I'm pretty lazy, so whenever I boil an egg for myself I don't bother to find the egg cups, which are never where they should be anyway. I just rip the carton up into individual egg cups. Only thing is the carton tends to rip badly sometimes. So it'd be handy if the carton was actually designed to tear correctly. All that would be required is a bunch of small holes punched in the carton to form the outline of each egg cup.
-- Cubical_View, Aug 06 2005

i dunnnoooo----- i usually like my eggs runny, and the carton that they come is in usually biodegradable/recyclable grey looking stuff, which i wouldnt really like having my lovely yellow egg to go all over. the thing with the ceramic egg cups is that u can lick it off them- without worrying about hygiene
-- chocolateraindrops, Aug 06 2005


I figured hygiene could be an issue, but I don't think I emphasised just how lazy I can be sometimes. This saves me having to wash an egg cup as well.
-- Cubical_View, Aug 06 2005


Regarding both the issues of hygiene and aesthetics, I imagine that white styrofoam containers would best lend themselves to the fulfillment of this idea. There's at least an appearance of sanitariness that already allows me to retrieve and enjoy the wayward scrap of lettuce or cheese dripping from a juicy cheeseburger without compunction or concern for my health. And rolled thin-wall styrofoam perforates crisply.

The more important issue, though, is compromise of the structural integrity of the egg carton during transport. No matter how useful and efficient an easily detachable egg cup might be for consumption or shelf storage, that utility would be negated if the carton had any propensity for sudden unintended separation as it was being handled and transported. One handy egg cup doesn't make up for ten broken eggs splattered on the floor.
-- jurist, Aug 07 2005


A good point, but I don't think it would have to be weakened significantly for this to work. All that is required is for the cups to tear off cup shaped, it should still require a bit of force.
-- Cubical_View, Aug 07 2005


Though i have never used an egg cup, I like this idea because I dont like all the wasted refirgerator space when my dozen-egg carton is only holding two eggs. I usually cut the carton with a knife and throw away the empty sections, but this idea would make it much easier. as for structural integrity goes, I think it should be okay, seeing as they are eggs and probably handled with extreme care anyway.
-- IcarusByNight, Aug 08 2005


You boil cardboard?
-- Antegrity, Aug 08 2005


[Icarus], In regard to my concern for the structural integrity of the carton, I was thinking more of the distance between the refrigerator and the kitchen counter or stove top. I generally keep my eggs in the original carton inside the refrigerator, rather than transferring them to a special egg tray. Thus the carton typically gets lifted by its end a half dozen or more times, leveraging the weight of the entire carton against any weak perforations. A moment's inattention or careless haste could spell the end for Humpty Dumpty and his siblings.
-- jurist, Aug 08 2005


I think what [Cubical] needs is a breed of hens that lay genetically-modified eggs that have an egg-cup type pedestal on one end. They would still fit in present packaging as long as they were packed pedestal side up. I'm sure you'd be willing to pay a little more to cater to your laziness.

Failing that, you could glue a couple of egg cups to your dining room table so you would always know where to find them. Then you could invite [chocolate] over to lick them clean.
-- Canuck, Aug 08 2005



random, halfbakery