Wildnerness Hardboiled Egg!

I'm sure you have made hard boiled eggs before in a pot on a stove. But I don't believe you have ever made one in a paper cup in a campfire. That's right I said it IN not on the campfire. If you want to pretend you are a wilderness survivor and want to look cool making an egg with a cup found on the ground (don't recommend making it in a random cup on the ground, it may have germs) than look no further find an egg and boil it ( don't recommend taking an egg from the wild you may be fined by the forest ranger). I also think you could boil things other than eggs in the cup maybe boiled chicken? Just think of all the possibilities of cooking without a pan! So Lets get cooking!

Step 1: Materials

For this Eggcellent meal you will need
- A nice toasty campfire
- A paper cup (not Styrofoam, plastic, or hot cups)
- An egg ( not broken or rotten )
*Remember to keep refrigerated.
- And a pair of tongs

Step 2: The Science Behind It!!

If you put a paper cup in a fire it will burn! (amazing right?) Well if you put water in a paper cup it will not burn as long as there is water in it. (the edge of the cup will burn but where the water is will not burn.) This is because water is a conductor that keeps the heat away. Technically you could do this in a paper bag (however the bag may break because it is wet.)

Step 3: Boiling the Egg

Take your egg and put it into a paper cup filled with water. Now use the tongs to carefully lower the cup into the fire (without spilling the water). Wait for the water to boil and now start your timer for about ten minutes. now the tricky part is getting the egg and pu out of the water. I noticed that if you grab the edge of the cup it will sometimes fall apart and spill the water so what I do is I grab the cup as far in as I can go (tongs inside the water) then I scoot the cup to the side incase the cup breaks while removing it from the fire and lastly I pull the cup out of the fire. Now you have yourself a boiled egg!
*warning egg and cup will be really hot!!

Step 4: Experimenting!

I have used this method to Boil water for hot chocolate and make hardboiled eggs!
I want to see you try boiling something in a paper cup maybe carrots soup?
Put what you made in the comment area! have fun cooking!

Comments

[doo da do]

Looks like a 16oz cup, is that the right size?

[dustinandrews]

Even if the cup had germs, the boiling would take care of that. :) Chemicals are a more worrying concern with found cups I think.

[mole1]

I like it! Would it work over a gas camp stove?

[undftdking]

I haven't tried scientifically yes but the cup does get fragile on the bottom rim and may tip

[diyoutdoorsman]

I've often taught kids to boil water in a cabbage leaf. Like the paper cup, the leaf will burn down to the water level and then will boil. The trick to cooking something with this method is getting a leaf large enough to hold enough water to offset the loss of liquid through evaporation long enough to complete the cooking process and not burn through.