# America and egg cups **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2017, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904 "2017-07-10T09:21:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/201 "2017-07-12T13:26:25Z")
> [@Remember\_me](#): > > Huh? I would tend to disagree. I’d say there is no norm, you’d find as many German people who keep their eggs unrefrigerated as those who use the fridge. E.g., I have never seen eggs in fridges in supermarkets (and the like). Best-before dates for eggs typically state something like : best before 29 July, keep refrigerated from 21 July". > > About the cooking: The method you described is very common here. Although, I use an egg cooker and I think those are widespread in Germany as well (and I use the egg piercer, that comes with the egg cooker). Maybe you’re right, when I said eggs are always kept in the fridge it was hyperbole, but I went from personal experience because I’ve never been to a household where they are not refrigerated. The fact that almost all fridges come with a [special tray](https://www.google.de/search?q=k%C3%BChlschrank+eierablage&rlz=1C1AVFC_enDE743DE743&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5oM3H6oPVAhWNLVAKHUVTAU4Q_AUICygC&biw=1366&bih=638) for keeping eggs lets me think that it’s at least very common. And you’re right about eggs in the supermarket. ETA: I wanted to mention egg cookers as well, but I was afraid that somebody’s head would asplode at the sight of such an exotic gadget, judging by the uproar and confusion some customs about cooking eggs internationally this thread has already caused ;). ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/202 "2017-07-12T13:36:50Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > Sure. But if you’ve never tried to make soft-boiled eggs, how can you possibly judge how much work they are to make? The fact that loads of people do make them regularly should be a bit of a hint that your assessment of how difficult they are to prepare might not be entirely accurate. Why did you quote me and say this? I have said \*\*nothing \*\*at all about how difficult they are to make. I talked about how inconvenient they are to eat, based entirely on what _people who like them_ have said about how they are consumed, where you need special cups and cutting techniques. This is like the weirdly vehement “And egg cups are not a Veblen good. They’re really, really not.” you threw in earlier - no one (especially me) actually claimed that they are a Veblen good, so replying to me by insisting that they’re not doesn’t make any sense. > [@Pantastic](#): > > what I find hilarious is the people insisting that soft-boiled eggs are great and that the vast majority of Americans are crazy for not only not eating them but not owning special cups for eating them. > [@](#): > > Why is that surprising and/or funny? People who like a food tell other people it’s a great food. Film, as they say, at 11. Should people who like a particular food not talk about it ever? How would we ever find out about new foods to try? It’s surprising and/or funny because they’re insisting that Americans are crazy for not owning the special dish for eating a particular preparation of eggs that is outshined by other common preparations that don’t need a specialty dish, or even a dish at all to consume. The problem with cutting off the half of the sentence that answers your question, then asking your question is that the original version is still in this thread. > [@](#): > > and without ever trying to make them I know that it’s [basically impossible for me to enjoy or even successfully cook soft-boiled eggs](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20337971&postcount=147)." > > I guess that compared to the alternative of “No, we don’t really eat them but maybe I should give it a try some time” it’s surprisingly vehement. As I pointed out earlier, at no point have I said that it was ‘basically impossible’, or even difficult to cook soft-boiled eggs. Or that they’re ‘basically impossible’ to enjoy. The quoted material simply doesn’t support your outlandish claims, people are only ‘surprisingly vehement’ when you ignore what they have actually written and instead invent your own surprisingly vehement strawman to tear down. “I am not going to invest in specialty hardware for a food preparation that I have a better version of that doesn’t need hardware” is not exactly an unreasonable position. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/203 "2017-07-12T13:51:06Z")
