Excessive Heat Warning! Can You Fry an Egg in the Yakima Sun?

Yes, we're having a heatwave in the Yakima Valley. In fact, the heatwave has struck all throughout the Pacific Northwest region. We've seen record high temperatures in Seattle, Portland, Tri-Cities, and Yakima to name a few places.

When it's still one-hundred and eight degrees at 8 PM, you know it's hot. Considering the typical high temperature for the 28th of June is 84 degrees, we're well above unseasonably warm. Tuesday, hold on to your ice pack, is going to be 115!

The National Weather Service issued an Excessive Heat Warning for Yakima.

Heck, this isn't going to be too bad, I mean, after all, it's going to cool down to a nice, comfortable 100 degrees by Monday. (Don't mind me - it's the heat delirium talking).

IT'S SO HOT YOU COULD FRY AN EGG ON THE SIDEWALK

It's an old saying when someone is trying to explain how hot it is outside. While the invocation of the saying does a good job in painting a verbal picture, it's entirely false. You really cannot fry an egg on a hot sidewalk. Let's face it, 110 degrees, let's say, feels really hot to be wandering around in. Imagine walking on a hot sidewalk barefoot? Ouch! But, 110 degrees is a very low cooking temperature. Cooking an egg on a griddle, you'd set the temp at least at 350 or 375. Eggs need a minimum of 155 to 160 to cook really slowly and that's not a recommended method by anyone.

OK, SO WHAT IF YOU COOK THE EGG IN A CAST-IRON SKILLET IN THE SUN?

Well. while the thought of eating an egg cooked in a cast-iron skillet sounds better than eating one off of the sidewalk, and cast-iron heats up and retains heat better than a cement slab, it's still not going to cook very fast, even in 110 temperatures. We grabbed an egg, a cast-iron skillet, and ventured out into a hot parking lot to see for ourselves.

The result? Well, see for yourself. It doesn't look too appealing and that's because this took over an hour in the direct 109-degree sun. Yes, it is technically cooked, the yolk was still slightly gooey, the whites, as you can see, dried up. However, it was delicious with a little salt and pepper and a dash of hot sauce. KIDDING. I didn't eat it.

This experiment brought new meaning to the cooking term low and slow. That works on a smoker with a brisket or pork butt, but not an egg in a pan in the sun.