# Microwaving eggs disaster. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-eggs-disaster/684559 "2014-03-25T22:37:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-eggs-disaster/684559/21 "2014-04-12T03:16:28Z")
I have poached eggs in the microwave every day this week thanks to this thread! I use a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup, pour in some balsamic vinegar, add some water to about 1/2 c of liquid, maybe less, add 2 eggs, no piercing of any yolks or anything, and microwave for a couple of minutes. Sometimes it needs a little longer. They’ve come out perfectly each time. I am now the envy or bane of my co-workers at 9:30 every morning when I pop open the container and feast upon my breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-eggs-disaster/684559/22 "2014-04-12T12:14:27Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I have poached eggs in the microwave every day this week thanks to this thread! I use a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup, pour in some balsamic vinegar, add some water to about 1/2 c of liquid, maybe less, add 2 eggs, no piercing of any yolks or anything, and microwave for a couple of minutes. Sometimes it needs a little longer. They’ve come out perfectly each time. I am now the envy or bane of my co-workers at 9:30 every morning when I pop open the container and feast upon my breakfast. Why vinegar? Why balsamic? And how much? I want to try this. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-eggs-disaster/684559/23 "2014-04-13T03:37:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Why vinegar? > Why balsamic? > And how much? > > I want to try this. Why vinegar? It was suggested upthread to add a dash of it to the water to help keep the whites together, something that is done when poaching eggs in a pan. Why balsamic? Because I love it. How much? I’d use it straight, but I’d quickly run out. So I use about 1/2 balsamic, half water. It might be way too much for someone who doesn’t love it. Also, I discovered upon gazing into my microwave today that putting a paper towel over the measuring cup would probably be a very good idea. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-eggs-disaster/684559/24 "2014-04-13T04:46:42Z")
I absolutely love my [egg making toaster](https://www.google.com/#q=egg+making+toaster&tbm=shop&spd=8357240323130820562). The quality of the tech has a ways to go but this is the future of eggs 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-eggs-disaster/684559/25 "2014-04-13T17:00:34Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > I thought this was going to be similar to my sister’s disastrous introduction to cooking eggs in a microwave circa 1976. > > Turns out that if you try to hard boil an egg in a microwave it is possible to cause the eggshell to explode with enough force to break the door latch. She was just a kids so it was forgivable. At one of my jobs, the boss (an engineer, by the way) decided to microwave an egg. He knew that an egg in the shell placed in the microwave would explode, but his idea was to put the egg in a container of water in the microwave. The microwaves, he figured, would heat up the water, which would then boil his uncracked egg. Brilliant! Only when he tried it, the microwaves also boiled the interior of his egg, causing it to explode with enough force to break the door latch, and bend the door as well. It also produced an incredibly awful and stinking mess. He had to buy a new microwave. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-eggs-disaster/684559/26 "2014-04-13T17:31:53Z")
I had poor luck poaching eggs in the microwave (I like the occasional breakfast sandwich for dinner) until my wife clued me: a bowl with a quarter cup or so of water, **heated to boiling** , break the egg into it, and back in the micro for 45 seconds. I had been starting with the water cold, and the results were edible, but not great. Having the water hot makes all the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-eggs-disaster/684559/27 "2014-04-13T20:02:59Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > At one of my jobs, the boss (an engineer, by the way) decided to microwave an egg. He knew that an egg in the shell placed in the microwave would explode, but his idea was to put the egg in a container of water in the microwave. The microwaves, he figured, would heat up the water, which would then boil his uncracked egg. Brilliant! > Only when he tried it, the microwaves also boiled the interior of his egg, causing it to explode with enough force to break the door latch, and bend the door as well. It also produced an incredibly awful and stinking mess. > > He had to buy a new microwave. What price the Spirit of Experimentation? (Obviously: one microwave oven.)😛 …Actually it might have worked–but only if the timer had been set just right. Maybe the boiling of the egg’s interior would have resulted in a good-to-eat egg, IF that process had been stopped much sooner (with the timer being set for some number of seconds less than was the case). Hmmmnnnn… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-eggs-disaster/684559.md?page=1)