I disagree that flippantly suggesting that conventional cooking methods produce “good” eggs compared to microwaved or powdered eggs qualifies as a “strong opinion”. But I love hearing myself talk, so:
I am unashamed to say that I am prejudiced against microwaved eggs for the same reason I’m prejudiced against making toast by microwaving bread. I haven’t tried it, but I am free to intuit (correctly or incorrectly) that I wouldn’t prefer it to how I already prepare eggs and toast. And in this economy, I’m not going to gamble an egg to see if I prefer it.
Do you prefer microwaved eggs? How do you find the taste and texture compare to other cooking methods? How do they compare to powdered eggs?
I’ve never had powdered eggs, they’re not really a thing where I’m from. But they don’t appeal, probably for the same reason as you: texture.
Microwaves function by heating up the water in food. That’s why they excel with frozen food (it’s more forgiving in timing). If you try to microwave bread, you get warm, soggy bread as a result, almost certainly not what you mean by toast (but it’s actually an interesting way to rescue a stale baguette). Effectively you can’t “make toast” in a microwave because toasting is a manner of cooking, not an end product. You can’t microwave a dinner in a toaster either. Won’t work. Toasters heat the outside exclusively, working their way in. Microwaves heat the inside almost exclusively (that’s where the water is). So whether they’re appropriate really depends on what you’re cooking. Bread? Bad. Eggs?
Because shell-on eggs are effectively water-sealed and shell-off eggs are effectively water, how you heat them up doesn’t really matter. Unless you are frying to get crispy edges, you are just heating water any way you do it. Water flows: you can’t heat the outside exclusively. It’s only when the egg is already cooked, the texture already changed, that you can then effectively cook it again/differently to get crispy edges.
I disagree that flippantly suggesting that conventional cooking methods produce “good” eggs compared to microwaved or powdered eggs qualifies as a “strong opinion”. But I love hearing myself talk, so:
I am unashamed to say that I am prejudiced against microwaved eggs for the same reason I’m prejudiced against making toast by microwaving bread. I haven’t tried it, but I am free to intuit (correctly or incorrectly) that I wouldn’t prefer it to how I already prepare eggs and toast. And in this economy, I’m not going to gamble an egg to see if I prefer it.
Do you prefer microwaved eggs? How do you find the taste and texture compare to other cooking methods? How do they compare to powdered eggs?
I’ve never had powdered eggs, they’re not really a thing where I’m from. But they don’t appeal, probably for the same reason as you: texture.
Microwaves function by heating up the water in food. That’s why they excel with frozen food (it’s more forgiving in timing). If you try to microwave bread, you get warm, soggy bread as a result, almost certainly not what you mean by toast (but it’s actually an interesting way to rescue a stale baguette). Effectively you can’t “make toast” in a microwave because toasting is a manner of cooking, not an end product. You can’t microwave a dinner in a toaster either. Won’t work. Toasters heat the outside exclusively, working their way in. Microwaves heat the inside almost exclusively (that’s where the water is). So whether they’re appropriate really depends on what you’re cooking. Bread? Bad. Eggs?
Because shell-on eggs are effectively water-sealed and shell-off eggs are effectively water, how you heat them up doesn’t really matter. Unless you are frying to get crispy edges, you are just heating water any way you do it. Water flows: you can’t heat the outside exclusively. It’s only when the egg is already cooked, the texture already changed, that you can then effectively cook it again/differently to get crispy edges.