Boiled eggs are an excellent addition to breakfast, lunch, or dinner salads. Sometimes boiled eggs get mixed up with raw eggs, making it difficult to tell them apart since they look so similar. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. There are many tests you can use to determine whether an unbroken egg is cooked or not.
The Spinning Test
Hold the egg between your fingers and thumb and gently spin it on its side like a top on a flat surface in your kitchen (1).
It should now spin at a constant pace. Carefully place your index finger in the center of the spinning egg and press firmly enough to stop the egg’s motion (2).
The egg should come close to a halt and remove your finger from the egg. Doing so, your egg will behave differently depending on whether it is hard-boiled or raw.
If the egg remains still, it is hard-boiled. If the egg continues to rotate or wobble slowly, it is raw.
This is because the liquid white and yolk are still spinning within the shell. This test should tell you whether your egg is hard-boiled or raw.
However, you may understand by watching how the egg spins. You do not need to stop it with your index finger.
This is useful if you need to test many eggs at once. Be watchful when checking your eggs because they may crack during the test.
Light Test
Go to a dark room with your egg and a powerful flashlight. Switch on the flashlight and place it against the side of the egg.
This test works best with smaller flashlights because the rim makes a tight seal against the eggshell. If the egg glows like a candle, it’s uncooked.
The transparent liquid inside the egg shell allows light to pass through (3).
If the egg doesn’t pass the light, it is hard-boiled. When the eggs are cooked, the solid white and yolk do not allow light to pass through.
Hot water Test
Put the egg in a pot or bowl of hot water. Look for little streams of bubbles emanating from the egg’s shell.
If you don’t want the eggs to boil, take them out as soon as the test is over. These bubbles are visible if the egg is uncooked (4).
Egg shells are not totally solid; instead, they are covered by hundreds of small holes that occasionally enable gases to pass through.
When the egg is heated, the gas inside the shell expands and passes through the openings, causing bubbles to form.
If you have already cooked the egg, you won’t observe these bubbles since the gas is driven out during the boiling process.
Shaking Test
Give the egg a gentle shake with your fingertips close to your ear. Concentrate on how the egg makes you feel. The egg will feel rock-solid if it is hard-boiled.
If the egg is raw, you will shake it and hear the liquid inside move and shift (5).
If you mark your eggs before boiling them, you won’t need to do the above tests to tell them apart from raw eggs.
Dropping some loose onion skins into the boiling water with the eggs is a simple technique to accomplish this.
The boiled eggs will have a lovely beige color. As a result, they are easy to distinguish from raw eggs.
The more onion peels you put on, the more visible the dying effect becomes. You can also color code your eggs, for example, by using red for hard-boiled eggs, blue for soft-boiled eggs, and so on.
Alternatively, boil your eggs as usual, then remove them from the water to dry. Mark them on the shell with a pencil or marker once they are totally dry.
Conclusion
Because hard-boiled eggs look the same as raw eggs, it’s easy to mix them up, resulting in potentially messy results.
Set an egg on the counter and give it a quick spin if you’re wondering how to determine if it’s hard-boiled.
There are many tests that may assess whether an unbroken egg is cooked.
Always mark your eggs after boiling them.
You will not need to do the preceding tests to distinguish them from raw eggs.