I think a bit of the appeal of a soft boiled egg, should one be so inclined, is the little bit of ceremony. A special egg cup, toast cut into soldiers, a sprinkle of salt and some fresh ground pepper, then trying to get the perfect cap off the top, followed by dipping the soldiers into the soft yolk, then finally scraping out the white with that tiny spoon that kicks around in the cutlery drawer and hardly ever gets used. I like to save my last bit of toast for the white. And then perhaps on to the second egg. I tend to shovel food in too often, or eat on the run. Sometimes it’s nice to slow down. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/204 "2017-07-12T14:02:31Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Why do I get the feeling that you think someone here is trying to force you to buy an electric kettle? Probably because, like Stanislaus you’re responding to things I didn’t write. I never claimed that anyone was trying to force me to do anything in this thread. > [@](#): > > The only thing an electric kettle ever does is boil water. That’s it. The reference to soup was about instant soups. I don’t know why you need to specify that they “don’t even qualify as ‘soup’” to you. That seems unnecessarily hostile in a thread about breakfast. Instant noodle packets aren’t what I think of when someone says ‘soup’. I think of canned soup, boxed soup, or homemade soup; “Instant soup” is just noodle packets in my categorization, and not something that I commonly eat. If you find it ‘hostile’ that I don’t think of instant noodle packets when someone says the word ‘soup’, and especially that I would not use the blanket term ‘soup’ for something that really only applies to instant noodle packets, that’s really your problem. > [@](#): > > _for people who frequently need to boil water quickly_. If that’s not you, I said it’s not me in the post you were responding to. Not sure why you need an ‘if’ here when the fact that I only use boiling water rarely is rather key to the discussion of how I’m able to live without an electric kettle. > [@](#): > > But I am not chiding people for trying force me to use egg cups. Who’s doing that here? No idea, if you want to talk about what someone else wrote then you’ll need to quote whoever is talking about ‘trying to force’. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/205 "2017-07-12T14:02:58Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > The kettle conundrum may come down to a difference between North American 120V mains power and the British 230V. That speeds the British kettle over the North American version. I’m a card-carrying North American and I consider my electric kettle speedy and indispensable. (Note! I’m not trying to convince anyone to switch to electric kettles or 120V mains). I was totally unfamiliar with electric kettles until my newly married wife brought one home. Now I find it convenient and use it every day. It saves me from needing a drip coffeemaker, a device with only one use. It’s also very useful for broth, etc. Pre-boiling water before I put it on the stovetop is a big time-saver. Personally I do believe it’s more efficient than heating water on the stove because the heat goes directly into the water, not the environment. But probably the most efficient kind is the Japanese type with a pump dispenser and insulated reservoir that constantly keeps the water very hot. That way you only end up heating exactly what you need, and there’s no waiting. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/206 "2017-07-12T14:04:12Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I think this is one of things we just have to chalk down to experience. If you’ve never owned a kettle, you can’t see the benefit of it. If you’ve always had one, then you really miss it when it’s not there - it isn’t some fancy piece of kit saved for rarified cooking occasions, it is a really simple, effective tool that is used countless times a day in the homes that have it. After my cooker and fridge, it’s the electrical kitchen tool I use most often - more than, say the dishwasher or microwave, and WAY more than the toaster. What condescending nonsense - if you’re someone _who doesn’t use boiling water_ often then there actually isn’t a benefit to see. It’s not that people who have no interest in that gadget are fools who lack experience, it’s that they are people who have different patterns than you. If you’re someone who drinks tea daily and routinely eats ramen noodles as a matter of course, then it’s useful. But if you only use above-tap-hot water in the kitchen rarely, then an electric kettle really is a special piece of kit only used on rare occasions. > [@Nava](#): > > It stands in place, like the toaster and the microwave. And what is this “wash it” you speak of? All it ever contains is water, are you going to wash out the water with water? You don’t steep the tea in the kettle, you steep it in a teapot or in the cup. People claimed it was a helpful device for preparing soup, which is actually something I do fairly often. But as it turns out, by ‘soup’ they only meant little instant noodle packets, not canned soup or homemade soup. Saying ‘they’re great for soup’ when it’s really only ramen and cup-o-soup that it helps with is pretty unclear. