Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 May 21

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May 21[edit]

microwave hard boiled eggs[edit]

how do you microwave hardboiled eggs ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.170.159.23 (talk) 01:22, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Prepare the hard-cooked eggs conventionally, boiling them in water for the time specified in your recipe book, and store them in the fridge. Later, when you're ready to eat them, nuke them very gently, on medium power for repeated short intervals, until they seem ready. Oh, and you might want to peel the shells before you put them in the fridge. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:14, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
There's like, a gajillion websites that describe how to hard boil an egg in a microwave. If the OP even comes back to see if anyone answers their question, just type the exact same sentence you typed above, but type it into the small box in the center of the page at http://www.google.com and click the button labelled "Google Search" and there's a thousand different sites that all say the same thing. If, perchance, you have a cold, already hard boiled egg, and you're trying to warm it up a bit, try typing the question "how do you reheat a hardboiled egg in the microwave", and you get answers for that as well. --Jayron32 02:30, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
lol w/ Jayron32 Perhaps wikipedia is becoming more trusted than Google! and sure enough theres an article mention at Microwave_oven#Hazards (though not completely answering OP's question). Market St.⧏ ⧐ Diamond Way 02:48, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
What doesn't seem to have been said explicitly is, if you want to scrub egg off the insides of a microwave, the best thing to do is nuke an intact egg. Of course, if you crack the egg lightly (so no shell or innards falls out) and nuke it submerged in slightly salty water in a bowl in the mike while turning to avoid overcooking it will come out okay. But the same sort of cracking and boiling in briny water conventionally works better. Cracking prevents explosions and allowing the salty water in the shell while boiling makes pealing a snap. (The OR of a prep cook.) μηδείς (talk) 03:08, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't know you were supposed to scape it off afterwards. I thought that such evidence of long use, helped to add a protective and attractive Patina -to the otherwise bland stainless steel interior. Thus giving them a rustic, homely, pioneering look -like you get with old bread and pizza ovens. Who in their right mind would wish to scrubs the inside of an oven? Other than the purveyors of oven cleaning products; which is a given. Aspro (talk) 12:23, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Pizza and bread ovens stay at a very high temperature, high enough to prevent the buildup of material that tends to smolder and make lots of smoke, or catch fire and create hazards. Such ovens can run 500-600 degrees Fahrenheit (250-300 degrees Celsius) or more, and as such don't have a danger of building up deposits of flammable material. Home ovens tend to run at cooler temperatures, which can allow the buildup of partially cooked food, creosote-like materials, and other stuff which tends to slowly smolder, making lots of smoke, or which can build up and catch fire all at once, which presents a hazard. That's why home ovens need to be cleaned out periodically, not because of some vast conspiracy to sell you stuff to clean it out. Microwave ovens, which don't cook food hotter than the boiling point of water, are even more in danger of building up bits of food which is susceptible to rot and thus smelling terrible, also need to be periodically cleaned. Just because different items are named "ovens" doesn't mean they all need to be treated the same. Knowing the details of how each should be treated is important, because their differences matter. --Jayron32 14:50, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Nitpick: proper Napolitano-style pizza ovens are actually at about 900F. — The Potato Hose 19:14, 27 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Basically, you grease the inside of a ramekin dish with butter and break the egg into the dish. Make sure to prick the yolk with the tip of a sharp knife. Cook for 1 minute on high. Leave to stand for 1 minute. That should do it. --TammyMoet (talk) 12:41, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Why on earth would you break the yolk? — The Potato Hose 19:14, 27 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
That's a good way to cook an egg in a microwave. It's not clear to me if the end product is closer to conventional hard boiled, or conventional fried, or if it's just it's own new type of cooked egg :) SemanticMantis (talk) 13:27, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Definitely closer to hard-boiled, unless you're using a lot of butter, in which case the edges will be more fried. You can get special containers but, truth be told, it's easier to just boil the egg - or it takes seconds to scramble the egg in a frying pan. --TammyMoet (talk) 14:33, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I have such a container, and it works very well. It was sold to me as a poacher, so I presume the eggs are poached. However, I remember, as a child, having coddled eggs, which operated on a similar principle to the microwave poacher, but using a conventional hob. AlexTiefling (talk) 23:42, 21 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Actually coddled eggs are slow-cooked, not rapid cooked as in a microwave. They are essentially poached eggs cooked via indirect dry heat as opposed to direct wet heat. — The Potato Hose 19:14, 27 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
You were a poacher? Very impressive. Itsmejudith (talk) 14:39, 22 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]