Is It Hot Enough To Fry An Egg?

With temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Friday in Berkley and Huntington Woods, Yours Truly wondered: Was it hot enough to fry an egg?

So, I decided to conduct an unscientific experiment at an undisclosed blacktop parking lot (we cleaned up, promise!) to find out the answer.

The conditions were as such: It was 1 p.m. and the temperature was 100 degrees in full sun. The egg's shell was glistening with condensation. Once cracked onto the blacktop, I gave it 5 minutes to cook, figuring that was a respectable amount of time to fry an egg (and that I had more serious work to be doing and needed to get going).

I must report that not much happened.

Shoot! It sure felt hot enough to me.

So, how hot does it have to be to fry an egg?

"An egg on a griddle cooks well if the griddle is around 125 Celsius (260 Fahrenheit)," famed scientist and TV host Bill Nye The Science Guy writes on his website. "I found that an egg will cook on a surface that’s only 55 Celsius (130 Fahrenheit). It just takes time – almost 20 minutes. So indeed, it can be hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk."

Let's hope it doesn't get that hot around here!