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: 2) by c0lo on Monday August 19 2019, @05:05AM (5 children)
The Internet said it was safe - so, clearly, the egg was defective.
Time to check the warranty certificate, take the the manufacturer to court and fleec...err, pluck it naked (grin)
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by arslan on Monday August 19 2019, @06:26AM
Clearly he/she was holding the jug wrong. It should be facing the opposite direction toward gravity and his/her genitalia.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Monday August 19 2019, @12:17PM (3 children)
Well, it's only clear to her in one eye now. I wonder if she will try again?
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @12:23PM
I don't know, was her >neuron< affected?
(Score: 3, Funny) by fustakrakich on Monday August 19 2019, @03:04PM
Don't look at eggs with remaining eye
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday August 21 2019, @08:12AM
Something I missed the first time round... the source of this story was the Sun. No wonder they had 6.022e23 pics of the hot British chick who was burned before it happened, and only one single pic of her afterwards. And if you read the full story, she merely had bad burns, there was uncertainty about whether it would permanently affect her eyesight.
So that was the real reason why it got press coverage: It was Sun journalism. Here's a screaming, shock-horror headline. Here's a picture of the hot chick mentioned in the headline. Here's another picture. Here's some sensationalist coverage. Here's another picture of the hot chick. Here's a token image of her after she was burned. Oh, and you can turn to page 3 for even more pictures. Typical Sun "news" coverage.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Arik on Monday August 19 2019, @05:09AM (4 children)
Yes.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by driverless on Monday August 19 2019, @08:14AM (3 children)
Yes, but not in the way you think. What we've failed to teach people is basic statistics. An event so exotic and unusual that it makes national news headlines isn't an ordinary risk, it's a black swan. The way to deal with this is to accept that occasionally shit happens that you can't do much about, and you need to be thankful that you weren't the one that got shat on. Focus on mitigating everyday risks that are likely to occur, not the black swans that make the headlines.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @08:56AM
But but !! that's how we have news! How else can we scare people and radicalize the Nazis? You can't say a woman was raped. You have to put a spin on it - like "black man savages poor innocent white girl". Now, if it was the other way around, it's a non-story. She was probably asking for it. We need outrage and our bubbles to be reinforced.
White man shoots someone? meh, that's everyday life in America. Probably was in self-defense anyway. But white man shoots up kindergarten! Wait, let's spin that into "false flag". White man shoots up kids on retreat and tries to blow up parliament? Better not to talk about that too much.
Want to know how are kids radicalized? Just look at Fox News. Mainstream fascist radicalization network. Then you have these brainwashed fucks walking about Walmart with AR-15 because "my amendment rights" bullshit. Can't even teach idiots in school not to walk around with guns. So what do you expect?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday August 19 2019, @12:30PM
That was my reaction too to the question about science ed in the summary here: Yes, we should teach better science ed. On the other hand, "everyday acts that people undertake in their daily lives which can have devastating consequences if not handled correctly" includes a lot of things most people don't even think about. Like driving. You're much more likely to get a serious injury or die during a typical daily commute or trip to the store or whatever than you are to have an egg explode in your face even if you microwave it.
So why don't we talk about that? Because we are so used to car accidents just happening all the time that they often don't even make the newspaper unless there's something unusual about them.
Similarly, if you want to be concerned about kitchen safety, look up statistics on what actually causes hospital visits. Things like: slicing bagels (yes, this causes a crazy number of kitchen accidents), getting injured while doing something else stupid with knives (one common scenario is people who drop sharp knives in among dishwater and then get seriously cut by accident), or things like slipping on spilled water/liquid that's not cleaned up.
I mean, yeah, microwaving whole eggs seems pretty stupid to me, but it's nowhere near the "everyday acts that people undertake in their daily lives" that I'd actually tell people to be concerned about.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday August 19 2019, @09:23PM
What was exotic and unusual about it? You could do the same with plastic wrapped food, or food in a sealed container. Pressurize the vessel with boiling hot fluid; bring eye near vessel; pop the vessel spewing said heated fluid all over the eye; hilarity ensues. It's pretty straightforward and probably generates a few cases of permanent maiming each year.