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/207 "2017-07-12T14:05:48Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Agree completely. A soft-boiled egg and toast for breakfast is probably one of the quickest, easiest, most satisfying and least fiddly things you can make. How do you eat it while driving? No breakfast food that cannot easily be consumed while driving qualifies as ‘easiest’ in my book. So bagels and any kind of breakfast sandwich (including ones made on English muffins, biscuits, toast, or specialty bread) or breakfast burrito is going to win easiest over something that you can’t just grab and go, but have to sit down and use a special dish to eat. And I definitely can’t give a ‘least fiddly’ label to a food that requires specialized hardware to eat, the fact that it requires special equipment is enough fiddle to disqualify it. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/208 "2017-07-12T14:11:57Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > I think a bit of the appeal of a soft boiled egg, should one be so inclined, is the little bit of ceremony. A special egg cup, toast cut into soldiers, a sprinkle of salt and some fresh ground pepper, then trying to get the perfect cap off the top, followed by dipping the soldiers into the soft yolk, then finally scraping out the white with that tiny spoon that kicks around in the cutlery drawer and hardly ever gets used. I like to save my last bit of toast for the white. And then perhaps on to the second egg. I tend to shovel food in too often, or eat on the run. Sometimes it’s nice to slow down. This is part of the reason that children always _love_ soft-boiled eggs. At least, all the children I’ve ever met love soft-boiled eggs. I see that [children’s egg cups](https://www.google.com/search?q=children's+egg+cups&tbm=isch) are very much a thing. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/209 "2017-07-12T14:13:12Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > I think a bit of the appeal of a soft boiled egg, should one be so inclined, is the little bit of ceremony. A special egg cup, toast cut into soldiers, a sprinkle of salt and some fresh ground pepper, then trying to get the perfect cap off the top, followed by dipping the soldiers into the soft yolk, then finally scraping out the white with that tiny spoon that kicks around in the cutlery drawer and hardly ever gets used. I like to save my last bit of toast for the white. And then perhaps on to the second egg. I tend to shovel food in too often, or eat on the run. Sometimes it’s nice to slow down. I never bothered with all that. For us, it was just a bit of salt and some bread on the side; it doesn’t even have to be toasted. None of this dipping soldiers stuff. No egg cups, just a shot glass. What I love about the soft boiled egg is just spooning up the pure yolky goodness. Other egg preparations don’t really allow for scooping up the yolk in as convenient a manner. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/210 "2017-07-12T14:23:14Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > How do you eat it while driving? No breakfast food that cannot easily be consumed while driving qualifies as ‘easiest’ in my book. So bagels and any kind of breakfast sandwich (including ones made on English muffins, biscuits, toast, or specialty bread) or breakfast burrito is going to win easiest over something that you can’t just grab and go, but have to sit down and use a special dish to eat. And I definitely can’t give a ‘least fiddly’ label to a food that requires specialized hardware to eat, the fact that it requires special equipment is enough fiddle to disqualify it. Why have you introduced driving into the equation.? By that logic a bowl of cereal doesn’t qualify as an “easy” breakfast. You really shouldn’t be driving and eating breakfast anyway, it is dangerous. Plus I don’t know where you get the idea that it needs specialised hardware to prepare or eat. It doesn’t. You’ve got all you need in your kitchen already. As many people have told you already, it is as easy to prepare an eat a soft boiled egg as it is for any other preparation of egg. You seem determined to erect obstacles where none exist, if you don’t like the idea of it, fine, don’t eat it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/211 "2017-07-12T14:32:54Z")
Yes, it takes exactly the same amount of equipment it takes to make a hard boiled egg, and takes about ten minutes to prepare (if you do it the way I do it with a little bit of water and steaming them.) It’s a “quick breakfast” for me, but I typically don’t have them for breakfast, but rather lunch or even supper. