All Ways to Cook Eggs in the Microwave
The microwave is a useful little appliance that you can use to make a lot of great things, including lemon curd , mashed potatoes , prosciutto chips, or whole croquembush . You can also use it to cook a wide variety of eggs, but some styles turn out slightly better than others.
Lifehacker has been around for 15 years and during that time we have covered quite a few microwave-cooked eggs. I’ve only been here for five years, though, so I decided to comb through some of our old microwave egg posts to see if they were what they broke. Let’s start with my least favorite.
You can’t “fry” an egg in the microwave
This is one of those classic “just because you can doesn’t mean you have to” situations. This hack came to Lifehacker via CHOW, and to be honest, it doesn’t even look that good in their original video.
The method , however, is pretty simple and the egg really gets cooked:
It turns out that eggs with the sunny side up are pretty straightforward: all you have to do is preheat the plate, rinse it with oil (both for flavor and to keep the egg from sticking), and then chop the plate. egg on a plate. Place the yolk gently on top to prevent it from exploding and heat for 45 seconds. If not, continue cooking in 15 second increments.
I have two problems with this method: by the time my whites are frozen, my yolks are also completely hard, and you also won’t get any crunchy edges that “traditional” fried sunny dishes would have. egg, because the plate does not heat up as hot as the frying pan. (Also, if you do decide to do this for any reason, poke a hole in the yolk with a sharp knife or it may burst or explode completely.)
Official Egg Grade: D +
Microwaves are elastic
The scrambled egg washer you see above is actually the best of the two I made and was not made according to the original method we posted here. The photo from the original post didn’t look so appetizing, but again, the method was simple, perhaps too simple:
Basically, this one-minute recipe involves breaking an egg into a mug covered in non-stick spray, crushing it with a fork, and then shaking the egg in the microwave for a minute. You can add cheese, bacon, vegetables, and other flavors as desired.
When I followed these instructions exactly, I got the following, which is honestly very similar to what was promised:
The resulting egg washer was dry and pliable and noticeably worse than any scrambled eggs I have ever made on the stove. I tried again, this time hitting 10 second bursts and stirring with a fork in between, the result was a washer okay but still a little rubbery as you see above. It tasted like fast food scrambled eggs and could be demolished if sandwiched between English muffins, salted pork, and a slice of cheese.
Official grade of the egg: C- for a truly original method, B- modified.
Microwave poaching works well
This method is also taken from the CHOW video, and my only complaint is the aesthetics: unlike cooking on the stove, the water in the mug is still and calm when the egg is introduced, which causes it to lie on the bottom, which results in the egg with flat bottom. Again, this method is easy to accomplish:
To make a poached egg, take a microwave-safe bowl and pour half a glass of water into it. Break the egg into water, cover with a plate and microwave for 60 seconds. If this is done, scoop it out with a slotted spoon. If not, wait another 10-20 seconds until it becomes.
I used a mug filled with the same amount of water and the egg came out perfect. It had a hard white liquid yolk, and the flat bottom meant it sits better on Benedict.
Unsurprisingly, I love this method so much – I’ve been cooking eggs in miso soup in the microwave for years as a light and flavorful breakfast.
Official Egg Grade: A-
Preheat eggs, cheese, and meats in the microwave for a complete breakfast.
Matty Matheson’s Bologna Bowl is perhaps my favorite version of the microwave egg. I’ve expressed my love before , but I’ll just say it again:
Simply grab a bowl, place four slices of Bologna, toss in a slice of American cheese, and gently break the egg on top. Microwave for three minutes and eat with buttered toast. It is perfect in itself, but at the same time very reefy. Leftover chips, mushrooms, and caramelized onions would be delicious – just lay them on top of the cheese, but under the egg – just like my best fried leeks . If you add it to an omelet, you can put it in a Bologna bowl.
The Bologna Bowl inspired me to create my own scaled-down version of this dish that just casually slips right onto an English muffin for a McDonald’s taste. The only real difference between the two is the amount of meat used. Where Matty uses four slices of bologna, I use one or two slices of Canadian bacon, because that’s about half the size of bologna. All you have to do is pour the meat into a small bowl, add a slice of American cheese, and break the egg on top. Place the whole thing in the microwave and let it sit for two minutes. Let it cool slightly while you butter the English muffin, then run your knife around the edge or bowl and slice the breakfast washer onto the muffin to make a sandwich.
Official Egg Grade: A
Egg Explosion Note
Microwaved eggs can explode from time to time, especially if you don’t take precautions. Heating the yolk too quickly can cause steam to build up under the membrane, which can cause the yolk to burst, which is dirty and harmful. Popping the yolk will rupture the membrane, which will help the steam escape, but my eggs burst and splatter even after piercing the yolk, although never when they are completely submerged in water for poaching.
For this reason, it is recommended that you cover the eggs with a microwave-safe plate or saucer, or even something as simple as a piece of bread. (I feed my dog bread and she really appreciates it, especially after a little sprinkling of an egg.)