# 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:** 15
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/281 "2017-07-13T11:30:16Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > They do, even walmart sells them. > But they are pricey for what they are, and slower than the stove to me. > > I usually use the stove and a proper tea pot, if i am in a hurry, a percolator works quite well I own an electric kettle (from WalMart, no less) for tea or cocoa and do not find it slower than (an electric) stove. Is yours gas, perhaps? The box claimed it was faster than a microwave; I haven’t done a time trial but it actually seems a tad slower to me. It’s much more convenient, though/ It’s a Hamilton Beach, shaped like a coffee pot so it doesn’t take much room on the counter, and has a separate base so you’re not dragging the cord around when you’re pouring out. The marked capacity is one liter but it can go above that to 1.2 or so. I usually fill it to 0.6 l for a single mug which allows for a little left in the kettle when the pour is done. And as for eggs, if I’m having breakfast out and having [pork](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BZDZyRaGa8) and eggs, they’re usually over medium so I can mix the yolk into the hashbrowns. ---
**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 13, 2017, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/282 "2017-07-13T11:31:04Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > You paint a sad picture of a single person in their dreary apartment, only able to allow themselves two, lonely slices of grey, soggy toast, crying at the cruelness of the world. > > For me, (cue Elgar’s “Nimrod” from the enigma variations, Roger Allam for the voiceover) I dream of a better world, a world of multiple chunks of sourdough hacked playfully from a crusty loaf, a world where couples frolic over the breakfast table, picking their slices from the rack…still crispy…slathering on creamy butter and sweet, sweet blackberry jam, feeding each other morsels while they laugh and dab the crumbs from each other’s lips, bouyed by the knowledge that thanks to the humble toast rack there will always be a better toast, a crispier toast, a _British_ toast (Nimrod swells to climax…final shot of an open pot of jam with a knife sticking in it…and Fin) Beautiful. Brought a tear to the eye, a patriotic glow to the heart, and faint erotic charge to the loins. Let us also take a moment to imagine the eggs sitting pert in their cups, , the upwelling of the yielding, liquid yolk as the crisp, buttery soldier, glistening slightly, dips in and out… the fumble-fingered might call the process fiddly and unsatisfying, but this is not about merely fulfilling biological urges in a heedless rush, this is about making time for pleasure. ---
**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 13, 2017, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/283 "2017-07-13T11:37:04Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > Let us also take a moment to imagine the eggs sitting pert in their cups, , the upwelling of the yielding, liquid yolk as the crisp, buttery soldier, glistening slightly, dips in and out… the fumble-fingered might call the process fiddly and unsatisfying, but this is not about merely fulfilling biological urges in a heedless rush, this is about making time for pleasure. and the dribbles down the side Stanislaus…_the dribbles_ ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/284 "2017-07-13T12:14:31Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > Beautiful. Brought a tear to the eye, a patriotic glow to the heart, and faint erotic charge to the loins. Eh. It’s all right, but it’s no shakshouka. ---
**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 13, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/285 "2017-07-13T12:45:11Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Eh. It’s all right, but it’s no shakshouka. I’ve never tried it or seen it made but something tells me it must be more effort and less enjoyable than the foods I’m already used to. How dare you insinuate that I’m crazy for not eating it? (Actually, if [this](http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/shakshouka_74716) is an accurate recipe, it looks delicious. Will try.) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/286 "2017-07-13T12:55:03Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > and the dribbles down the side Stanislaus…_the dribbles_ Gentlemen, this is a family thread. ---
**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 13, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/287 "2017-07-13T13:22:49Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Oh dear, please don’t bring up toast racks, we had a very heated thread a while back where the very thought made people froth at the mouth. > > To be fair, unlike egg cups, I do feel toast racks have mostly gone the way of the monocle, preserved only in hotels with high falutin’ pretensions. Even my grand old parents never had one. > > (But to answer the question, yes, the toast goes cold, but the gaps between slices means it stays crisp, so depends how you like your toast really). The toast doesn’t get cold, it gets to be room temperature, as God intended. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/288 "2017-07-13T13:51:30Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Eh. It’s all right, but it’s no shakshouka. I’ve never heard of shakshouka, but looking at some recipes, I realize I’ve made it in an attempt to duplicate a breakfast dish I tried in New Orleans. Delicious!! ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/289 "2017-07-13T14:03:38Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve never heard of shakshouka, but looking at some recipes, I realize I’ve made it in an attempt to duplicate a breakfast dish I tried in New Orleans. > > Delicious!! A friend of mine makes creamed spinach, then cracks eggs into it. Cook the egg until the whites are done, but the yolk is still runny. Since I’m one of those runny yolk hating communists, I think its disgusting, but runny yolk spinach lovers think its wondrous. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/290 "2017-07-13T14:27:23Z")
Shakshouka is indeed a wonder of the world. For those who don’t feel like clicking on the link, it’s basically eggs poached in tomato sauce, with bell peppers, garlic, and anything else you feel like adding, and with bread on the side for dipping and wiping. I think that can all of us, American, English and miscellaneous, can come together and agree that it is, in fact, the finest way to eat eggs for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/291 "2017-07-13T14:45:25Z")