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/212 "2017-07-12T14:37:00Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Why did you quote me and say this? I have said \*\*nothing \*\*at all about how difficult they are to make. I talked about how inconvenient they are to eat, based entirely on what _people who like them_ have said about how they are consumed, where you need special cups and cutting techniques. This is what you said: > [@Pantastic](#): > > It’s the same way with soft-boiled eggs, this thread doesn’t make them sound like something I’d eat,\*\* they’re way too much work and trouble for a quick breakfast\*\* and not elaborate enough for a full breakfast (I’d rather have a sunny side up egg or eggs benedict if I’m sitting down). Forgive me interpreting the assertion that they were “way too much work and trouble” as a claim about the work involved in making them. I should have course seen that you were only talking about the apparent difficulty you envisage having in eating them, despite you not specifying that in any way. Please, amend my previous statement to “But if you’ve never tried to \*\*eat \*\* soft-boiled eggs, how can you possibly judge how much work they are to **eat**? The fact that loads of people do \*\*eat \*\*them regularly should be a bit of a hint that your assessment of how difficult they are to eat might not be entirely accurate.” > [@](#): > > This is like the weirdly vehement “And egg cups are not a Veblen good. They’re really, really not.” you threw in earlier - no one (especially me) actually claimed that they are a Veblen good, so replying to me by insisting that they’re not doesn’t make any sense. Again, this is what you said: > [@](#): > > Buying and keeping up with egg cups and special serrated knifes seems way over the top for me, like one of those things rich people do to show they have time or servants. If you didn’t mean to say that eggcups are purchased for reasons of conspicuous consumption and status signalling then I’m happy to be corrected. But what did you mean? > [@](#): > > It’s surprising and/or funny because they’re insisting that Americans are crazy for not owning the special dish for eating a particular preparation of eggs that is outshined by other common preparations that don’t need a specialty dish, or even a dish at all to consume. The problem with cutting off the half of the sentence that answers your question, then asking your question is that the original version is still in this thread. Somehow, you seem to have missed the bit where I quoted the second half of the sentence and responded to it. The problem with that is that the original version is still there. To expand on the point I made there: no one is saying Americans are crazy for not owning egg cups. If you disagree, just quote the relevant posts. > [@](#): > > As I pointed out earlier, at no point have I said that it was ‘basically impossible’, or even difficult to cook soft-boiled eggs. Or that they’re ‘basically impossible’ to enjoy. The quoted material simply doesn’t support your outlandish claims, people are only ‘surprisingly vehement’ when you ignore what they have actually written and instead invent your own surprisingly vehement strawman to tear down. Apparently soft-boiled eggs fall into the crack between “too much work and trouble for a quick breakfast” and “not elaborate enough for a full breakfast”. If that doesn’t make them basically impossible to enjoy, under what conditions could you enjoy them? You basically ruled out any possible occasion for them. > [@](#): > > “I am not going to invest in specialty hardware for a food preparation that I have a better version of that doesn’t need hardware” is not exactly an unreasonable position. “Invest”. How much do you think eggcups cost? And how do you know your version is better till you try the alternative? Maybe you’ll love them. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/213 "2017-07-12T14:37:13Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > How do you eat it while driving? No breakfast food that cannot easily be consumed while driving qualifies as ‘easiest’ in my book. So bagels and any kind of breakfast sandwich (including ones made on English muffins, biscuits, toast, or specialty bread) or breakfast burrito is going to win easiest over something that you can’t just grab and go, but have to sit down and use a special dish to eat. And I definitely can’t give a ‘least fiddly’ label to a food that requires specialized hardware to eat, the fact that it requires special equipment is enough fiddle to disqualify it. No breakfast sandwich worth its salt can be consumed without it gooshing and leaking over your fingers and down onto your shirt or trousers. I wouldn’t want to eat one while trying to pilot an automobile. Two hands and a napkin are essential. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/214 "2017-07-12T15:08:00Z")
