I've been joking that I'm becoming a homesteader since we moved to Vermont. That is an (unintentional) insult to homesteaders everywhere. Preserving things during the...
Read MoreEggsperiment: A Story In Photos
The Theory: It’s hot enough in Austin to fry an egg on the street.
Our Report
We hit the street at 5:44 p.m., usually the hottest part of the day, to test the theory that it is, indeed, hot enough to fry an egg.
I placed the egg ring on the street in a sunny spot and cracked one of our precious cage-free, organic, omega-3 eggs onto the ashpalt.
Then we waited to see if anything would happen.
Nothing happened.
So we removed the egg ring to see if that made any difference.
It made no difference whatsoever.
I considered washing it away with a bucket of water, but Dave thought we should leave it for a dog or squirrel or cat or raccoon, so we did. As we walked across the street to our house — What?! Of course I didn’t crack an egg on the street in front of my house. I’m goofy, not crazy. — a cute girl came along with her dog.
Dave and I giggled like 8-year-old pranksters, waiting to see if the doggie would eat it. But Cute Girl saw it before the dog could get to it. “Did someone really put an egg on the street?” she said, laughing.
“I wanted to see if it would fry,” I said, feeling pretty bummed that it didn’t fry.
The Eggsperiment Findings: It is not hot enough in Austin to fry an egg on the street. Yet.
UPDATE 06/27/12 6:54 p.m.
We just went outside to see if the egg was still there, and the only remnants were a few yellow streaks. Looks like a critter came along and lapped it up!
UPDATE 06/28/12 12:28 p.m.
This morning, I got an email that said this, which is totally awesome:
Hi, Mel. I’m the “cute girl with the dog” who saw you with the egg… I’ve been eating paleo-ish for the last 6 months or so. I found your blog and thought it was rad (especially since you’re in Austin), and for my birthday, my friend bought your cookbook for me…. Yesterday when I saw you, I thought you looked like Mel from the blog… I just decided to look at your blog today to see if you posted about the egg, and you did! So that’s you! And that’s me! Small world.
Turns out, the “cute girl with the dog” is a writer who lives in my neighborhood. Meet Emily Starbuck, freelance writer. It’s too bad the Eggsperiment didn’t really work, but I met a new paleo neighbor, so the outcome is pretty great, right?!
More Like This...
September
08
Posted by
Perfectly Peelable Hard-Boiled Eggs
I'm on a hard-boiled egg kick. One of my favorite snacks is an hb-egg with a dollop of homemade mayo and a light sprinkling of...
Read More
Disappointed it didn’t fry! Can’t believe how hot it is out there – you’re very lucky, it’s mid winter here in Australia!
I LOVE winter. Trade ya!
You love winter, eh?! Come to Fargo, ND for a visit to our CrossFit box (and a paleo potluck)! We WOD even in blizzards! hahaha
Deal! Next winter, it is ON.
Breaking News!!!
Scorching temperatures continue with no end in sight.
Salmonella outbreak in Austin linked to eggs being fried on the street.
“Goofy” cook book author ~~ is ~~ “really crazy”
News at 11!
This just in: Plans are afoot for a second attempt on something metal.
Maybe with a bit of oil?
At least then it might be tastier for the animal that does the clean up 🙂
I’ve always wanted to try this!!! Love it!
I *think* maybe you should try on a manhole cover or similar
You are fantastically ridiculous!
Now, what you need is a fresnel lens from an old tv, then you can do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoMjBkKOkPc
Sweet!
To Do List
1. Write chapter of book.
2. Do laundry.
3. Get fresnel lens.
4. Cook egg in street.
I live in SW Oklahoma and its been up to 110 this past week, the weather man got an egg to fry on the dashboard of his car…most of the time it just feels like walking into a furnace.
The car! I should have thought of that!
Here in Minnesota during the winter, we take a pot of boiling water and throw it up in the air to watch is crystalize and evaporate in the air. It works!
That sounds really fun. Also now added to my lifelong to-do list.
this post completely made my day. and i totally want one of those egg rings.
YAY!
Rings available on Amazon. I use them to make egg foo yong patties.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ULC93O/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001ULC93O&linkCode=as2&tag=roltheboo-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001ULC93O
oh my gosh those are amazing. and they come in shapes! the possibilities are endless.
I have done this! But in Zimbabwe many years ago and it really does work (I was about 8 years old and actually my dad did – but I am still impressed to this day!)
That. is. awesome.
I didn’t know you are in Austin! I recently started following your posts (love them!) and missed that bit of info. I’m just north of Austin in Hutto. 🙂
Hey, neighbor! I did a presentation and book signing in Hutto at Milestone CrossFit a few months ago. It was great!
Really?! I have been thinking of trying that place out. I have never done CrossFit and I’m a little nervous to try. And I have your book on my Kindle 😉
They are SUPER DUPER nice people. Family owned, really chill and friendly. I went on a Saturday morning, and there were people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and fitness levels. I thought it was great!
I used to know a Sandra that lived in Hutto. She was living in Thrall when I left Texas so long ago.
a few things:
1) you are awesome.
2) smudge must be an awesome boss to let you out of the house to do things like attempt an egg fry on street
3) i had no choice but to microwave-poach an egg at work yesterday (i usually try to avoid microwave cooking)to eat on top of my sausage/sweet potato mixture and consulted the kitchn blog because I remembered you like their site. step by step instructions were awesome and worked like a charm! woo woo! poached eggs at work!
LAUREN!
1) Thank you.
2) She was sleeping. We snuck out.
3) YAY! Glad TheKitchn.com helped you out. There’s so much good advice there.
You should come hang out with us here in Seattle. Nice and cool. Well, sometimes it’s nice and cool and beautiful and sometimes it’s down right cold!
How awesome is it that the girl with the dog found your blog? You’re a celebrity!
For what its worth, after sharing your post with DH, he said he successfully cooked an egg on the hood of a car in South Florida. Good luck with your next attempt!
how funny is that?
Try a man-hole cover….that will work.
If you love winter, you should come to northern Canada….we have about 6-7 months of -30 to -60 degrees celcius. Frosty nose-haired hell. But we also have the northern lights and bad ass scenery so it’s worth it.
Frying an egg takes 150F. maybe the air is hottest at 5am, but the street might be hotter after sitting all day in the sun, even if the air temp is cooling off. try late afternoon?
Foil. Needs the reflective heat. A la Mr. Wizard when I was a kid.