The Egg Carton Hack Curtis Stone Recommends While Cooking

Wait! Don't throw that egg carton away just yet. Instead, re-purpose it, if only for a few minutes. Curtis Stone has a brilliant egg carton kitchen hack that we wish we would've thought of first. Anything to make your time in the kitchen a little easier, right?

The famous chef shared various kitchen hacks with Today, several of which involve eggs. This time he shared the secret to knowing whether your eggs are fresh or not: Fill a glass with water, then carefully drop an egg into the glass. If the egg floats, it is stale; If it sinks, it is fresh. This is a handy way to know when it's time to toss the eggs.

Stone also provided a tip on how to reuse an egg carton. He uses the bottom of a clean, empty egg carton to hold chopped onions, garlic, and herbs while cooking. This handy-dandy hack takes the guesswork out of where you placed your ingredients and prevents you from washing extra bowls.

Stone also shared one more egg carton hack.

Curtis Stone's final kitchen hack involved the top of an egg carton, via Today. When you've used all the eggs, cut the lid off the carton and use it as a spoon rest. When you're done cooking, simply toss it into the recycling bin. 

While it may be tempting to reuse an egg carton, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims reusable containers such as meat trays and egg cartons should not be reused. They make it clear that these items are one-time-use items due to the possible spread of bacteria, via Egg Safety, and note that it is safer to recycle than reuse.

Instead, PBS recommends using empty egg cartons to plant seedlings. Barton Hill Farms says that egg cartons are perfect for the job because they're already divided and the perfect size for placing in the window. Plus, you'll be repurposing the carton, which is always a good thing.

Looking to properly dispose of your egg trays? Tree Hugger says plastic and paper egg cartons are easy to recycle. Pulp paper egg cartons are also simple to recycle because they're usually already made from recyclable and biodegradable materials. Any carton with the universal recycling symbol on its package can be broken down, smashed, and transformed into another paper product.