Attack of the Egg

  Who thinks of an egg as dangerous? Well, they can be. I now have a serious burn (blister) on the center of my upper lip. Let me explain.

 Tom likes Egg McMuffins and a few years ago he bought a set of two ""Easy Eggwich" makers. They're small plastic containers which are meant to hold a single egg for preparation in a microwave oven. They mold the egg into approximately the size to fit on an English muffin.

 Good so far. It looks like a nice idea.

  It isn't. 

  I've used them a number of times in the past and while making an egg, the things at some point seem to "explode". They literally jump off the tray inside the microwave. I suppose gasses form either in the egg - or under it - and they are launched. I remembered this and set the microwave power to low this time.

 So I cooked Tom's egg first and I broke the yolk when I cracked the egg but I knew they cooked just the same. I didn't let the microwave cook longer than 30 seconds at a time so as to avoid the explosive jump. At the one minute mark it wasn't quite done so I gave it another short cooking time.

 All was well. I placed the egg on a bun (we don't have any English muffins) and served it. I then cracked another egg and started mine (the yolk didn't break this time).

 I cooked it as I cooked the  first: on low and in 30 second increments.

 When I took it out of the pan and place it on the bun I noticed that the yolk was intact and even looked a bit inflated. I should have given  that more thought (or purposely broke the yolk before cooking).

 I didn't let it cool long - Tom was already eating - but I took the time to add salt and pepper, closed the sandwich and bit tentatively (I was testing how hot it was). It exploded with a loud pop, spraying egg yolk all over the table, my plate and me.

 The yolk obviously was filled with boiling  yolk and steam and was under pressure. When my front teeth pierced the skin the pressure was released. My front upper lip was scalded. It formed a blister which has wept for more than a day. I keep having to wipe my lip dry.

 You can see the blister on my upper lip. I'm lucky the damage wasn't worse.

 I always smirk at people who spill boiling coffee in their lap and blame the fast food joint. I think "they knew it was hot". Well I knew this was hot, too, but experience has shown me that a gentle bite is all that's needed to gauge the temperature of an egg. I never expected an explosion.

 Best beware that eggs can attack.