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A while back there was an article about a man whose hand was scalded after he nuked a cup of water in the microwave. A cautionary tale, with the punchline being that microwaving food can store energy in the material being heated which can then violently erupt when the material is disturbed.
A woman has been possibly blinded in one eye after her microwaved eggs exploded:
She said: "I googled to see if you could make boiled eggs in the microwave.
"There are endless websites and YouTube videos which say you can. The one I read, though, was the set of instructions on recipe website, Delish.
"It said that you could microwave the eggs as long as you add salt to the eggs in the water to prevent them from bursting.
"The instructions then said to leave the eggs in the microwave for between six and eight minutes. Being cautious, I did six and took them out.
"As I looked into the jug to see if the eggs were done, they went bang in my face.
"It only happened as I took them out. The eggs were fine in the microwave."
This is another example of the everyday acts that people undertake in their daily lives which can have devastating consequences if not handled correctly.
Have we failed society by not teaching basic science lessons at school? I love how microwave popcorn has a warning on the outside to remove the outer packing first, and the iron warning tag advising to not iron clothes on the body.
(Score: 3, Informative) by stormwyrm on Monday August 19 2019, @07:14AM (6 children)
I've had some success poaching eggs in the microwave without explosions but it has to be done with some care. What I've found works and is safe is to put the egg in a bowl of water, covered, and microwave on high for at most 15 seconds at a time, give the side of the bowl a tap with a spoon (still covered), peek, and repeat until the egg is poached to the desired level (usually after about 3-4 iterations, 5-6 if you want a harder yolk). Do not remove the cover from the bowl while taking the egg out of the microwave. I have never yet had an egg explode on me when done this way: explosions only seem to happen when you leave it microwaving for an extended period of time. About 30-45 seconds is usually enough to do it, and the explosion is often violent enough to make the plate I use to cover the bowl bounce, and leave a bit of a mess inside the oven. I've had a several eggs explode on me inside the microwave before I discovered that 15 seconds seems to be a reasonable sweet spot that actually heats up the egg but not enough to make explosions or worse, cause the dangerous superheating and then explosion that injured the woman in TFA. This seems to be the most reliable method I can manage for poached eggs: I've never succeeded in getting it right by cooking on the stovetop.
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @10:41AM (1 child)
Why not just use one of those plastic microwave proof egg poacher things?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @12:57PM
I don't get any of this. I poached Bob's eggs from the fridge last month, and Diane? I poached her egg salad sandwich.
Why do you need all these modern day tools, detectors, and such. JUST TAKE IT.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday August 19 2019, @01:12PM
Poached eggs are one of the easiest kitchen tasks I know of. Your microwave method seems rather tedious.
If you want to try stovetop, the basic method is simple: bring water to a bare simmer (180-190F is ideal if you want to check with a thermometer; a full boil will just make it more difficult for the egg to coagulate tightly). Put in a little vinegar or other acid (e.g., lemon juice). Swirl water a bit to help gather egg as it drops into water. Break eggs into water and swirl again for a few seconds. Let cook until desired doneness (typically around 4 minutes when water is at a low simmer -- I'd set the timer the first time and modify as needed the next time). Remove with slotted spoon.
There are three things that people don't tend to like about this basic method: (1) some bits of egg sometimes hit bottom of pan and then lead to more annoying cleanup with a little scrubbing, (2) vinegar can leave an off-taste, (3) despite the addition of vinegar and swirling -- both to prevent feathering -- it's possible to produce some feathery white that some people don't like. (The feathery parts also make it more difficult to strain all water out of the egg, and nobody wants a watery egg on their plate.)
Mitigation strategies for these: Use a deeper pan to avoid eggs hitting the bottom. If that doesn't work to your satisfaction, you can also always break eggs into another small bowl or cup and then gently pour them into the water one at a time. (This can also help with feathering.)
If you really want to make perfect restaurant-quality attractive "brunch-style" poached eggs every time for your Eggs Benedict, then use the following foolproof method: Simmer water as usual. No vinegar needed (so no off flavor). Break one egg individually into a fine strainer, roll egg around a bit in the strainer, and rub off any white that comes through the strainer (this will reduce the size of your eggs a bit, but it will prevent the feathery edges completely). Pour egg from strainer into small cup. Then gently unload/pour egg into simmering water. Swirl after putting egg in for about 10 seconds until outer layer is set. (For maximum compactness, swirl around each egg and encourage it to flip and roll during those ~10 seconds.) Repeat with other eggs one-at-a-time if you're making a bunch. (You can obviously have more than one egg in the pan at a time; just keep track of the ones that are more done so you remove them first, which is easier if you have the pan barely simmering so they don't move around as much.)
This latter method is more finicky, but I don't think much more so than the microwave method you described, and it makes perfect eggs every time. Usually when I need to make poached eggs, I use the first "basic" method, as I don't care if I have a little feathering and I like the taste of vinegar.
P.S. Thinking about the microwave method you describe -- have you tried using a lower power on the microwave? Because it probably can imitate your precise methodology, as most microwaves don't actually use less power continuously at the "lower power" setting. Instead, the vast majority of microwaves use on-off cycles to simulate lower power. That is, if you set your microwave for 50% power (sometimes power level 5 out of 10), it will simply turn on for 15 seconds or so, then turn off for 15 seconds or whatever. (That is, the microwave will still be "on," but it isn't producing microwaves or heating during the "off" phase.) If you put in on 30% power, it will turn on for 9 seconds and off for 21 seconds. Or whatever. You'd have to experiment (not with eggs, but maybe just with a cup of water) to see what power setting gets your intermittent heating the right length of time, but that could be a lot easier than standing at the microwave and turning it on and off for 15 seconds continuously.
(Score: 2) by exaeta on Monday August 19 2019, @02:39PM (2 children)
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Tuesday August 20 2019, @12:14AM (1 child)
The vast majority of microwaves at 10% power run at full power 10% of the time and off the other 90% of the time. Very few microwaves actually run at reduced power, as that is way more expensive than a simple duty cycle.
(Score: 2) by exaeta on Tuesday August 20 2019, @11:39PM
The Government is a Bird