Bringing Eggs To Room Temp In A Hurry...
Baking By LaurelC Updated 13 Feb 2011 , 9:17pm by LindaF144a
I don't know why I never thought of this before but...
A few weeks ago, I was checking the freshness of my eggs by gently dropping them in a cup of water to see if they float and the thought occurred to me that you could bring the eggs to room temperature a LOT faster by putting them in tepid water for a bit. You have to be careful not to get the water too warm or the eggs will start to cook - just barely warm.
Thought I would share that. I've ruined two cheesecakes in the last year by not waiting for the eggs to get to room temp.
You may want to test that out before making a cake.
Egg shells can be porous. My uncle had some chickens. Instead of just washing the eggs under running water, he was letting them soak for 30-60 minutes. When we would crack the eggs open, they were full of water. It also caused the egg white to break down.
I do that every time. I place the eggs in a small bowl, turn the hot faucet on and let it run into the bowl, overflowing for about 15-20 seconds to get the water really hot. Then let them sit there for a 5-10 minutes it takes me to prep everything else. I've never had water in the shell or had the eggs began to cook or break down. I've been doing this for the past 20 years and never had a problem.
Also, while we're on the topic, I never let butter sit out to get to room temp either. It just goes from fridge to microwave for about 15 seconds on high. Occasionally it will need another few seconds. Always works perfectly.
LOL! I can never zap butter right! It goes from hard stick to melted mess is NO time!
Me, too! Now I use the defrost power level and put it in for 3 seconds at a time. A tiny bit more of a hassle but less mess (for me!) and more consistent results.
I do it all the time by putting it warm water, works fine. I have never had a problem with porous egg shells either. But the ziploc bag would work if you are concerned with water in your egg.
And butter sitting out is just fine too. Interesting thing. I did the zap in miccrowave too. I have an instant read thermometer. While the outside was getting soft enough to consider to be room temp, the inside still read 63 degrees. So I no longer rely on the microwave to soften my butter. It heats unevenly. A better way is to leave the butter out, but open it, cut it in 16 chunks (once down the center and then each one 8 chunks) and it will get to room temp in about 20-30 minutes depending on the temp in your kitchen. For me it is sooner in the summer than in the winter for obvious reasons.
I read both of these hints in Baking Illustrated authored by the team at America's Test Kitchen.
And butter sitting out is just fine too. Interesting thing. I did the zap in miccrowave too. I have an instant read thermometer. While the outside was getting soft enough to consider to be room temp, the inside still read 63 degrees. So I no longer rely on the microwave to soften my butter.
It's not that I have a problem with letting butter sit out, safety-wise. I just don't have the time, usually, after work. So I use the MW. An interesting note along those lines is that room temp, in terms of butter is not the 72° you might keep your room at. It is closer to 65°. For creaming etc, the butter should still feel cool and firm. You should be able to press into it with your finger, but it should not be anywhere near loose. Butter that is at the actual temp of your room is too soft for creaming. You won't be able to incorporate any air into it in the creaming process.
This may be a silly question, but why would eggs need to be room temperature?
I've used a Gluten Free cake recipe that called for room temp eggs, but one time I forgot to set them out, so I used them straight from the fridge and got the same results.
Just curious 
Room temp eggs blend into the batter more easily than cold eggs. Cake batter is all about creating an emulsion.
Also, if you put cold eggs into softened butter, it can bring the temp of the butter down and cause it to clump. If you put cold eggs into room-temp cream cheese (as in my cheesecake disaster), you can cause it to clump and you will NEVER get the clumps out no matter WHAT you do! I even put it through a sieve and couldn't get it smooth!
You also get more volume from a room-temp egg than a cold one.
Also, if you put cold eggs into softened butter, it can bring the temp of the butter down and cause it to clump.
This happened to me once!! I was in a hurry and just tossed in those eggs straight out of the refrigerator. Sure enough, it clumped. 
And butter sitting out is just fine too. Interesting thing. I did the zap in miccrowave too. I have an instant read thermometer. While the outside was getting soft enough to consider to be room temp, the inside still read 63 degrees. So I no longer rely on the microwave to soften my butter.
It's not that I have a problem with letting butter sit out, safety-wise. I just don't have the time, usually, after work. So I use the MW. An interesting note along those lines is that room temp, in terms of butter is not the 72� you might keep your room at. It is closer to 65�. For creaming etc, the butter should still feel cool and firm. You should be able to press into it with your finger, but it should not be anywhere near loose. Butter that is at the actual temp of your room is too soft for creaming. You won't be able to incorporate any air into it in the creaming process.
True - for the creaming method you want your butter at 65 degrees. This is nothing new to me. For the reverse creaming method or the two-stage method ala CI or RLB you want your butter at 70 degrees. I can't seem to get 70 degrees with it sitting out at my house right now. The best I can get is 68.9. Luckily for me, it still worked.
Thanks for the tip on butter temp, but I already knew that.
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