(Score: 5, Funny) by sjames on Monday August 19 2019, @05:13AM
Egg + microwave = hen grenade.
I'll be here all week, tip your waitress.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @05:21AM (1 child)
"waking up in the morning can lead to dying
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Monday August 19 2019, @11:23AM
Waking up dead in the mourning can lead to humour.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 1) by engblom on Monday August 19 2019, @05:35AM (9 children)
Why would anyone even do it? I mean, if you should wait between 7-8 minutes after the boiling process before you can even take them out of the microwave, you could as well boil them in the normal way on the stove.
When I want boiled eggs extra fast I put the eggs in a sauce pan, with about 1/3 then amount of water, on the stove. The rest of the water I am quickly boiling with a tea water boiler and then pouring into the sauce pan. Like this I get eggs to quickly boil (the effect of stove + tea water boiler added).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @06:12AM (1 child)
I've been heating up hard boiled eggs in the microwave, just to warm them up a bit. Usually went ok, but last time it went bang after I cut into it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @02:31PM
That last one may have been a Grenade. Be more careful next time.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Monday August 19 2019, @06:23AM (2 children)
”a tea water boiler”
In this part of the world, we call that a kettle.
(Score: 3, Touché) by driverless on Monday August 19 2019, @08:16AM (1 child)
Where I'm from we call it a zojirushi, but to each their own.
(Score: 4, Informative) by hemocyanin on Monday August 19 2019, @01:49PM
I've had one of those (zojirushi) for decades. Very convenient.
As for a microwave oven, I have NOT had one for decades, not because I'm concerned about microwaves, but because microwaved food is just awful. If you take what is probably the most common use for a microwave -- popcorn -- it isn't even substantially faster. I can pop corn on my stove in a pan in about 4-5 minutes. That's from a cold pan, cold oil, and because I'm not using a hydrogenated oil to pop the corn, when I eat it I don't get that weird pasty/greasy residue in my mouth. When I want something sweet, right after dumping the kernels into the hot oil, sprinkle a tablespoon or so of sugar over top -- it makes something like kettle corn.
The only thing a microwave is really good for, and I've used the machine at work for this, is frozen burritos or TV dinners, which is fine for a cheap quick lunch at work. But I'm not going to eat that crap at home.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday August 19 2019, @06:40AM (3 children)
I keep a carton in the office fridge and nuke them when I need a quick dinner. Haven't figured out the non-explosive timing for hard-boiled yet, though.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday August 19 2019, @07:54AM (2 children)
Bring water with eggs to boiling, keep it there for a couple minutes, then take off heat and keep covered for 10-15 minutes.
For peeling them, just eat it with the eggshell on.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday August 19 2019, @12:39PM
I did something close to your method for years. But if you want them to peel easier, heat the water first and drop them into boiling water instead [seriouseats.com]. Then lower the water temp to a simmer to finish cooking. (I'm not sure if the author of the linked article there tested leaving them off the heat and covered, so maybe that can be an alternative to the simmer -- which keeps the egg whites a bit more tender -- but he definitely noticed that eggs started in boiling water had significantly better rates of peeling without difficulty.) Alternatively, you can steam them for similar results.
