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See why.Egg Toppers
Egg toppers neatly slice off the tops of eggs—a faster, neater, and more precise method of breaking the shell.
Published Jan. 1, 2013. Appears in Cook's Illustrated January/February 2013, America's Test Kitchen TV Season 14: Three Ways with Eggs
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What You Need To Know
Egg toppers neatly slice off the tops of eggs, whether you are serving them soft-cooked or using a raw eggshell as a vessel. These devices claim to be faster, neater, and more precise than the standard method of cracking the shell with the back of a butter knife. We put four models to the test, priced from nearly $6 to more than $26.
The designs fell into two categories: scissor-style and spring-loaded. Not surprisingly, scissor-style toppers look like a pair of scissors that end in a loop instead of straight blades. The loop goes over the tapered end of an egg; when you squeeze the handle, metal teeth emerge to bite into the shell and remove the top 1/2 inch of the egg. Spring-loaded toppers look like little metal plungers: The bowl fits over the end of the egg like a dunce cap. Two pulls on the spring-loaded lever in the handle punctures a circle around the top of the egg that can be gently pried off.
Scissor-style models were faster and did the job, but their shell-puncturing teeth left a jagged edge flecked with shell shards. One model’s flimsy handles bent after only a few uses. Spring-loaded versions fared better. We sliced a dozen eggs with each of these models; while neither perfectly topped every egg, our favorite produced many more shells with precise, clean edges. Its rival had a tighter spring that delivered a too-heavy, shell-shattering strike. Faster than a butter knife, easy, and accurate, our winning topper is a worthwhile purchase if you enjoy soft-cooked eggs.
Everything We Tested
Recommended
- Speed: 2 stars out of 3.
- Precision: 3 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
This sturdy, plunger-shaped model was the most precise, quickly topping eggs in about 20 seconds with neat, even breaks due to a lever that had just enough force to punch out a circle without cracking the entire shell.
- Speed: 2 stars out of 3.
- Precision: 2 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
The Original Egg Clacker did a fine job of topping raw, soft-, and hard-cooked eggs. It consists of a steel cap attached to a rod with a sliding ball. To operate it, you fit the cap on top of an egg, draw the ball up the rod, and drop it from the farthest height; the ball plummets, rapping the steel-capped egg at the end of its fall and creating a perforated ring in the top of the shell that you can then pry off with your fingers or the tip of a knife. It wasn't perfect every single time, but it tied for the most consistently clean cuts among the models we considered.
Recommended with reservations
- Speed: 2 stars out of 3.
- Precision: 2 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
This spring-loaded model created perfectly topped eggs every fourth or fifth time and some fairly clean ones in between, but it came in second place for a cracking mechanism that was too strong. It frequently delivered a rap that cracked the bottom shell.
- Speed: 3 stars out of 3.
- Precision: 0.5 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
This scissor-style model topped eggs easily, was neater than a butter knife, and was fast and consistent, taking an average of 2½ seconds to top each egg. Unfortunately, the scissor-style design produced a craggy edge that left bits of shell behind.
Not Recommended
- Speed: 3 stars out of 3.
- Precision: 0.5 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 0.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
This scissor-style egg topper worked and was faster than a butter knife, taking an average of 2½ seconds, but it left a jagged edge and shards of eggshell behind—ultimately, it cut only slightly more cleanly than a butter knife. Its handles were flimsy, becoming crooked and warped after only a few uses.
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The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
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