Making sunny side up eggs in the microwave

GotGarlic said:

You can just use water, like Aunt Bea described and as blissful does - she doesn't cook with any fat at all. What you call picky I call precise. Steaming and frying are not the same things.

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So I did that this morning. Added less than a Tablespoon of water to the pan, cracked in 2 eggs, popped a lid on. Didn't check time, but by the time the toast came up they were done.
Have to be careful in the amount of water as when taking the eggs out it could be easy to get water on your toast = blech.

So depending on the pan I use I may still use a fat of some sort and fry for a bit - then add water and a lid to finish with steaming. So there you have a Steamed Fried Egg.

dragnlaw said:

So depending on the pan I use I may still use a fat of some sort and fry for a bit - then add water and a lid to finish with steaming. So there you have a Steamed Fried Egg.

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Ive done that before, and it worked. I actually like the taste of butter on my eggs, no matter how they are cooked, and the water/steam and a lid does set the whites much better than an open pan and no steam.

CD

taxlady said:

You were the one who didn't want to have to use too much butter when cooking your egg. Aunt Bea gave you a method, which you call gross. (I can't see what is gross about water, but never mind.) You don't have to use more than the half a tablespoon of butter, the amount recommended by the linked recipe, on a non-stick pan to cook an egg. The fact that you don't have or want a non-stick pan is actually more relevant.

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There are so many articles warning about the dangers of nonstick pans, or which nonstick pans are dangerous under what circumstances; I don't have the expertise to accurately judge the facts, so I simply don't get any nonstick pans. This is not relevant in this thread, however, because this thread is not about cooking eggs in a pan.

The purpose of this thread is to ask for assistance with the specific method I'm using to cook eggs; descriptions of alternative methods of egg cooking don't actually help me… I'm already aware that there are many other ways to cook eggs.

I don't use the half of tablespoon of butter that the article suggests: I wouldn't touch an egg swimming in that much fat. A pinhead sized bit of butter is sufficient to make a film on the plate that keeps the egg from sticking.

taxlady said:

Now that I have read the recipe, I notice it doesn't say how big the the plate is or what it is made of. Are you using the same kind and size of plate every time you cook egg in the MW. If that isn't the same every time, that might matter too.

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Using different plates could definitely give different results, you're 100% correct there! In my case, I'm using the exact same plate every time because it's the only plate I have of the right size that's microwave safe.

BurnsWater said:

The purpose of this thread is to ask for assistance with the specific method I'm using to cook eggs; descriptions of alternative methods of egg cooking don't actually help me… I'm already aware that there are many other ways to cook eggs.

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When you start any thread on DC, expect it to take on a life of its own. There is no point in getting frustrated. By all means, try to steer it in your intended direction by clarifying your intent, but understand that threads wander.

CD

I'll mention one thing that I certainly would not do and that is to preheat an empty plate in the m/w. Without something on the plate to absorb the heat you are risking your plate. Obviously the one you are using is in all probability safe as you've already done it many times. That does not rule out that one day it might crack. I've had that happen with other plates and bowels - supposedly safe and even with food, that will suddenly crack. The plates had been used many times with no problems but there is always that one time an air bubble expands and cric/crac!

caseydog said:

When you start any thread on DC, expect it to take on a life of its own. There is no point in getting frustrated. By all means, try to steer it in your intended direction by clarifying your intent, but understand that threads wander.

CD

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I have no problem with threads wandering, but people addressing me directly trying to get me to give up what I'm doing rather than offering assistance is a little bit much. My experience with these sorts of posts is, if I just ignore them, then the people get offended, but if I respond declining to do what they want me to do, they get offended by THAT, too… It's a no-win situation, especially if I end up trying to reply to people, which sucks up HOURS without accomplishing anything. I just want to cook an egg, lol!

dragnlaw said:

I'll mention one thing that I certainly would not do and that is to preheat an empty plate in the m/w. Without something on the plate to absorb the heat you are risking your plate. Obviously the one you are using is in all probability safe as you've already done it many times. That does not rule out that one day it might crack. I've had that happen with other plates and bowels - supposedly safe and even with food, that will suddenly crack. The plates had been used many times with no problems but there is always that one time an air bubble expands and cric/crac!

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That's useful information, thank you! I did some research, and found a lot of claims about how microwaving (they never specify microwaving for how LONG, which I think would make a difference) a plate would damage the plate, or the microwave, or possibly both… But none of the claims I saw were actually describing real world damage of either the plates or microwaves. And there's a bunch of people saying that they've been doing this forever with no harm done to plate or microwave… Quite possibly because they're only heating the plate for 15 seconds like in the procedure described in the MasterClass article. It's still something to keep in mind, however, and since I'm going to be putting a film of butter on the plate anyways, I can do that BEFORE the plate goes into the microwave. Better safe than sorry! Thanks again!

I hear yuh, as long as there is a smear of butter to absorb the heat.
OK, so now please bear with me - I'm not technically minded but....
Micro waves heat organic substances by agitating them. Plates (etc) are not soft organics and don't/can't agitate. Ergo you cannot 'heat' a plate by putting it in the m/w. If you want to heat a plate (and I have done this) place a damp/wet paper towel on it and that, when heated, transfers the heat to the plate.
Air bubbles can heat, so if a plate has one - even if stoneware or other dense material that would normally take extreme heat - there is a chance that it will expand and crack (no, not explode, just crack) your dish.
Bone China is less likely to crack, mainly because of the way in which it is processed - which I will not get into.
So there yuh go, a physics lesson from a dragn who never took physics 101. I'm sure there will be an abundance of corrections and other statements to aid/abet/abuse the above soon to be forth coming. LOL