I have an embarrassing confession to make: I find cracking eggs and separating the yolk from the white to be a difficult procedure.  As a chef, this is just plain horrible.  My girlfriend  teases me about this, which I find unfair since she makes specialty cakes as a side-job and can crack an egg with just the power of her mind alone.  My propensity to get eggshells in scrambled eggs is also a constant source of taunting.

I'm not really sure what the problem is.  It just seems like the eggs always crack unevenly, leaving me with one little tiny cup of a shell in on hand, and a deeper cup in the other.  The result is that the yolk constantly tries to escape from the tiny cup side each time I try to separate the egg white.

So when I saw the ad for the EZ Cracker on TV, I thought, "Hah!  Problem solved!"



Of course that wasn't really the first thing that crossed my mind after seeing the commercial.  My first thought was, "That woman is insane."  Then came the notion that apparently they have transporter technology from Star Trek; those little blinking lights that appear when the EZ Cracker and its accessories materialize indicate a far superior technology than we currently possess.  And greater technology is always a good thing, right?

Credit card in hand, I reached for the phone... Then decided to do a little research first.



The idea behind the EZ Cracker is simple: To crack an egg (raw or hard-boiled), separate the egg whites, and eliminate eggshell shards.

Sounds good to me.  According to the product's website, this is done in three easy steps:

1. Insert the egg into the EZ Cracker.

2. Squeeze the EZ Cracker to crack the egg.

3. Cook your delicious shell-free egg and enjoy a meal fit for the gods.

But does it work?

Unfortunately, there were very few positive reviews for the EZ Cracker.  A few users had luck with it, particularly when separating the egg whites from the yolk.  But most reviews used the word, "JUNK" (caps and all) to describe the EZ Cracker.  Complaints ranged from the lack of yolk/white separation to cleaning issues (it is apparently not dishwasher safe).  Some users complained about crushing the eggs when trying to simply crack them; others repeatedly created the dreaded egg shell fragments that make for decidedly un-delicious, crunchy eggs.

I can't help but think that some of these problems are user error.  Crushing an egg is a pretty easy thing to do when you consider that you're using a vice-like device in an attempt to simply crack the shell.  Perhaps some practice is required.  Eggs are pretty cheap...

But given the amount of negative comments, I sadly put my credit card back in my wallet.  While I really hope the EZ Cracker works, it just doesn't sound worth the risk.  Has anyone of you used it and liked it?

Looks like I'll have to learn to crack eggs using an age-old method that is cost-free: patience.  Either that or get used to the unique, crunchy consistency that I tend to inadvertently specialize in...

If you want to try out the EZ Cracker for yourself, the best prices are here.


SOURCES: The SciMark Report, YouTube, As Seen On TV Video,  EZ Cracker