Am I strange for having grown up with an egg cooker? It was an electric gadget my mother used to make soft boiled eggs. Which she served in egg cups. We never had any special flatware, though. I opened the top of the egg and scooped out the gooey goodness with an ordinary small spoon. I’ve never heard of toast “soldiers” before this thread. I’m American. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/215 "2017-07-12T15:12:09Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > What is the “fiddly” part of it? The “average” American maybe grabs a cup of coffee (often out of a Keurig) for breakfast, and might have a piece of toast or a breakfast bar. Toast can be “advanced breakfast” My daughter has a bowl of cereal. My son’s breakfast is fiddly, he does steel cut outs - but he puts them on low when he wakes up and then takes a shower. My husband does a smoothie. I do a veggie muffin out of the freezer or toast and coffee. Grocery stores have an entire aisle of cereal - both sides. And about half a row of freezer case full of breakfast sandwiches you microwave and toaster waffles Anything more complicated than “pour cereal into bowl, top with milk” or “put in microwave for 90 seconds” is fiddly to most Americans. Europe in general tends to be bigger on breakfast than Americans. We eat in the morning by throwing something down our gullets before starting the car to get to work - we probably hit snooze one time too many. The purpose of this is not to have tummy grumbles before lunch - not to actually eat a satisfying meal. Our big “breakfast” meal is actually “brunch” - a meal that - when people have it - is a late breakfast, early brunch (sometimes after church) that usually features breakfast foods By these standards - the exact timing of a soft boiled egg is fiddly. Even more fiddly is spooning it out of an egg cup to consume it. (For continuity - I’m one of the Americans that owns egg cups and teeny tiny spoons for them - I do not own the egg cutter - my kids have to actually use the spoon to open the egg - so I do understand the relative fiddlyiness of a soft boiled egg over a bowl of cereal - though nothing beats the breakfast bar for the pinnacle of American’s laziness over grabbing sustenance in the morning. Its portable and can be eaten in the car on the way - without risking cheese on your trousers. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/216 "2017-07-12T15:21:37Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Am I strange for having grown up with an egg cooker? It was an electric gadget my mother used to make soft boiled eggs. Which she served in egg cups. We never had any special flatware, though. I opened the top of the egg and scooped out the gooey goodness with an ordinary small spoon. I’ve never heard of toast “soldiers” before this thread. > > I’m American. You can still buy one. I could go to the store and pick one up today - so its not even a deep catalog thing that you can only get via the internet. I do live in Minnesota, so lots of Germanic heritage. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/217 "2017-07-12T15:28:54Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > … > My son’s breakfast is fiddly, he does steel cut outs - but he puts them on low when he wakes up and then takes a shower. > … What are “steel cut outs”? It doesn’t sound like something I’d want to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/218 "2017-07-12T15:31:47Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > What are “steel cut outs”? It doesn’t sound like something I’d want to eat. I’m sure it was meant to be steel-cut oats. Oatmeal in the U.S. is generally sold as “rolled” oats—steamed and flattened. I prefer steel-cut oats, which are chopped by blades instead of steamed and flattened. They take a bit longer to coin than rolled oats, but have a nicer texture and flavor. They’re often called Irish oats or Scottish oats. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/219 "2017-07-12T15:46:03Z")
U.S. resident. I’ve had a soft boiled egg at some point in my life, although I don’t remember when or where. It was good. It wasn’t served in an egg cup, although I am familiar with egg cups, probably from TV or movies. If I make eggs at home, I scramble them, because I’m a lousy lazy cook, and that’s what easiest for me. If I eat out, I get an omelette. I’ve never seen an electric kettle. People here used to have stove-top kettles, but those have largely disappeared with the ubiquity of the microwave oven. Do people in England (and elsewhere) have coffee makers? Most people I know have one on their kitchen counter. In my opinion and experience, instant coffee is only for desperate times, when you can’t get the real stuff for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/220 "2017-07-12T15:48:10Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > It’s just faster and more convenient to heat water for any cooking or drinking purpose with a kettle, and it switches off automatically when it boils, so you don’t have to watch it. This is actually what I hate about my electric kettle. I HAVE to watch it, because I need the water to be actually boiling, not just to have been boiled, when I use it, and it shuts off the instant it comes to a full boil. If I don’t watch it the water cools down before I notice it’s turned off. To paraphrase the other revered Adams (Douglas) the water needs to be boilING, not boilED. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904.md?page=12)