The Absolute Best Way to Remove Eggshell Pieces from Eggs

Nothing puts a crack in our kitchen flow like a rogue piece of eggshell floating in our eggs, or even worse, our batter.

Luckily, there are countless methods for fishing out those inevitable slivers of eggshell. Some people swear by using their egg-covered fingers or a big piece of eggshell to fish out the offending shard. And other take more extreme routes, like straining their eggs through a strainer.

Facing all sorts of shell-retrieval techniques, one Food52 writer recently set out to find the most effective one. Through trial and error, she was able to identify her favorite trick, and we have to say, its simplicity is shocking—in a good way. The winner: wetting your fingers with water and then quickly grabbing the eggshell. That's it! Zero skills or equipment required.

WATCH: Are Egg White Omelets Really Better for You?

Food science writer Harold McGee weighed in on the chemistry behind the trick.

"The egg white sticks to dry fingers and gets in the way of touching the piece of shell," he explained to Food52. "It doesn't stick to the film of water on wet fingers, so they can grasp the shell with less interference."

Problem = solved!