Is it Really Hot Enough to Fry an Egg in Poughkeepsie, New York?

Temperatures topped 105 degrees in Poughkeepsie, New York this week, so we wondered if we could really fry an egg on the sidewalk.

Growing up in the 1980s, the danger of hot weather was just one of the traumatic things that were drilled into my head as a child. I remember a public service announcement that used to play during the Saturday morning cartoons, warning against leaving dogs in hot cars. The announcer would say, "Hot enough to fry an egg? Also hot enough to fry a dog's brain" while showing the image of a sad dog being locked in the back seat of a car.

Because of that commercial being imprinted in my brain as a kid, whenever I step outside on a hot day, I exclaim, "Hot enough to fry an egg!". However, I never actually thought it was hot enough to cook an egg outside. That is, until this week.

The Hudson Valley is experiencing a wild heat wave. On Tuesday, the thermometer at my house registered 108 degrees, which had me once again talking about eggs and dogs' brains. This time, however, I decided to put the phrase to the test and attempt to cook an egg outside for real.

Hot Enough to Fry an Egg Outside in Poughkeepsie, New York?

In order to conduct my experiment, I brought a frying pan outside and placed it on the black driveway in full sun for an hour. When I returned, the pan was so hot that I could barely touch it, so I grabbed some butter and an egg and decided to give it a try.

The butter immediately melted, just like it would on the stove. Confident that the egg would cook, I cracked the shell and waited to see what would happen.

With camera in hand, I eagerly awaited the results:

Unfortunately, the egg did not immediately cook the way it does on the stove. While the egg white firmed up a bit, it did not quickly turn white. However, the heat of the air was so intense that I thought it was possible that the egg would cook if left out in the sun for a while.

After an hour, I returned and found that the egg was technically cooked, but not in a way that would make me want to eat it.

The egg white was transformed into a clear and flaky skin and the yolk had a rubbery consistency, more well-done than a poached egg but still a bit runny.

According to the Internet, the protein in egg whites only begins to cook at 158 degrees, which is about 50 degrees more than the air temperature on Tuesday. In fact, the highest temperature ever recorded is 134 degrees. The record high occurred in Death Valley back in 1913. While extremely hot, it still wouldn't be nearly enough to properly fry an egg.