Your possible outcomes range from the yolk bursting violently in the oven to enough leakage through the membrane that the yolk is fully depressurized before you stick your toast in. Vagaries in oven power, placement in the oven, how shook up the egg was during transport and storage, how old or cold the egg is, etc., all affect how permeable that membrane is.
It’s unsurprising that sometimes, essentially at random, you’ll end up balanced at the point where the yolk is pressurized enough to burp either a bit or a lot when pierced by the toast.
Sounds cool, [heh], but shouldn’t that get a :dubious: because a) it sounds all smooth, cozy, and snug in there, but I can’t imagine an absence of nucleation sites, and b) even assuming a) is possible even for the briefest time, I doubt the eggshell as a pressure vessel would be up to code.
I wonder what the specs for the shell would be? (FTR, I used to work one floor under the ASME Pressure Code division people.)
ETA: Leave the vinegar, take the chinois.
My parents were early microwave adopters with their huge Amana Radarange. When they got a smaller one they gave the beastie to me. Microwaves were not common at all so I diligently read the whole manual. I recall two things never to do:
Put a whole egg in it.
Cook shrimp.
I have never seen any shrimp cautions since then, but I did challenge the egg. So, says I, I should be able to cook a boiled egg if I sneak up on it without letting it go to full boil.
Place egg in center.
Full power for 20 seconds. Feel the egg for temperature.
Repeat # 2.
Egg is hot, getting worried, lets try 10 seconds.
Pretty hot, but I can hold it, can’t be that close. Set for 5 seconds.
Press start button.
Devastating explosion flings door open and 80 pound microwave jumps several inches into the air.
Steam fills the kitchen. The glass door is no longer transparent. Egg has filled the space between the panes, even though they have a rubber gasket.
I actually manage to get it cleaned and working, perhaps in part to the early type of construction with screwed metal panels instead of formed plastic pats.
I, too, tried QtM’s microwave poaching method and it worked quite well. I used a one-cup-sized Pyrex measuring cup. It eliminates that sauce pan with egg threads and film stuck to it, which is a pain to scrub. The Pyrex cup cleans up much more easily.
I like picking up tips on using my microwave to speed things up and make recipes easier. I also like:
Microwaved blond roux for thickening a soup or stew. Butter, flour, thirty seconds in the microwave.
Par-cooking quartered new potatoes before they go into a skillet or the oven. Quarter potatoes, toss in a little oil, one minute in the microwave.
Cooking fresh spinach. Pile a big mound of raw spinach on a plate, 30-60 seconds in the microwave. It’s done and ready to chop for an omelette or to eat as is after a little butter and salt.
Since we’re cooking more than eggs by now, rice is quick and easy in the microwave.
One cup rice, two cups water, and a teaspoon of salt in a bowl, cover with a plate or plastic (punch holes to vent steam). Cook 5 minutes on High and 15 at 50%. (A low-power microwave might take 6 minutes on High and 15 at 60%.)
Of course, to get fancy you could replace some or all of the water with chicken stock, and maybe throw in some herbs, vegetables, or cooked meat. (That may take a little longer to heat up, especially if anything is frozen, 6 or 7 minutes.)
Apparently my microwave is more powerful because I followed QtheM’s instructions, including the toothpick portions, and my egg overcooked and exploded with 17 seconds left on a 50-second cook time.
Thank heaven for the Saran Wrap. I, uh, needed to clean the microwave anyway.
I’m still hungry, so I’ll try again shortly (for science! And protein.) and will report back further.
80% power for 33 seconds, followed by a few seconds in the turned off microwave in the hot water.
Nice!! Thanks, Quadgop! The edges of the whites were still harder than I prefer so I’ll tinker some more to adjust for my behemoth’s power, but I’m very glad to know this! I sometimes want to add an egg as an afterthought but at that point skip the extra process and just eat my quinoa or whatever without the gooey yolk loveliness. Yay this is better!
I poached two eggs QtM style yesterday and had a different sort of explosion.
I put my 1/2tsp or so of vinegar in the bowl, added my 2-3 floz of water & put it in the microwave uncovered on high to get it boiling. No eggs. At about 45 seconds when I expected to see vigorous boiling there was a loud pop and about 25% of the water/vinegar was now dripping from the roof of the microwave. :smack: At least cleanup was easy.
How the heck I created an explosion out of water and vinegar in a clean bowl is a mystery to me. In a couple hours I’ll make today’s breakfast and see what new surprises await. Cooking eggs shouldn’t have this many surprises.
I just poached an egg in the microwave using the QtM method and it worked perfectly! I always thought eggs blew up in microwave so I never tried it, but this will now be my new poaching method.
Can I use your thread to sneak in a semi-related shortcut tip for soft-boiling eggs? I learned it on America’s Test Kitchen.
It couldn’t be easier. Bring 1/2" of water, no more, to a boil in a saucepan. Place eggs in it. They can come straight from the fridge and be ice cold, but they won’t crack in just the 1/2" of water. Cover, return it to the boil (which happens in about five seconds with so little water), reduce heat, and simmer exactly six minutes.
My soft-boiled technique is simpler although I admit it cracks about 1 in 12 eggs.
Put 2 eggs cold from fridge into small saucepan. Add faucet “cold” water to just float the eggs. Put on burner on high for exactly 8 minutes. Remove from heat, dump boiling water & refill pan to almost cover eggs with faucet “cold” water. Immediately crack eggs into serving bowl. Done.
8 minutes flat gives almost solid white & fully liquid yolk. By 9 minutes the white is 100% solid and the yolk is thickening a bit on the outside but still fully liquid in the center. Add or subtract 30 seconds if doing 3 or just 1 egg.
Because the fire is on high the whole time, there’s no variability of how simmery is simmery enough. So no variation in results. Once you sort out the time for your particular stove, pan, water temp, you’re golden. It won’t be more than 30 seconds off mine.
Had the same water explosion again this AM twice. Tried once without stirring the vinegar and once with. No difference. The bowls are ordinary ceramic dishware that have been dishwasher-ed, not clean-room cleaned. I’m on the road now, but on the weekend I’ll try some more experiments.
Boiling water ought to be pretty idiot-proof even in the 21st Century. Or not.
Well told.
Thanks, Quadgop! The edges of the whites were still harder than I prefer so I’ll tinker some more to adjust for my behemoth’s power, but I’m very glad to know this! I sometimes want to add an egg as an afterthought but at that point skip the extra process and just eat my quinoa or whatever without the gooey yolk loveliness. Yay this is better!