The other tip he recommends for peeling: be sure eggs are chilled thoroughly (obviously unless you want to eat them while still warm).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @03:56PM
Pierce the large end with a pin before you put the egg in the water and it will peel much easier.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @05:55AM (21 children)
I almost failed Home Economics thanks to microwaving water in 7th grade. For an assignment, we were supposed to make a 5 course meal out of the parts they gave us. For dessert my group, consisting of myself and two straight-A students, decided to make Jello for our desert. So, to heat the water, I just stick some my partner handed me in a glass measuring cup into the microwave for 5 minutes to get it hot. Well, it goes in, dings, and I open the door. No steam, try a few more minutes to no avail. Confused I ask the other partner and he suggests I did it wrong and adds 5 minutes himself with a sigh. It dings, nothing changes, no steam and the air in the microwave doesn't really feel too warm. Confused, we as a whole group put an additional 10 minutes on. It dings, nothing changes. So we call the teacher over and she just insists I'm playing a joke on everyone and adds another 5 minutes on the microwave, without checking the water and stands there glaring at me the whole time. So it dings, she opens the door in a triumphant, over-the-top gesture. No steam, the air doesn't really feel that warm. The teacher tells me that this must be some sort of prank and to just reach in and get the water out. I'm hesitant because it has been in there for almost 30 minutes now. So, I get a knife and gingerly poke the glass handle....
The instant I touch it, before the feeling registered, before the sound emanated, before any of that, the water just instantly boils. Just turns from still, serene water into this explosion of super-heated water. I drop the knife and back off, people freak out at the literal bang it makes. Most of the water boils away in the few seconds it takes to mentally process the general idea of what happened. Well, my teacher FLIPS. HER. SHIT. and just starts screaming about how I did this on purpose, and all sorts of crazy, everyone else is just shocked. The principal is walking by and quickly scoops me up to her office and starts letting me have it. Finally, she lets me talk and I explain things, she doesn't believe me, but says she will play along. She asks me to write down what happened, go to class, and she will talk to the other students. If it wasn't for the fact that one of the "good students" filled the water, and everyone tried it, and the microwave worked on a subsequent test, I probably would have been suspended or worse.
Decades later when it appeared on MythBusters, I literally leaped to my feet with an "I knew it" in vindication. I fielded calls for the next few days from people telling me how they saw it. My spouse, who I told the story to on many occasions, literally said to me, "I always believed that's how you remembered it, but now I really believe you." If only I could send a recording of that video back in time, if at least to not secretly wonder if I really was imagining it or something..
(Score: 4, Insightful) by progo on Monday August 19 2019, @06:06AM (1 child)
So, a "home economics" teacher was teaching cooking in high school and didn't have a basic understanding of how water in a smooth vessel can behave and misbehave in a microwave oven.
The teachers need better teaching.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @08:28PM
Are you kidding me?
No, of course not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @07:17AM (1 child)
There is also a Mythbusters (maybe it's the same episode?) where they had a jawbreaker (hard sugar candy, for those not familiar) that explodes after being microwaved. The redhead woman got burned. I remember that one because my thought was "why the hell would someone want to microwave a piece of sugar candy?".
(Score: 2) by progo on Tuesday August 20 2019, @04:06AM
If I recall correctly, they were microwaving or toasting it as a proxy for "left in the car all afternoon and it got really hot".
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday August 19 2019, @07:49AM (5 children)
Happened to me to after about 5 mins of microwaving a cup of water.
Luckily, the heating time wasn't long enough and the fact that I needed to rotate the platter to orient the handle of the cup towards me - the moment the water moved, it boiled violently and half of it ended on the platter instead of my hand.
From then, I learned how long it actually takes to bring a cup of water to boil inside my microwave - about 3:55 from room temperature or 30-35 secs starting from a cold cup filled with boiling water from the kettle.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @11:23AM (3 children)
Just keep a popsicle-stick handy, and drop the popsicle-stick in the cup of water you are going to microwave. Put it away when done to be reused again.
The rough edges of the wood (from the water molecule size level) gives the water molecules something to nucleate upon, and you won't have any problems with "exploding" microwaved water from then on.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday August 19 2019, @12:21PM (1 child)
Somehow, I find the idea of soft wood infusion in my oolong quite unappealing.
How long it takes to reach boiling temperature is not that hard to learn or remember and the temperature scales approx linearly with the time - I can easily hit (within +-4C) target temperatures lower than 100C.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @02:22AM
For the same volume of water, yes, with some experimentation you can work out the exact time.