I just have to add this anecdote. I’m American, but my parents are European, and we used to always have soft-boiled eggs with toast and porridge for breakfast. We used egg cups. In fact we had little roughly triangular plastic plates with egg cups built in, featuring Disney characters- I still have one of those. We also have regular egg cups in the house, which we occasionally use with soft (or even hard) boiled eggs. Lastly, the “soldiers”. I never was taught to call them soldiers, and I didn’t and neither did my older brother and sister, AFAIK. But my little sister did- she would dunk her ‘brave soldiers’ into the yolky ‘lava’ before biting off their ‘heads’ and ‘feet’. I’d always thought that the ‘soldiers’ thing was original to her. Guess not. Wonder where she got it? ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/292 "2017-07-13T14:46:32Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Shakshouka is indeed a wonder of the world. For those who don’t feel like clicking on the link, it’s basically eggs poached in tomato sauce, with bell peppers, garlic, and anything else you feel like adding, and with bread on the side for dipping and wiping. I think that can all of us, American, English and miscellaneous, can come together and agree that it is, in fact, the finest way to eat eggs for breakfast. I’ll have to try this sometime. ---
**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 13, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/293 "2017-07-13T14:50:35Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Gentlemen, this is a family thread. Quite right. _Pas devant les enfants_. Which is why we have weekend morning cartoons, after all. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/294 "2017-07-13T15:18:50Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Shakshouka is indeed a wonder of the world. For those who don’t feel like clicking on the link, it’s basically eggs poached in tomato sauce, with bell peppers, garlic, and anything else you feel like adding, and with bread on the side for dipping and wiping. I think that can all of us, American, English and miscellaneous, can come together and agree that it is, in fact, the finest way to eat eggs for breakfast. Ohh…you mean juevos rancheros 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/295 "2017-07-13T15:56:14Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > the “toast rack” that was originally mentioned was indeed for serving, that’s what was being referred to rather than the portable toaster that you are meaning. Doh, im stupid, i misread:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/296 "2017-07-13T16:02:26Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > BTW: I enjoy the hell out of soft-boiled eggs (as long as the whites are set) but don’t like using egg cups. I don’t have the magic touch that allows you to crack shell at just the right place to use egg cups and not shatter the shell. I usually crack them open in a bowl and do the soldiers thing. Eh no real trick, just take a butter knife, and tap the edge of the blade around the shell and pop it off at the break. maybe not “proper” but works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/297 "2017-07-13T16:05:26Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > Quite right. _Pas devant les enfants_. Which is why we have weekend morning cartoons, after all. [I have some bad news for you.](http://gizmodo.com/this-is-the-first-weekend-in-america-with-no-saturday-m-1642441646) ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/298 "2017-07-13T17:04:34Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Shakshouka is indeed a wonder of the world. For those who don’t feel like clicking on the link, it’s basically eggs poached in tomato sauce, with bell peppers, garlic, and anything else you feel like adding, and with bread on the side for dipping and wiping. I think that can all of us, American, English and miscellaneous, can come together and agree that it is, in fact, the finest way to eat eggs for breakfast. Of course you really meant Green Chilies a bit of minced jalapeno, some garlic, and enchilada sauce served with some nice fresh warm tortillas. And it is also a great way to have eggs for dinner ---
**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 13, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/299 "2017-07-13T17:44:28Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Of course you really meant Green Chilies a bit of minced jalapeno, some garlic, and enchilada sauce served with some nice fresh warm tortillas. > > And it is also a great way to have eggs for dinner Indeed, shakshuka or any of its variants are wonderful. I sometimes do a New Mexican take on it, basically following the general shakshuka recipe & technique, but using a good portion of roasted New Mexican green chiles in it. It’s a lovely breakfast, lunch, or dinner. ---
**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 13, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904/300 "2017-07-13T17:46:17Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Eh no real trick, just take a butter knife, and tap the edge of the blade around the shell > and pop it off at the break. > > maybe not “proper” but works for me. Yeah, we never bothered with that technique. It was just tap around the tip with the back of your spoon and peel off the eggshell cap. Then use the side of your spoon to scoop off the actual egg cap, and voila. You’re in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-and-egg-cups/790904.md?page=16)