The Case of the Exploding Eggs
My hard-boiled eggs exploded.
Actually, it might be more accurate to say that they popped. "Explode" conjures up images of bits of egg all over the place. That's not what happened.
Here are the facts:
The eggs were fresh, but not right-from-the-hen fresh. I'd bought them a day or two earlier. Their sell-by date is Nov.3; the incident occurred Oct 19. They are organically-produced eggs from pasture-raised hens. The producer has not had any problems with salmonella or other contamination. (They're from Vital Farms.)
Rinsed a couple of eggs in cool water, and checked for cracks. (The rigors of transportation from store to home have been known to cause hairline cracks.) The eggs were pristine.
Filled a large-ish pot with water, no salt. Put the eggs in the pot. Noted that they probably had a little air in them, given the way they sat. This is normal for eggs that have been around a few days. Never been a problem.
Put the pot on medium heat and went off to do other things. When I heard the pot come to a full boil, came back to take it off heat. I've got a slow electric range, so this took a little less than half an hour. It's possible that the pot boiled earlier, and I just hadn't heard it.
Lifting the lid, I discovered that both eggs had popped. They'd each split exactly in the middle and in a smooth line all around the egg.
This had happened when the eggs were cooked enough that none of the egg drifted off in the cooking water. One half had some egg white and the yolk. The other half had egg white not only inside the shell, but protruding a full inch out from the edge of the shell. It looked much like a stiff paste would look if squeezed from a tube. The yolk was solid, but light yellow, not greenish around the outside as it would have been if the eggs had been cooked too long. The white was, well, white, and just firm enough to hold its shape. There was a tiny bit of white in the middle of the eggs that was still at the soft-boiled stage.
That's all I got. I've boiled eggs with air in them before. Pretty much all eggs except those you take from the hen personally will have some air in them. Most of the eggs I've boiled have had more air in them than these did. None have ever popped.
Any theories?
Actually, it might be more accurate to say that they popped. "Explode" conjures up images of bits of egg all over the place. That's not what happened.
Here are the facts:
The eggs were fresh, but not right-from-the-hen fresh. I'd bought them a day or two earlier. Their sell-by date is Nov.3; the incident occurred Oct 19. They are organically-produced eggs from pasture-raised hens. The producer has not had any problems with salmonella or other contamination. (They're from Vital Farms.)
Rinsed a couple of eggs in cool water, and checked for cracks. (The rigors of transportation from store to home have been known to cause hairline cracks.) The eggs were pristine.
Filled a large-ish pot with water, no salt. Put the eggs in the pot. Noted that they probably had a little air in them, given the way they sat. This is normal for eggs that have been around a few days. Never been a problem.
Put the pot on medium heat and went off to do other things. When I heard the pot come to a full boil, came back to take it off heat. I've got a slow electric range, so this took a little less than half an hour. It's possible that the pot boiled earlier, and I just hadn't heard it.
Lifting the lid, I discovered that both eggs had popped. They'd each split exactly in the middle and in a smooth line all around the egg.
This had happened when the eggs were cooked enough that none of the egg drifted off in the cooking water. One half had some egg white and the yolk. The other half had egg white not only inside the shell, but protruding a full inch out from the edge of the shell. It looked much like a stiff paste would look if squeezed from a tube. The yolk was solid, but light yellow, not greenish around the outside as it would have been if the eggs had been cooked too long. The white was, well, white, and just firm enough to hold its shape. There was a tiny bit of white in the middle of the eggs that was still at the soft-boiled stage.
That's all I got. I've boiled eggs with air in them before. Pretty much all eggs except those you take from the hen personally will have some air in them. Most of the eggs I've boiled have had more air in them than these did. None have ever popped.
Any theories?