Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Safely boiling eggs in a microwave oven

wg48temp9 - 8-8-2023 at 06:14

My induction hob stopped working so I was left with only my microwave oven to make my boiled eggs for breakfast. I have tried to boil a bowl of water containing an egg in a microwave oven but the egg frequently explodes.

I tried wrapping the eggs in aluminium foil then putting them in a bowl of water, which I then heated in the microwave oven. Once the water boiled, I turned the power down so that the water only boiled briefly each time the power was on. Power control in most microwave ovens is achieved by turning the magnetron on and off. This was partly successful, no egg explosions, but the eggs were not evenly cooked.

So I tried a new method that did work. I filled a 600ml beaker with 500ml of water and a pinch of sodium bicarbonate to reduce the chance of super heating. I then boiled the water in the microwave oven. I then carefully lowered two eggs in to the hot water and covered the beaker with a saucer. Initially I heated the water at full power until bubbles streamed from the eggs (No more than 30 seconds or the eggs may explode) and then for 5 minutes on defrost (about 10% power). I let the eggs sit in the hot water for a further three minutes, as I don't like runny eggs.

Be careful, exploding eggs can be surprisingly violent and messy to clean up.