I'd like to empty out some eggs and basically have a bunch of hollow whole eggs to decorate. How can you remove the innards with minimal shell damage? Thanks.

-- gita (gita@directcon.net), April 11, 2002

Answers

a needle

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 12, 2002.

Use a large darning (like the metal ones sold for sewing yarn projects). Poke a hole in the top (the big end) and poke again to enlarge it a bit. Poke a hole in the bottom (the small end).

Now here is the trick to get the insides out easier. Put your needle back in the big end and stir up the insides real well. You want to break that yolk and mix it up with the whites. That is what is going to make it easier to blow out.

Hold over a bowl and blow on the small end to blow out the contents into the dish. If you are still having problems, but the egg under the faucet and add some water to the contents and stir again.

Once the egg contents are out. Put it under the facet and let water fill the egg and swish it around. You can also use a drop of dish detergent with the water. Rinse it out well and let it dry completely before proceeding with your project.

-- Karen (mountains_mama@hotmail.com), April 12, 2002.

or decorate a raw egg,, and give it to "a friend" you dont like,, wait till soemthing happens to it,, months or years later,,,, LOL

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 12, 2002.

Hi, Gita! I sell emu eggs, so I can tell you how I do it. For chicken, duck, goose, etc, eggs, you poke a hole on the bottom of the egg. Then you take a hand held bike pump (one that has a bulb at the end, that you squeeze with your hand). You insert the needle into the hole of the egg, and start pumping. You want to make sure you have just enough air pressure in the egg to force the yolk and white out, not to crack open the egg. The hole will need to be slightly larger than the needle, so you don't create air buildup. You can occasionally pull the needle out to get more of the egg out, and reinsert it, as needed. Once the egg is out, use the needle to clean it out. Suck water up into the bulb, then squirt it into the egg. Do this until it comes out clean, or use bleach, to help disinfect them.

With only one hole, you can leave them laying in a basket, and no one would know the difference.

-- Wendy A (phillips-anteswe@pendleton.usmc.mil), April 12, 2002.

Thanks, everyone!

-- gita (gita@directcon.net), April 12, 2002.

I just heard this tip: after you're blowing the egg out, put a dot of glue on each hole...it's supposed to keep the egg from breaking to easy. Good luck.

-- claudia in NY (cooleyville@aol.com), April 12, 2002.

If you only want to do a few eggs or have no bike pump, you can accomplish the same thing with one of those skinny, coffee-stirrer straws. Cut one end on an angle, insert into hole and blow gently. Fill egg with water and repeat process to rinse out.

-- Gayle in KY (gayleannesmith@yahoo.com), April 12, 2002.

What fun! Here is a website with lots of links on decorated eggs and the "how to's" (Pysanky) http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/pysanky/ Have a good time, LQ

PS Stan, Stan, Stan.........Does your mother know? LOL

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 12, 2002.

Hey Stan, The traditional method of Pysanky is to leave the eggs whole and raw. I've done Pysanky for 25 years now. I used to do it in the traditional way and store the eggs in the basement in egg cartons when not being displayed (at Christmas). One year, beginning in early summer, my house developed a horendous odor. I cleaned and cleaned to no avail. Finally, a couple of weeks before Christmas, I opened the egg cartons. The fragrance knocked me off my feet. Needless to say, I no longer use the traditional method.

-- Gayle in KY (gayleannesmith@yahoo.com), April 12, 2002.

I used thesmallest diameter drill bit for my hand drill to drill the ends and mix the egg for easy blow out. Then ground other egg shell and mixed it with glue to fill the hole with a shell textured plug.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 14, 2002.