chefs that want to impress Puck may want to familiarize themselves with a gadget the celebrity chef seems to really like. He recently took to TikTok to share a kitchen tool just for this menu staple — and it’s helpful for their delicate shells, too — and TikTokers are loving it. The video has garnered more than 41,000 likes as of publication and lots of chitter-chatter over the tool. In fact, it removes the top of the egg shell so effortlessly, and with such precision, you’ll want to watch the video over and over.
Per Amazon, the gadget Wolfgang shares in his TikTok video is called an egg cracker topper cutter, and it is used to seamlessly remove the top of the shell from a soft- or hard-boiled egg. In the fairly short video, Puck playfully asks his followers what they think this bell-shaped contraption is before demonstrating how it is used. It’s a bit mesmerizing to watch the Austrian chef simply place the gadget over an unbroken egg resting in a cup, then pull the big round ball of the tool upwards, and release. What Puck is left with is a perfectly round cut around the eggshell that easily comes off and with zero mess, which usually ensues when you have to peel a soft- or hard-boiled egg.
Just one problem — the chef forgot to cook it first! At the conclusion, Puck laughed as he revealed an uncooked egg inside and said, But you are supposed to cook it before for four minutes, and promised he is going to show viewers how. TikTokers also found the humor in the fact the egg wasn’t cooked with one person who wrote, Lol! Is this a blooper? and another said, Why did you do that before the egg was cooked? Couldn’t you’ve just waited four minutes until after you cooked the egg to show us this video. Still another typed, I wish they made those for quail eggs! I don’t know how many I’ve done like that. Seems like everyone is loving this tool!
There are plenty of reasons you might want to replace eggs in a recipe. Maybe you’re vegan. Maybe you want to go easy on the cholesterol. Or maybe you’re nervous about food safety and raw eggs.
Whatever the reason, there will come a time when you’ll need a substitute, but certain egg replacements work better than others depending on the situation. Sometimes mayo or tofu can work in chocolate cakes, but probably not in your vanilla cupcakes, where the flavor could be too strong. And sometimes you can only get away with so much; try to replace all the eggs in a muffin recipe, and the result will be more dense, but replace just one of two and you might not notice a difference.
While you can often sub eggs in a savory recipe with another protein (like adding eggs to a curry or pilaf), this list is aimed at recipes that need their eggs for lift (think fluffy meringue, soufflé, or waffles), binding (think burgers or patties), or moisture (muffins or loaf cakes). And there’s always crossover (e.g. pancakes, which need to stick together and rise). So based on versatility, usefulness, convenience, and simplicity, here are the best egg substitutes ranked best to worst.
Commercial Egg Replacer
Commercial egg replacers are usually blends of starches and flours, they’re usually vegan, and they usually do a good job of adding lift and binding to your recipes. To that end, the most popular and easiest-to-find brand is Ener-G egg replacer, which is made with starch, calcium lactate (not from dairy), and a bunch of food-grade, chemistry-sounding powders. Bob’s Red Mill makes a simpler version with no cellulose and just potato starch, tapioca flour, baking soda, and psyllium husk.