But then when needing to heat/boil a differing size volume of water, you are back to experimenting yet again (sometimes for a one-off amount).
The popsicle-stick simply just works, every time, no matter the chosen water volume at that time, without having to think about "how long" (beyond rough estimates).
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday August 19 2019, @12:50PM
After I considered the use a minute amount of polonium for nucleation purposes, I remembered the good ol' C-x M-c M-butterfly [xkcd.com]
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @05:58PM
Look into obtaining a "boiling stone" or "boiling chip".
They are available in many compositions, but a single ceramic stone in a cup works a treat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_chip [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @09:11AM (1 child)
You need Mythbusters for superheated water? There is also supercooled water. And you can superheat and cool other things too. This should have been explained to you in junior-high school.
http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/superheating.htm [unsw.edu.au]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superheating [wikipedia.org]
But teachers are people and people are idiots... reminds me of time when I was sitting in class and there were wires sticking out of the wall right next to me. So I did what was needed to make it safe - I touched the wires to the aluminum around the blackboard. The fountain of sparks turned into a lot of shrieks from the teacher about "don't touch that". She wouldn't let me go to the office to report live wires either. Fortunately, the wires were definitely not live anymore as they welded to the blackboard which threw some breaker somewhere.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @02:12PM
All that schools require of you is to rote memorize information and then spew it all back on tests and homework assignments. No comprehension required, so the vast majority of people just forget 95% of the material after the test. It's not surprising that people lack basic understandings of... well, everything.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @10:38AM
Teachers can be real pricks.
Quite a lot of them could really benefit from a decent application of hookers and blow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @02:37PM
Fuck your principal was dumb. Nobody else "burps" hot liquid from the microwave? You just take your coffee and tap it on the counter. It won't work if it's ready to totally blow but if it's just about ready to boil it will generate steam, possibly boiling over on the countertop instead of in your hand.
It's possible to use turbulence to generate perfectly cold steam it's well documented on ship's propellers and it's how humidifiers work.
Fuck man I sure as hell don't miss the days of having these arguments stupid adults.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by epitaxial on Monday August 19 2019, @05:07PM (1 child)
Too "wordy". Great work of fiction though.
(Score: 2) by exaeta on Monday August 19 2019, @10:51PM
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 2) by exaeta on Monday August 19 2019, @10:37PM
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday August 19 2019, @10:46PM (3 children)
The Home Ec teacher probably should have asked the Chemistry or Physics teacher about it. Whoever last cleaned that measuring cup should have gotten extra credit as well.
It is really cool to see it happen, but it is best experienced while wearing cloves and a face shield.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @04:56AM
Econ teachers never need to ask, they already know everything.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @02:34PM (1 child)
How does one wear cloves?
(Score: 2) by martyb on Friday August 23 2019, @01:25AM
On a string, hanging from your belt. =)
Back on topic, I have not personally witnessed this, but read about the possibility of superheating water well over a decade ago.
As for the Home Ec teacher, far better would it have been for her to say "I've never seen anything like that happen before" than to say "That's impossible" or, worse yet, to accuse you of intending her harm!
Does not show her having much of a high estimation of the caliber of her students. That said, she just had the living crap scared out of her and was likely not thinking in her right mind. More like basal, lizard brain, survival mode thinking instead.
Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Monday August 19 2019, @06:45AM (5 children)
Do the eggs really matter, or was it just super-heated water that made it explode. Or were the eggs super-heated inside the shell and membrane somehow... or some evil combination of both. I know I'd be suspicious of still water in the microwave--that's fundamental knowledge for microwave cooks after several decades of it being in the home. Eggs though? It never even occurred to me to microwave them. Some things, you just don't microwave.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @07:19AM (3 children)
An entirely different beast, cooking scrambled eggs in the microwave works out quite well. Crack a few eggs into something, scramble, put in microwave, and the eggs are done before your toast is done browning....
