Here's How To Halve An Egg When Your Recipe Calls For It
Sometimes, when you go to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies or some other delicious treat, the recipe yields far more portions than you want. The good news is that you can easily get around this by simply halving the ingredients. However, when you do so, you can sometimes get a few wonky items on your list — for instance, half an egg.
Of course, you can't evenly cut an egg down the middle and ensure you get exactly half a yolk and half the egg whites. However, the good news is there is a clever way that you can divide this ingredient into two parts. To do so, you'll have to crack the egg into a separate bowl and whisk the whole thing together. Make sure that you mix well, because if the egg yolk, white, and membrane aren't fully melded together, it will be tough to separate half the mixture. Once you've got a uniform mixture, you can measure out half the egg.
How to tell if you've got half an egg
Although you might think you can eyeball your egg mixture to find out what half of it is, it's better to stick to more exact measurements. One easy way to do so is to use a kitchen scale to figure out what volume of egg you've got. Typically, large eggs weigh in somewhere between 1.75 and 2.2 ounces, not including the shell. That means that you should separate around 1 ounce of liquid to find half an egg, although your scale can help you work out the exact amount.
For those who don't have a kitchen scale, don't panic. You can also calculate half an egg by volume as opposed to weight. A whole egg typically yields about ¼ cup of liquid, so half the egg would be 2 tablespoons of egg mixture.
To use up the other half of your liquid, you can simply store it in the refrigerator for a different recipe. Or, add it to something that doesn't require an exact measurement, such as scrambled eggs.
What about half an egg white or yolk?
Sometimes, recipes don't ask for a whole egg. Instead, they just call for the yolk or the white. Once again, measuring out half of the liquid can be a bit tricky.
Now, unlike with a whole egg, you won't want to scramble everything together. Instead, separate the egg as you usually would, using a small bowl each for the yolk and the white. Then, whisk the white to form a more manageable liquid and do the same to the yolk.
From here, you can use the same methods you did for the whole egg. If you're separating half the mixture by volume, each one should work out to be around 1 tablespoon, although this can vary somewhat depending on the size of the egg. You can also get a more exact measurement using the kitchen scale method and separating out exactly half the weight of the yolk or white. With these simple tricks, it's easy to halve any baking recipe that calls for eggs, regardless of whether it's a whole one or just a part of one!