How did this egg explode??

[Loren Pechtel]

My wife has a little egg cooker. It basically steams them, although at the very end the heating element does go above the boiling point. Tonight she found her egg had blown it's top off. It was pretty much cooked at that point, although a bit of egg oozed out.

How could the it develop that pressure even though there was still a bit of non-solid egg left when it happened???

 

[bilby]

There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer.

 

[barbos]

I understand one has to make a hole in the egg before cooking, maybe she failed to do so?

 

[thebeave]

Maybe there was a little baby Muslim chick inside.

 

[Speakpigeon]

The phenomenon has baffled scientists. They aren't entirely sure why some eggs explode <snip>

This little question seems to cause eggheads to explode.

Me, I understand that some eggs may have a small pocket of some gas I wouldn't know which and from where. I would say that if you heat it too fast, the gas won't eggs-eat through the shell fast enough and kaboom!

Never happened to me, though. I like my eggs fried.
EB

 

[Malintent]

Older eggs produce sulfur gas... There could have been more sulfur gas in that egg than in the others, leading to it's untimely explosive release.

 

[Jobar]

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/2hpbgu/why_do_eggs_burst_when_i_boil_them/

 

[Malintent]

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/2hpbgu/why_do_eggs_burst_when_i_boil_them/

http://carpedia.com/blog/the-unfortunate-habit-of-answering-questions-too-quickly/

from the article... some personality types like to "tell", and other personality types like to "ask". Some people are less capable of reigning in their impulses to "tell", which results in responses to questions not asked... and potentially frustration, and lost opportunity.
I guess one could say that there are no stupid questions, but plenty of stupid answers.

 

[Speakpigeon]

Let them have egg on their faces.
EB

 

[Peez]

The phenomenon has baffled scientists. They aren't entirely sure why some eggs explode <snip>

This little question seems to cause eggheads to explode.

Me, I understand that some eggs may have a small pocket of some gas I wouldn't know which and from where. I would say that if you heat it too fast, the gas won't eggs-eat through the shell fast enough and kaboom!

Never happened to me, though. I like my eggs fried.
EB

They still might explode, unless of course you break the egg before frying it.

 

[Bronzeage]

My wife has a little egg cooker. It basically steams them, although at the very end the heating element does go above the boiling point. Tonight she found her egg had blown it's top off. It was pretty much cooked at that point, although a bit of egg oozed out.

How could the it develop that pressure even though there was still a bit of non-solid egg left when it happened???

Boiling water will not exceed 100C at sea level, but steam is not limited by that. It's possible for the steam atmosphere in the cooker to be well above 100C. If the egg is not immersed in water, this can raise the internal temperature of the egg to 100, when it will produce internal steam, which will break the shell.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

My wife has a little egg cooker. It basically steams them, although at the very end the heating element does go above the boiling point. Tonight she found her egg had blown it's top off. It was pretty much cooked at that point, although a bit of egg oozed out.

How could the it develop that pressure even though there was still a bit of non-solid egg left when it happened???

Boiling water will not exceed 100C at sea level, but steam is not limited by that. It's possible for the steam atmosphere in the cooker to be well above 100C. If the egg is not immersed in water, this can raise the internal temperature of the egg to 100, when it will produce internal steam, which will break the shell.

But there was still a bit of egg that hadn't solidified. It wasn't that hot.

 

[Speakpigeon]

The phenomenon has baffled scientists. They aren't entirely sure why some eggs explode <snip>

This little question seems to cause eggheads to explode.

Me, I understand that some eggs may have a small pocket of some gas I wouldn't know which and from where. I would say that if you heat it too fast, the gas won't eggs-eat through the shell fast enough and kaboom!

Never happened to me, though. I like my eggs fried.
EB

They still might explode, unless of course you break the egg before frying it.

Nah, at 5 I have it all figured out.

Maybe some eggs are too tough to crack but you cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs.
EB

 

[Malintent]

My wife has a little egg cooker. It basically steams them, although at the very end the heating element does go above the boiling point. Tonight she found her egg had blown it's top off. It was pretty much cooked at that point, although a bit of egg oozed out.

How could the it develop that pressure even though there was still a bit of non-solid egg left when it happened???

Boiling water will not exceed 100C at sea level, but steam is not limited by that. It's possible for the steam atmosphere in the cooker to be well above 100C. If the egg is not immersed in water, this can raise the internal temperature of the egg to 100, when it will produce internal steam, which will break the shell.

But there was still a bit of egg that hadn't solidified. It wasn't that hot.

a deformed egg is also a possibility.. the exploded egg may have had a thinner than normal shell.. not like all eggs are identical.

 

[Bronzeage]

My wife has a little egg cooker. It basically steams them, although at the very end the heating element does go above the boiling point. Tonight she found her egg had blown it's top off. It was pretty much cooked at that point, although a bit of egg oozed out.

How could the it develop that pressure even though there was still a bit of non-solid egg left when it happened???

Boiling water will not exceed 100C at sea level, but steam is not limited by that. It's possible for the steam atmosphere in the cooker to be well above 100C. If the egg is not immersed in water, this can raise the internal temperature of the egg to 100, when it will produce internal steam, which will break the shell.

But there was still a bit of egg that hadn't solidified. It wasn't that hot.

The movement of heat through the egg will not be uniform. There's no reason to think the egg would cook solid before steam pressure builds in the upper shell.

 

[4321lynx]

But there was still a bit of egg that hadn't solidified. It wasn't that hot.

The movement of heat through the egg will not be uniform. There's no reason to think the egg would cook solid before steam pressure builds in the upper shell.

Just cook the damn egg in boiling water. If you put it in gently it won't break. What's an "egg cooker" anyway?

 

[Elixir]

But there was still a bit of egg that hadn't solidified. It wasn't that hot.

The movement of heat through the egg will not be uniform. There's no reason to think the egg would cook solid before steam pressure builds in the upper shell.

Just cook the damn egg in boiling water. If you put it in gently it won't break. What's an "egg cooker" anyway?

Yeah, THAT. What's next? "My HOG WILD TWIRLING SPAGHETTI FORK doesn't do linguini right!" ?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Apparently this shell was eggstremely fragile.

*self-ban*

 

[bilby]

Apparently this shell was eggstremely fragile.

*self-ban*

Self-ban? Chicken!

 

[Speakpigeon]

Nobody exploded a chicken yet?!

Once someone cooked a chicken with all its feathers still on.

One ole' man for sure.

Still, didn't explode.
EB