Whether poached, boiled, fried or scrambled, the perfect egg is just a hack or top trick away. Here we've rounded up celebrity chefs' top tips for excellent eggs. Be warned though, they don’t exactly all agree.

MasterChef Australia’s Matt Preston says, “Always use the freshest eggs you can get. Checking the dates on the package can help, but the best way to gauge the freshness is how it looks when cracked. A fresh egg will have a proud appearance with the raw white thick enough to stand high on the plate like a small mound on which the yolk perches.”

Matt Preston also advocates using eggs "at room temperature rather than straight from the fridge. This is especially important when boiling as the shock of going from the cold of the fridge to a hot pan of water can cause the shells to crack.”

MasterChef UK’s John Torode says “The freshness of an egg can be tested by placing it in some water. If the egg lays flat it is fresh, if it starts to stand up or even floats it is time for it to go in the bin.” We reckon the float test is one of the handiest cooking hacks out there. 

John Torode's other key tip is to “buy organic where possible" and remember that "the colour of the shell is of no consequence to the flavour of the egg, it has to do with the breed of the hen.” Similarly the yolk colour suggests a better diet for the hen, but can be easily manipulated so is best ignored.

Gordon Ramsay says “The nice thing about scrambled eggs is that they don't have to just be breakfast, you can have them in the evening, with some nice mushrooms, some tomatoes. You can have them as a snack at midnight, or at 5 o'clock in the afternoon.”

He might be happy to break with tradition and serve eggs in the evening, but one thing can't be compromised. Gordon reckons scrambled eggs are best with just butter and eggs. If you want to change the consistency, he suggests stirring in crème fraîche at the last minute and seasoning with freshly ground black pepper and chopped chives.

Australian chef Bill Granger's advice is to always fold, rather than scramble eggs. He leaves his eggs untouched for the first twenty seconds of cooking, then slowly folds them from the pan's sides into the centre before waiting another ten seconds then folding again.

Food Network star Bobby Flay is an advocate of whisking eggs before they hit the pan. His other advice? "Don’t season them until they are almost fully cooked and then only add salt before taking them out of the pan.”

Anthony Bourdain agrees that eggs should be mixed before being scrambled but he says “beat them with a fork [and] don't over beat them; you want to have a ripple of white and yellow instead of an entirely yellow mixture." When you're ready to cook, he advocates waiting until the butter is foaming before adding the eggs.

Heston Blumenthal goes low and slow for his scramble, placing the eggs in a bowl over a pan of simmering water rather than straight into a frying pan. He cooks them for up to twenty minutes, stirring all the time.

Chef Mario Batali adds parmesan or mascarpone to make scrambled eggs richer and more flavourful. To seriously pimp them up though, he adds truffle, shaved thinly over the finished plate. For a simpler option to pimp your eggs at home, we love this herby scramble recipe.

For her part, Martha Stewart starts with good eggs and doesn’t add anything to them. "If you have really good eggs, you don't need anything in the eggs at all," she says. After that, low heat and constant motion are the most important factors when cooking her eggs once the mixture is poured into a buttered pan.

When it comes to boiled eggs, Martha advocates an unusual approach. “Despite its name, the boiled egg shouldn't be boiled throughout the cooking process (a method that yields a rubbery result) but rather brought to a boil and then immediately removed from heat. Serve with buttered toast.”

As for choosing the right eggs to boil, MasterChef UK’s John Torode has one top tip: use older eggs since they peel more easily.

Heston Blumenthal is known for his scientific approach to cooking – and it even extends to eggs. “Place the eggs in the smallest pan available", he suggests, "and only add enough cold water to cover them". Here's his recipe for decadent soft boiled eggs with asparagus and smoked salmon dippers. 

We're referring back to Martha Stewart's advice for hard boiled eggs. She keeps her yolks bright and yellow by placing the eggs in a colander as soon as they're cooked and running under cold water.

British chef Mark Hix advocates using a deep pan to poach your eggs. "The deeper the pan, the more teardrop-shaped the resulting egg," he says. Perfected your poach? Show them off with this Australian eggs benedict recipe. 

British chef Marcus Wareing learnt to poach eggs with the breakfast chef at London’s Savoy hotel. "For every order,” he says, “they came out tip-top immaculate." The key is to whirlpool the boiling water, whisking it vigorously before easing in an egg, then to turn down the heat. The egg should also first be broken into a ramekin with a drop of vinegar.

Rather than adding vinegar to the egg, Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse adds a little vinegar to the poaching water, which he heats to just below boiling point. ​

According to Marco Pierre White, you can never add too much butter for fried eggs. He recommends basting the egg with butter as it cooks and warns that "if you can hear that egg cooking, then the heat is too high". He adds, "After about five minutes you have your magnificent fried egg, more of an egg poached in butter".

Iron Chef Mario Batali suggests cracking an egg into a hot pan and leaving it alone for thirty seconds, then loosening the edges, flipping it, and letting it cook for another thirty seconds. This keeps the yolk runny while cooking the whites to tender perfection.

Jamie Oliver’s top tip for fried eggs is first to use olive oil, and then to crack the egg into a pan while both the egg and oil are cool, bringing them both up to temperature at the same. Want to add more flavour? We love this topping of oyster sauce, chilli and spring onion.

Britain’s home cooking guru Delia Smith uses a high heat for her favourite fried egg, which should have a "slightly crispy, frilly edge; the white will be set and the yolk soft and runny". She cooks hers on a high heat for thirty seconds and turns the heat down to medium for another minute.

Food Network’s Alton Brown says speed is essential for perfect omelettes. He also suggests that the eggs should be beaten gently with a fork: “I prefer a fork to a whisk for omelettes because I don't want to work air into the eggs: air bubbles are insulators and can slow down cooking if you're not careful.”

For many years Ferran Adrià held the title for world’s best restaurant, El Bulli. His unusual omelette secret from his home cooking recipe book? A packet of crisps (potato chips). He breaks the crisps roughly into pieces, adds two beaten eggs and allows to sit for five minutes. He pours in another couple of beaten eggs, seasons and cooks, first in a pan and then, to do the top, under a grill (or broiler), which avoids a messy omelette flip.

Not convinced by the celebrity chefs’ approach to eggs? Discover our 26 tips for making good eggs great.