How to separate egg yolks/whites

The most reliable way of separating egg yolks and egg whites is to use your fingers. 

Pros:

• Better control over the egg yolk
• Smaller chance of breaking the yolk (IMPORTANT!)

Cons:

• Dirty your hands (with egg whites)
• Maybe lose some of the weigh of the whites (about 1-2 grams)

I used to crack the eggs and pass it from one halved egg shell to another, but i realised that the sharp ends of the egg shell can "poke" my egg yolks, cause it to break and contaminate the egg whites. To have any trace of egg yolks in the egg whites can be a disastrous thing;  it can cause your egg whites to not whip up properly especially if you are preparing a meringue. 

A good practice is to have 3 bowls whenever you separate the eggs.

• 1 for the separated yolks
• 1 for the separated whites 
• 1 for cracking the each egg over

Procedure: 

1. Crack the egg over one hand. Let the egg white run through your fingers into a bowl. Put the egg yolk into the yolk bowl. 

2. If the separation is clean (i..e. yolk did not break and contaminate the whites), pour the separated whites into the whites bowl. 

3. Repeat with each additional egg. 

The rationale behind this is to risk only one egg at one time. I have cracked 4 extra eggs due to carelessness once when i made macaroons. This is because certain recipes like macaroons cannot afford to have any trace of yolks in the whites that is used. If you separated 3 egg whites and then accidentally cracked a yolk into the mix, then the whole bowl of whites can't be used.