Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn ponders frying an egg on the sidewalk. Here’s what he had to say:
The Times City Room threw caution to the wind and tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk. I have to give the reporter Andy Newman credit for venturing outside on a day when only Mad Dogs, Englishmen, and the kebab and felafel carts venture out. While the experiment resulted in some lightly cooked tuna, the eggs proved less than satisfactory. Based on our extensive Google research, the Library of Congress reports that, yes, it is theoretically (damn their eyes – there is that word again) possible to cook an egg on the sidewalk, but it is unlikely that the sidewalk would get hot enough.
LoC reports: An egg needs a temperature of 158°F to become firm. In order to cook, proteins in the egg must denature (modify), then coagulate, and that won’t happen until the temperature rises enough to start and maintain the process.
The City Room was on the right track using a frying pan, since metal is a better conductor of heat than just plopping the egg on the concrete. But wo-be-tide to we New Yorkers should it ever approach that chilling temperature. But standing around trying to fry an egg at 103 degrees Fahrenheit just ain’t gonna cut it.
Once, when our kids were younger, I amused them on a long car ride home from upstate by making nachos: melting little bits of cheese on Doritos using the car cigarette lighter. Now that’s entertainment! (My Better Half was suitably unimpressed.)…