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At my workplace, there's a mysterious carton of eggs in the common refrigerator. Nobody I've asked knows whether they're raw or cooked.

Is there a way to tell, without cracking one of the eggs open?

3 Answers 3

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Take an egg from the carton and 'spin' it on the work counter. If it spins, it's cooked, if it does anything else, it's not.

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    Uncooked eggs will still spin. I find it's better to spin the egg, stop it with your finger, and let go. If it's uncooked, the momentum of the egg sloshing around inside will cause it to start spinning again. If the egg is cooked, it will just wobble around a little. Jul 10, 2010 at 17:20
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    To clarify since the post doesn't mention it, this is spinning it on its end, not on its side. Jul 10, 2010 at 17:28
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    @rchern, I can tell when I spin it on its side. Cooked and raw behaves differently. Raw will start spinning slowly with a lag and then faster. Cooked will just spin.
    – huynhjl
    Jul 11, 2010 at 0:49
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    I have experimented with this at home. It's totally right. Both will spin, but the raw egg will spin slowly and awkwardly. Nobody likes awkward food. Jul 11, 2010 at 12:04
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    If you only have a raw or cooked egg, it can be hard to tell if you haven't done it before. If you have one of each, its easy to tell them apart.
    – Sam Hoice
    Aug 10, 2010 at 5:11
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Shake the egg like you would a rattle. If the insides move, raw. If the egg feels solid, cooked.

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  • That's a little hard to feel, don't you think? Jul 18, 2010 at 23:08
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The spinning trick is good, but instead of just spinning and then stopping, if you spin it in one direction, stop and try the other direction, a raw egg will spin badly in the opposite direction. The reason is of course the liquid is still going the other way.

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