Jacques Pépin Says This Is the Right Way to Crack an Egg — and Experts Agree

Jacques Pépin prepares eggs with the same care and precision he brings to elaborate dishes like gnocchi Parisienne or duck à l’orange. The legendary French chef and educator has a deep respect for ingredients — and a well-known aversion to food waste — that shapes every part of the way he cooks.

He can turn simple boiled eggs into the elegant les oeufs Jeannette, and he approaches rolled French omelets with the same precision other chefs reserve for searing steak. Along with his appreciation for budget-friendly ingredients, Pépin has long championed eggs — once calling them “one of the greatest foods that you can have” — and few chefs know how to cook them better.

For Pépin, the proper process for preparing eggs starts before you even break a yolk with a whisk or sizzle them in a skillet. According to the culinary icon, there’s a specific way to crack your eggs.

How Jacques Pépin cracks an egg

When showing fans how to make different egg dishes, Jacques Pépin has often noted that he recommends cracking eggs on a flat surface, like a table — you’ll see him do it every single time. In one clip on his YouTube channel, the chef whips up what he calls a picnic omelet, a make-ahead egg dish that can incorporate any leftover vegetables or meat you need to use up.

As Pépin cracks eggs on camera to make the simple rolled omelet, he explains to the audience, “I like to crack my eggs flat on the table, rather than on the side [of the bowl], which tends to push the shell into the eggs. Often it breaks the yolk and it introduces bacteria.”

Related: Martha Stewart Says This 5-Ingredient Family Recipe Is the ‘Best Potato Salad’

This advice may contradict what you often see on television or what you expect from pastry chefs. Picture a pro cracking an egg, and you’re likely imagining someone using just one hand to swiftly open it on the edge of a bowl. But egg experts confirm that Pépin’s method is the most effective — and safe.

Why you should crack eggs on a flat surface

Nelson Serrano-Bahri, chef and director of innovation at the American Egg Board, tells Food & Wine that “Cracking eggs on a flat surface is a good habit for home cooks. I look at it as both a culinary technique and a food-safety-minded practice.” His explanation expands on Pépin’s reasoning. First, Serrano-Bahri notes that the protruding edge of a bowl or similar vessel risks breaking the yolk by pushing pieces of the eggshell inward. He also points out that this increases the likelihood of shell fragments falling into the cracked egg.

When you push pieces of the eggshell inward, which is more likely when cracking it on a raised edge, the outside of the shell may touch the raw egg. This raises minor food safety concerns. Serrano-Bahri notes that “the goal is to minimize the amount of shell that comes into contact with the edible portion of the egg. The shell is the part that has had the most environmental exposure, so keeping shell fragments out of the egg is a smart practice.”

Related: The Store-Bought Ingredients Ina Garten Says You Should (and Shouldn’t) Buy

This doesn’t mean you need to panic. As the egg expert explains, “Consumers should always handle eggs with basic food-safety awareness, but they do not need to be fearful of grocery-store eggs. In the U.S., commercially sold eggs are handled under food-safety systems, and eggs that go through USDA grading are washed and sanitized before they are packed.”

While you should take care to crack them on a flat surface, you don’t need to wash grocery store eggs before using them. Rather, Serrano-Bahri says you should not wash them because eggshells are porous and water can seep into them.

If you collect farm-fresh eggs or source them from a farmers market, he advises looking for clean, uncracked shells. However, Serrano-Bahri notes that you can wipe away small amounts of dry debris from an egg with a dry paper towel. “If an egg is visibly dirty and you feel it must be cleaned before use, wash it individually under running warm water, dry it thoroughly, and use it soon,” he advises. “Do not soak eggs in a bowl or sink of water, and discard cracked or heavily soiled eggs.”

Above all else, if you’re looking to ensure food safety, this egg pro emphasizes cooking your eggs to at least 160°F.