03.06.07
Eggs
You learn something new everyday they say and ain’t it true?
I boiled 3 year old’s egg this morning and when I took the top off realised it hadn’t done enough. Feck. Put on another one. Later for lunch, I thought, wouldn’t a hard boiled egg with my salad be nice? (rest including ORGANIC M&S spinach (I know I know middle class rip off bla bla) Market value! cherry tomatoes (superquinn), potato salad (yesterday’s left over golden wonders – we’ve discovered a non-rooster source – very valuable) with Heinz salad cream and a few scallions (they are still scallions and not french onions in Enfield). Oh and some foie gras! A present from France.
So, I wondered, how can I cook this egg a bit more – obviously can’t put it back in the water cos I’ve opened it.
I know! I’ll put it in the microwave!
Stick it in at 800 for 1 minute and attend to child. Few seconds later! BANG!!!!!
Guess what? Eggs explode in the microwave! I didn’t know that. What a mess. But the amazement overcame the irritation.
EJP said,
March 6, 2007 at 4:51 pm
The real question is whether it stained the microwave and if so, how does one remove it?
(any schoolboy could have told you that microwave+egg=explosion, or if a schoolboy wasn’t on hand, youtube.)
blankpaige said,
March 6, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Sarah, for future reference, pour the uncooked egg into a microwaveable container and prick the yolk with a cocktail stick. Cover and microwave.
To remove microwave stains, microwave two tablespoons of wine vinegar in an open container and wipe down gleaming surface.
Can’t believe I’m giving out household tips, my ex- would lol and my mum would faint with shock!
blankpaige said,
March 6, 2007 at 6:02 pm
To remove Schoolboy from microwave, stand in middle of kitchen and remove bra.
To overcome the annoying social stigma of being the local schoolboy temptress, start dating mature gentlemen.
To counteract the combined threat of the old codger’s concerned nearest and dearest, renounce all your worldly possessions and take a vow of poverty.
To address extreme financial hardship, stop buying Foie gras and live of roosters and scallions (sourced in Enfield).
It might be easier all round to just get some M&S salad selections……
Sarah said,
March 6, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Foie Gras was a pressie!!!
Will balsamic do the same job?
laura said,
March 6, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Sarah, if you had read the manual/recipe book that came with your microwave, you would have known that they explode. This is caused by the steam in them being unable to escape. I have yet to see a microwave manual that didn’t warn about piercing stuff like eggs. Tomatoes would be another thing to pierce.
Microwave 101:
1) never put metallic objects in the microwave
2) pierce all food stuffs that can be pierced to allow steam to escape during the microwave process
3) when reheating stuff, cover with microwave plastic cover
4) to clean microwave, slice a lemon in half, place in large bowl of water (not a metallic bowl), leave to boil in microwave for about ten minutes. The steam will soften any residue of food explosions
5) always RTFM.
graham said,
March 7, 2007 at 9:58 am
Ok, so I know that a whole egg will explode in a microwave, but what I don’t get, is why Sarah’s already opened egg exploded. Surely the steam could have escaped through the large gaping hole in the top through which Sarah had observed the undercooked nature of the egg at breakfast time?
Anyway, emptying contents of said egg into microwaveable dish, piercing yolk and nuking isn’t going to provide one with the attractively sliced hard boiled egg that one may wish to accompany their salad. No, it simply won’t do. Instead, wrap complete egg in cling film (presuming you have some of the sticky, non-microwaveable stuff…it’s still possible to get it you know!) and pop into pot of boiling water. Voila! perfectly intact (almost!!) hard boiled egg for salad
Sarah said,
March 7, 2007 at 10:42 am
ah!!!!
You are a genius!
First I am DELIGHTED you mentioned the fact that the egg was open. I did wonder about this when feeling a little sheepish being told what was apparently obvious to Laura and everyone else.
Also, I tried water and some ordinary white vinegar steamed in the oven. Bit of a stink. Switched to lemon. It did work BUT my oven is one of those “combi-ovens” so there is a grill on top. Looks like I’ll have to find some tool to unscrew it so I can clean the top.
Will try cling film though I am still awaiting a brand recommendation for a cling film that actually clings!
gp said,
March 7, 2007 at 9:00 pm
graham: Ok, so I know that a whole egg will explode in a microwave, but what I don’t get, is why Sarah’s already opened egg exploded.
The eggyweggy is pretty viscous. The steam “bubbles” couldn’t eggcape from the bit of the egg furthest away from the hole to avoid the eggplosion! (HAR! I am SAD!).
graham said,
March 8, 2007 at 9:16 am
Hmmm that was my thinking alright, but still, I wouldn’t have expected it to explode once it had a chunk off the top.
Sarah, I use Glad Clingwrap which I buy in dunnes stores. It’s just as clingy as it’s always been. We have a Saran Wrap jumpo roll in work and it’s absolutely useless, a plastic bag is more clingy that it.
Slightly on a related note though, have you noticed that the plastic bags we must all pay for now are getting worse and worse quality?
Andy said,
October 3, 2007 at 7:10 am
I wish I’d known about exploding eggs – and it took two (actually three) explosions before I looked it up on the internet.
Yesterday before going to the gym, I took a pre-cooked hard-boiled egg out of the frig, peeled it, and put it in the microwave (45sec), took it out, put a little salt on it and proceeded to eat it when BAM it exploded right on my lips – Ouch – my lips are all burned up and sore.
Today I figured that the even though the egg was peeled (it was the fact that it was still intact) that caused it to explode.
No problem, I took another peeled hard boiled egg and cut it in half and placed it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Twenty seconds later … BAM, then BAM again as both halves exploded leaving the inside of the microwave looking pretty bad.
Oh well, I’ve cleaned the microwave but no telling when my mouth will feel better.