The egg seems pretty humble enough, right? Versatile, easy too cook and loved by everybody. What could go wrong with it?
Well it turns out that cooking eggs in the microwave, while it may seem time-saving, could end up being a disaster.
Recently, a man in US tried to sue a restaurant after a hard boiled egg he was served exploded in his mouth and – he claims – damaged his hearing.
While the case was settled out of court, scientists have continued to research what happens when boiled eggs are reheated in this manner.
According to IFL Science, researchers began their investigations by watching YouTube videos of microwaved eggs exploding, following which they did further research.
They discovered that sometimes eggs explode while being cooked in the gadget, but 30 per cent of them didn’t ‘pop’ until taken out and prodded with a sharp object.
The results went on to prove that if an egg does burst, it can be as loud as lightning or a chainsaw, but as the sound is over quickly it was near impossible for the mystery diner to have lost his hearing from his boiled egg drama.
According to study author Anthony Nash, “On a statistical basis, the likelihood of an egg exploding and damaging someone’s hearing is quite remote.
Scientists added, “[The study] found that in both the exploded eggs and those that didn’t explode, the yolk’s temperature was much higher than the surrounding water. This suggests the yolk is more receptive to the microwave radiation than pure water.”
He further added, “This may be due to the protein in the egg trapping pockets of water in the yolk, which are then superheated well above the boiling temperature of tap water. When these pockets are disturbed, either by poking the egg or biting into it, they all boil in a chain reaction and explode.”
