Nordic Ware Microwave Egg Boiler, 4 Capacity, White

I had a hard time not giving this thing 5 stars. It does a beautiful job of cooking eggs. But the design is flawed and at least a little dangerous, so I deducted 1 star. I hope they correct the design. It could be worth 6 stars.

First the good part. This thing works amazingly well. I tried cooking eggs in a microwave years ago and they were horrible – rubbery, dry, inedible. So I was skeptical. These are perfect. The secret, as others have explained, is the eggs are protected from the microwaves by an aluminum hood inside the plastic lid. The microwaves boil the water and the steam cooks the eggs. Slick.

It requires a little experimenting to calibrate it to each microwave, but then it’s fool proof. (Well, judging from some of the 1-star reviews, it’s not 100% fool proof, but then fools are very clever. 😉

The eggs are at least as good as boiled. I cannot tell any difference. None. And the best part is how easily they peel. After rinsing in cold water, crack all around and peel under a tiny stream or water. Perfect every time. Someone said this is typical of steamed eggs, which these are.

I have discovered a couple of cooking variations that Nordic Ware could have included in the minimalist instructions. The standard instructions say to cook 6-9 minutes and let stand for 2 minutes. Let’s call this the “fast” method. This is good if you want firmer whites and softer yolks. On my 1300 watt oven, the magic formula is 6+2 for jumbo eggs straight from the frig. That gives firm whites and mostly runny yolks. Increase that to 6+3 or 6+4 to set the yolks. The downsides of this method is you have to be there to stop the cooking and it is very hot.

An alternative, let’s call it the “slow” method is to shorten the cooking time and increase the standing time. On my oven, 4+15 with cold jumbo eggs will produce a softer white and a just-set yolk. If I shorten the cooking time to 3:30, the standing time can be 20-30 minutes. The advantages are I don’t have to be there and it’s much cooler. The disadvantages are that the white is less well cooked and the yolk is more well cooked.

Now for the problems.

1. It looks cute – like a giant egg. Unfortunately, this makes it very difficult to grab – no handles. After cooking, it’s boiling hot, filled with steam, and slippery. The instructions say to let it cool for 2 minutes, then remove the cover and run cold water over the eggs. This is dangerous. After 2 minutes, it’s still very hot and if you try to remove the top, your hand will be directly over the steam vent. DO NOT DO THIS. Also, it must be kept level or boiling water will leak out.

Here’s a much better procedure. Carefully remove the cooker from the oven using oven mitts or a THICK towel. Set it in the sink and run cold water over the entire unit. After 20-30 seconds, you can remove the lid and continue rising the eggs. When you first remove the lid, the aluminum tray is still very hot as is the water in the base, so be careful.

2. The top does not fit tightly onto the bottom. There are no threads or even ridges. It’s just a flat contact and not that wide. When I removed the unit from the oven, steam came out the seal. I had a towel, but I felt the heat through 2 layers of towel. This really needs to be threaded. Even if it’s cooled some, there is still the danger of hot water still in the bottom. One reviewer said that his has a rubber seal, which he lost. That seal is between the tray and the base. It does nothing to seal the top to the base. I still think it needs a threaded seal.

3. Steam from the side seam is a problem. I have not been burned, but I’ve felt steam through several layers of towel.

4. The aluminum hood is sealed to the plastic lid with a gap in between. Water collects in there and does not drain easily. I do not like that moisture is trapped inside that gap. Over time, I worry about mold or other gunk building up. Anything living will get cooked, but I wish it came apart for cleaning.

5. The aluminum tray is difficult to clean if an egg leaks, which happens occasionally. That tray should be plastic or have a non-stick coating. Cooked-on egg is one of the most difficult things to clean. And the shape of the tray, with the holes and the depressions for the eggs, makes it more difficult to get a cleaning cloth in there.

6. One time, with three eggs, one burst, one was very soft boiled, and one was hard boiled. This only happened once. The one that burst was difficult to clean off the aluminum tray. The eggs are not always cooked exactly the same doneness. It’s usually not a problem, but I have had one done and one quite soft a few times. I had been placing it in the middle of the microwave turntable thinking that rotating it didn’t matter because the microwaves were only heating the water. Sometimes I had gotten one egg cooked more than another. I have tried putting it on the edge and letting it go around on the turntable. The eggs seem more evenly cooked.

7. The depressions in the aluminum tray are too shallow. The eggs frequently tip over. Doesn’t seem to affect the cooking.

8. The water fill line is nearly impossible to see. It’s just a raised line on a completely white interior. This is not a huge issue. After 1-2 uses, you know about how much water to add, but it’s not the best human factors.

Overall, this is a great unit. I am definitely keeping mine. But I would like it better with better safety & usability factors.

09/05/10 Update: The aluminum tray is now sticking to the lid almost every time and it is also sticking to the base. Sometimes I have to shake it vigorously to free it. This is a little dangerous. I can’t just pull them apart with my hand because the eggs and water are boiling hot and the eggs could be cracked. I think the problem has to do with the different expansion indices for the plastic lid and the aluminum lining. All of these problems could be easily solved by making the lid fit better onto the base (threaded) and having the tray recessed slightly. Mediocre design. I am disappointed in Nordic Ware. People have been reporting these design flaws for years, but no changes.

I still like the unit and am keeping it at 4 stars because it’s better that anything else I’ve tried, but these little design flaws are annoying and totally avoidable. C’mon, Nordic Ware, do a little redesign.

O produto tem uma forma de ovo, é bem acabado mas ñ fecha bem, ele fica abrindo, o que o torna perigoso ao retirar do microondas por estar muito quente.

Está súper práctico!!!me gusta mucho su fácil manejo, aunque ha sido un ensayo-error en los tiempos, a pesar de venir con instructivo,aún así, me ha ahorrado muchísimo el tiempo

This microwave egg boiler is perfect. I filled water to the line, put in the base, added 3 raw eggs. Set microwave timer for 8 minutes. I let the cooker cool, set it in the sink, ran cold water in the base, added a couple ice cubes to stop the cooking. When it was cool enough to remove shell, peeling an egg has never been easier. Much easier than bring pan of water to boil, putting eggs in for 10 minutes and maybe the eggs will be uniformly boiled. A bit of egg white leaked from one egg, but yolk was firm and yellow. Taste was perfect.

Bought one of these for myself and one for my son.
I did have to adjust the time from what is shown in the instructions. It said 10 minutes for hard boiled eggs. I used 4 large eggs and had to set microwave for 11 minutes, or the yolks were still a little soft. Would recommend adjusting the microwave time to12 minutes for hard boiled eggs, if using X Large eggs. As the instructions state, you will need to use oven mitts when taking out of microwave. I then put in sink, took of top, and ran cold water over the eggs. What a time saver and easy to peel eggs. Would highly recommend this product. Love it.