The Egg Cage is now available at

EggCage.com

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My wife and I were making boiled eggs for our little girl the other day and I had the thought.. What if you could enjoy a fresh hard or soft boiled egg without the stove?

After a lot of experimentation and development, we're happy to present The Egg Cage.

The Egg Cage lets you truly boil an egg in the microwave by blocking the microwaves from entering the egg and letting the hot water do the work.

When would you use the egg cage?

When you want a perfect soft boiled egg without the hassle, where you don't have a stove, when you don't want to wait for that watched pot to boil, or when you want that fresh-boiled taste and not that been-in-the-fridge-a-few-days taste.

How do you use The Egg Cage?

The Egg Cage works underwater in any microwave-safe container. 

The Egg Cage lets you get that perfect egg every time. Just microwave the submerged cage for 3-6 minutes. For soft boiled eggs, replace the hot water with cold water and enjoy. For hard boiled eggs, let the egg sit in the water about 8 minutes after the microwave time. Here's a little video to make it clear:

Why do I need a special device?

Without The Egg Cage to block the microwaves, you could wind up with this happening (the exiting part is at 38 second)

Some people avoid the explosions by cracking or piercing a hole in the shell. This keeps the egg from exploding, but you wind up with a rubbery egg. That's because the egg is being cooked by the microwaves themselves. It's not realy a boiled egg. It's more like the egg from an Egg McMuffin (mmmmm... :P ).

Besides, the American Egg Board says "Piercing shells before cooking is not recommended. If not sterile, the piercer or needle can introduce bacteria into the egg. Also, piercing creates hairline cracks in the shell, through which bacteria can enter after cooking."

How does The Egg Cage work?

The egg cage keeps the microwaves out in the same way the microwave oven keeps them in. Have you ever noticed the small holes you have to look through to see your food in the microwave oven? Those holes are in a metal sheet that, when combined with the other walls in microwave oven, form an impenetrable barrier to the microwaves. This barrier is called a Faraday Cage.

The Egg Cage is a basically a Faraday cage you can slip an egg into. When you use the cage in a mug of water, it keeps the microwaves out of the egg but still lets the boiling water reach the egg shell. The key to making a good Farraday cage is making sure the gaps between the wires are sufficiently small. The Egg Cage as been designed with small enough gaps to block virtually all the microwaves from entering the egg. In this way you get an egg that is truly boiled and will never explode or cook to a rubbery texture.

Isn't it bad to put metal in the microwave?

As a general rule, you should avoid putting metal objects in the microwave. Metal objects absorb more than their fair share of the microwaves and can become very hot. Also, if the metal has any sharp points exposed to air, it can cause sparks to form that can damage your microwave.

The Egg Cage is safe because it is submerged in water. The metal acts as an antenna for the microwaves, absorbing them and heating up. The water, however, prevents the metal from getting too far above boiling temperature so the egg doesn't overheat. The boiling water then cooks the egg (just like it does on the stove).

The water also prevents the metal from sparking. The Egg Cage is designed so that the wire ends sit near to the bottom of the mug. That means, even if much of the water boils off, they won't be exposed to the air to form sparks.

You should never run The Egg Cage in the microwave without water.

How did you get to where you are?

It took a lot of experimentation to find the right design and manufacturing method. We make The Egg Cage out of 100% stainless steel so it won't leech into the boiling water. There's evidence that aluminum and plastics shouldn't be used with boiling water.

(this is one of our early prototypes)

Safety

The Egg cage is dishwasher and microwave safe (when submerged in water in a microwave safe container).

Always ensure that The Egg Cage is submerged in water during operation. The Egg Cage is recommended to be used with the egg horizontal in a tall mug with a wide base. Shorter mugs will work but they often boil too vigorously in high-powered microwaves. This can cause the water to spill into onto the bottom surface of the microwave and, if left in the microwave too long, expose the metal cage to the air. If at at any time you hear a buzzing sound, open the microwave and add more water to the cup. Only use with microwave safe containers.

Egg cooking times may vary with egg size and microwave power.

International supporters

If you want your perks shipped to an international address, please add $5 to your pledge ($10 if the mug is included)