(Score: 3, Insightful) by istartedi on Monday August 19 2019, @08:48AM (2 children)
I'd be on board with that if it could produce the ever so slightly burnt butter taste that I get from cooking them in a buttered pan just the right way. I suspect that it can't.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @10:18AM (1 child)
If bored, you could always do this:
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_brown_butter/ [simplyrecipes.com]
Then keep it around for those microwaved eggs. :P
I made it once, and it does indeed have more flavour. It was quite good. I wonder, is the burned butter flavour more of browned butter flavour?
I guess it couldn't have been *that* good though, I haven't made it since...
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday August 19 2019, @10:48PM
I just brown the butter and then pour the well beaten eggs in. Cook it hot and keep the eggs moving and it's as fast or faster than the microwave and has a better texture.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @09:52PM
Having personally cooked many egg dinners in a microwave. I read 6-8 mins and thought, "no way", that would pop almost for sure. Yep. My rule of thumb is 1-2 mins *PER EGG*. Even then keep an eye on them.
My personal fav is scrambled. But most people hate them because well it also gasses out the sulfur in them and they smell awful. They swell to about 3x their normal size in under 3 mins. But they are usually pretty fluffy :)
(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
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @08:40AM
I've had eggs cooked in microwaves, but at very low power (20-50W) over a longer time period. Super tasty. This wasn't done in a domestic microwave so don't try it at home!
(Score: 4, Funny) by maxwell demon on Monday August 19 2019, @10:47AM (4 children)
OK, I've already heard the myth that wanking makes you blind, but this is the first time I've heard it called "microwaving eggs". ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday August 19 2019, @01:19PM (2 children)
Well, it comes out of the same culture that believes "every sperm is sacred" and follows the biblical description where masturbation is "spilling your seed on the ground," as if you're wasting an opportunity to grow good fertile crops. Since everyone knows that microwaves kill everything (see common internet belief that microwaved water will kill plants), female masturbation is like "microwaving your eggs." You might as well be killing (unfertilized) BABIES!
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday August 19 2019, @02:26PM (1 child)
The sin with reference to the story where the guy "spilled his seed on the ground" was more akin to rape, than anything. As he had one job (impregnate her) and he decided not to, even though he was okay with having sex with her. In fact, the father lost, 2 or 3 sons that way. So, would have been best, if he'd taught them not to be selfish.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday August 19 2019, @04:41PM
Well, that's an... interesting... interpretation of it. I'm not aware that the story claims the sex was non-consensual. (I mean, a lot of the sex in the Bible was likely non-consensual, as was a lot of sex of that time and place anyway, since wives were expected to "obedient" in most situations, but that's another issue. Point is, this particular encounter was not referenced as being out of the norm.)
If anything, the woman in that passage would be trying to fulfill her obligation to bear a child for her (dead) husband. The sin was not "rape" -- it was, as you note, not using sex for procreational purposes. Which has led to all sorts of doctrine in a lot of Christian denominations around this stuff, including doctrine against use of contraception and (as I was joking about in my previous post) some Christian churches' stance on masturbation.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday August 19 2019, @03:50PM
Wait !? . . . you're saying that is a myth?
Why is it so difficult to break a heroine addiction?
(Score: 2) by exaeta on Monday August 19 2019, @02:36PM (2 children)
Wear safety glasses when microwaving eggs.
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday August 19 2019, @03:51PM (1 child)
Be sure the engine is turned off before attempting to change the fan belt.
Why is it so difficult to break a heroine addiction?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @08:34PM
(Score: 3, Insightful) by EEMac on Monday August 19 2019, @02:55PM (1 child)
Sorry, there's a really good reason for this. A lot of frozen lunches come in plastic wrap you're NOT supposed to remove before heating. Some frozen lasagnas want you to remove the plastic, others don't. If companies want you to remove the plastic, they have to say so. If you mean the box, then . . . well, yes. Point conceded.
(Score: 2) by exaeta on Monday August 19 2019, @08:37PM
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 22 2019, @06:22AM