I’m glad you’re thinking twice before doing so.
At first, reheating boiled eggs in the microwave will save you some Jupiter to Uranus time off the clock, but then, it’ll take back whatever time it saved you by forcing an unexpected clean up of the kitchen floors.
In short, reheating boiled eggs in the microwave will always turnout a failed eggsperiment!
This article will tell you exactly why reheating boiled eggs in the microwave is never a good idea, and what you should do to quickly revive your “numb” eggs instead. Let’s get started.
Can you microwave boiled eggs?
No, you should never reheat already boiled eggs in the microwave — whether shelled or unshelled. They almost always explode, sending shrapnel of superheated yolk straight into your face, and promptly deafening your ears with a ringing that exceeds the noise produced by a cheering stadium. It’s no joke!
Cooking already boiled eggs in the microwave will cause them to detonate. Sometimes this would happen in the microwave before it gets to the table, and sometimes, it could set off right inside your mouth when you gracefully dive in for a big bite. And guess what, the yolk is hotter than a boiling water, and the rubbery whites aren’t anything you’ll want on your morning face either. So do not attempt this stunt at home please!
Why reheating boiled eggs in the microwave can be dangerous
Eggs much like potatoes build up steam under pressure when reheated in the microwave. And just like potatoes, they too can also explode! Except theirs is on another level, and it occurs much frequently — if not every time you try to make one.
Spired pieces of egg shells flying across the room with segments of sticky yolk hotter than a volcanic eruption is what you sign up for whenever you reheat boiled eggs in the microwave — whether soft, medium or hard boiled, and regardless of whether they’re shelled or unshelled.
Forget the volcano part, it’s not true in a literal sense, but get yourself a splatter of nuked egg yolk and you’ll quickly understand the exaggeration!
According to the New York Times Magazine, the reason why reheated eggs explode in the microwave is because of the tiny water pockets that already form in the yolk the first time you cook them — whether in the microwave or outside it.
When the eggs are popped into the microwave for the second time (reheating), for some reason, the yolks heat up excessively to surpass the boiling point of water (meaning they become hot enough to boil water itself, in theory).
This heated yolk subsequently heats up the tiny pockets of water already present in it and cause them to attain the same temperature. This is called superheating and the water pockets become vexed, easily triggered with the tiniest bit of provocation; forking or piercing.
That’s what we see as an explosion!
The alternative: How to properly reheat hard boiled eggs
Since the microwave is already ruled out for warming up the meal-prep eggs, how do you go about making them faster and evenly?
Well, keep it simple, use boiling water.
Yes, the general idea of breakfast meal prep is to save energy and time, and boiling a liter of water could take you the entire time for a soft boiled egg to get done on a stovetop, but it goes without saying that this method is way faster, easier and less annoying than having to spend the early hours of morning prying pieces of eggs around the kitchen.
How to properly reheat boiled eggs
Step 1: Get yourself a heat proof bowl to retain heat for longer duration.
Step 2: Place eggs into the bowl and fill up with boiling water until the eggs are completely submerged.
Step 3: Keep them in for extra 10 minutes.
Step 4: Pour the water down the drain, take out the eggs, and then serve.
Can you boil eggs in the microwave?
Since reheating eggs in the microwave is already tagged with an emphatic “no”, you might as well be interested in knowing whether boiled eggs can be made in the microwave?
If you’ve been following correctly, you’ll know that the answer is a slightly weak yes.
It’s possible to make boiled eggs in the microwave, but they too run the risk of detonating both inside and outside for the same reason outlined above.
The only good thing is that the frequency is much less, meaning that you’re more likely to experience explosions from reheating boiled eggs than you are from cooking fresh eggs in the microwave.
There are actually a few tips and tricks that may help minimize the possibilities of eggs exploding in the microwave. Here’s how to properly boil an egg in the microwave with instructions for a 1250 watt oven:
Step 1: Prick the bottom and top of the egg with a safety pin or thumbtack.
Step 2: Place the egg in a microwave safe bowl.
Step 3: Add boiling water until the egg is completely submerged.
Step 4: Cover with a dish plate and microwave at 50% power for 8 minutes.
Step 5: Take the egg out from the oven and serve immediately for soft boiled egg, let sit in the hot water for additional one minute for medium boiled egg, or additional three minutes for hard boiled egg.
Step 6: Transfer the medium and hard-boiled egg into ice cold water to stop further cooking.
In the above steps, we pricked the egg at the bottom and at the top in order to (supposedly) stop them from building up high internal pressure.
I don’t know how much this does to prevent bursting, but i’ve definitely had my eggs explode in the microwave even after pricking holes the exact number of stars in the universe!
I think the idea generally comes from the fork-piercing method done when microwaving potatoes in order to prevent a similar kind of pressure buildup.
But the mechanism of explosion in both food items are quite different, which might possibly explain why the egg detonation still occurs! But still, just do it.
Additionally, some (internet experts) say that you should add salt for the same purpose of reducing the possibilities of an explosion. You can also try that if you like.
Next, we’re cooking under low heat for 8 minutes, this i suppose, will prevent the fast buildup of high pressure steam which will reduce the possibilities of an explosion.
In light of all these however, you might as well go ahead and cook the eggs on a stovetop or in a conventional oven unless you don’t have access to these two mediums completely.
When you take an investigative look at both cooking times (especially for low wattage microwaves and also for lower cooking power), you’ll find that there isn’t any clear cut difference that should actually convince anyone to gamble with their kitchen floors or their skin health.
Plus cooking on the stovetop by conduction takes away completely, any risk of explosion.
Quick tip:
You can try out microwave egg boilers as a much safer alternative to boiling them directly in a microwave safe bowl.
These usually employ aluminum foil (from within) to cook the eggs mainly by conduction rather than radiation which is very fast at making the yolks go nuts.
Read this article to learn all the ancillary safety tips for cooking hard boiled eggs in the microwave.
Microwave vs. stovetop: Which is better at making boiled eggs?
Aside the explosion downside, microwave boiled eggs taste just as good as any thing the stovetop can ever produce.
And this is understandable because boiling is literally one of the simplest cooking methods that man has ever invented!
Making hard boiled eggs in the microwave is quite easy, for medium, it’s a little bit hard, and for soft boiled eggs, better get you a small pot and simmer those perfect proteins on the stovetop.
Microwave boiled eggs are actually theorized to be the more nutritious of the two because they are generally cooked for smaller duration and lower temperature which are both recipes for preserving the nutrition in foods.
Final thoughts
Eggs are safe to boil in the microwave but they should never be put in there for reheating purpose. To do that, cover them in boiling water and let sit for 8 minutes. That’ll get them all warmed up.