Beware of hard boiled eggs and microwaves!

[ancientgirl]

I've never thought of a hard boiled egg as a weapon, but I just had one explode in my face!

I had some hard boiled eggs R gave me to bring home. Seems his girlfriend gives them to him, I have no idea why, but she gets them at Whole Foods. So I heated up an egg in the microwave and them took it out and went to cut it in half.

The darn thing exploded! My palm is singed and there was egg all over the place, even Vlad was a victim of the exploding egg.

We're both okay, but be careful of cutting eggs in half after they came from the microwave!

[rainbow]

Glad that you and Vlad are okay.

Did you peel the shells off before you put them in the microwave?

[ancientgirl]

They didn't have a shell. They were already peeled. I was just heating them up. It was weird and scary. I had two, and had cut one, then went to cut the other and POP! Egg all over!

[onster]

Glad youre ok. Thats so freakY!!

I wouldnt think that would happen if it was already hardboiled and youre just heating it up (I didnt know you could buy already hard boiled eggs ).

Was it still yolky inside?

Reminds of my dad and when he put chestnuts in the toaster oven. He was eating them quite merrily when he brought one up to his lips and it exploded too. I couldnt help but laugh but he said it hurt :sad: So be wary of chestnuts too!

[rainbow]

WOW, that is scary.......I never knew that could happen.

[Cathy1]

I had that happen too with no shell. Now I poke them with a toothpick.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by onster

(I didnt know you could buy already hard boiled eggs ).

I didn't know either

[ancientgirl]

Yeah, I don't ever buy them at the market but they do sell them.

Onster, they were completely done inside, not yolky or runny. I just didn't want to eat them cold so I decided to heat them up. Next time I'll let them cool down a bit.

LOL, it sounded like a damned gun going off.

[hazelrunpack]

That is possibly one of the oddest things I have ever heard of...both that you can buy prehardboiled eggs and that they explode when put in a microwave! Ya learn something new every day, I guess!

Glad you weren't too badly burned! Has your heart stopped pounding yet?

[ancientgirl]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

That is possibly one of the oddest things I have ever heard of...both that you can buy prehardboiled eggs and that they explode when put in a microwave! Ya learn something new every day, I guess!

Glad you weren't too badly burned! Has your heart stopped pounding yet?

Hazel, I won't be having hard boiled eggs for a loooooooooooong time after today. I'm okay and Vlad wasn't even phased. The worst thing though is, I keep being reminded of it because Czari has some horrible gas tonight, and it smells like hard boiled eggs!

[Joeyjoejoe]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

That is possibly one of the oddest things I have ever heard of...both that you can buy prehardboiled eggs and that they explode when put in a microwave! Ya learn something new every day, I guess!

Glad you weren't too badly burned! Has your heart stopped pounding yet?

I didn't know you can buy pre-hard boiled eggs either...



***Science alert***

The reason eggs explode is because microwaves can penetrate the egg shell and cook the egg rapidly. The temperature can reach quite high (much higher than just boiling). And the shell prevents steam from escaping from the egg... thus a bomb is created.

A hard boiled egg can also explode because the microwaves will heat the yolk to very high temperatures that will vaporize the fat in the yolk (causing the steam). Usually the egg white isn't strong enough to hold in the pressure, but it's not impossible.

The best practice is to poke holes in the egg or use one of those egg cookers that are designed for the microwave.

If anyone is curious, the egg cookers basically work by covering the egg with an aluminum shell (which will protect the egg from microwaves) and the bottom part is filled with water. The microwaves heat the water, which in turn heat the egg. The egg cooks like it would in a boiling pot... from the outside in.

[ancientgirl]

Yeah, I made an egg bomb, of that I can attest! It blew up right as the knife cut through the white and into the yolk. It even took out part of the first egg I'd already cut into.

[Smiley14]

I buy hardboiled and peeled eggs all the time (Crystal Farms is one brand that makes them) as I find them convenient for my salads I make for lunch. It's fast and easy to chop up an egg and sprinkle into a salad. I've never tried heating one in the microwave before though. I had no idea that could happen! Good to know! Glad you're okay though! Egg bomb! LOL!

[14+kitties]

I have had an egg almost finished cooking in the microwave do that to me. The secret is, and they should be telling you this if they are selling them, that you have to poke them with a fork a few times before heating. Dangerous stuff! Get enough of those exploding eggs and you could be a danger to society. j/k

[ancientgirl]

Smiley, I like them in salads too, and briefly thought about making an eggs salad, but had no mayonaisse. So, I decided to heat them up. Bad choice.

14+, I agree, they should have something on the containter warning you to poke holes in it before heating.

[joeysmama]

This happened to my neighbor's daughter too. She wasn't seriously hurt and she thought it was funny but I think it left a burn mark on her arm for awhile. They should put a warning on the containers when they sell pre-cooked eggs.

Maybe next time drop it in some hot water for a minute or two.

[ancientgirl]

For a kid that's very dangerous. I mean, I didn't get third degree burns or anything, but it stung like heck for a while.

[otter]

AG, i'm glad you are all right , what a shocking experience

I think ya gotta be careful heating anything in the microwave that has any kind of "skin" to it. Even a glass of water will explode if you aren't careful (as the water forms a sort of "skin" and can still be boiling underneath, when you pierce the skin, it explodes).... maybe ya gotta cut the egg in half before heating

[ancientgirl]

Otter, I've heard that about water. Next time I'll cut it in half. That's a good idea.

[Joeyjoejoe]

Originally Posted by otter

AG, i'm glad you are all right , what a shocking experience

I think ya gotta be careful heating anything in the microwave that has any kind of "skin" to it. Even a glass of water will explode if you aren't careful (as the water forms a sort of "skin" and can still be boiling underneath, when you pierce the skin, it explodes).... maybe ya gotta cut the egg in half before heating

Water is a different thing all together... It has to be distilled first. Mythbusters does a good job of explaining it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_OXM4mr_i0&NR=1

[Rick C]

Glad you're okay . . . . and since you are, I'll inject a little levity by mentioning that your post reminded me of the hilarious scene of Paul Newman eating 50 hard boiled eggs on a dare in Cool Hand Luke.

That was dangerous too.



Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[ancientgirl]

Oy, I saw that when I was little. I love hard boiled eggs, but not THAT much.

[Luvmypitgirls]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

That is possibly one of the oddest things I have ever heard of...both that you can buy prehardboiled eggs and that they explode when put in a microwave! Ya learn something new every day, I guess!

Glad you weren't too badly burned! Has your heart stopped pounding yet?

I'm in agreement with Hazel, that is one of the oddest things I've ever heard.
Mind you I've never heard of heating eggs in the microwave before either.