How Does the Espresso Machine Steam Wand Cook Eggs?

In some cafés in Colombia, the steam wand on an espresso machine is used for eggs rather than milk. A café owner, inspired by Japanese chawanmushi, reasoned that steam continuously heats milk, so it should also cook and set eggs. An egg is cracked into a coffee cup, beaten with salt, butter, and ham, then steamed. The result is tender, fluffy, and soufflé-like.

The dish became a signature breakfast item, served in a cup and shaped like a muffin, and diners ordered it repeatedly. Replicating it at home is harder than it looks. Steam that heats milk always produces bubbles, and the eggs foam heavily too. Coffee lovers should also note that this practice can cause real trouble for an espresso machine.

The steam wand on an espresso machine is usually used to froth milk or heat it up, but in some cafés in Colombia, it has been developed for an unexpected purpose—steaming eggs. This egg dish made with a steam wand has a fluffy, tender texture like a soufflé, and has become a signature breakfast item at local cafés. This article will walk you through the origins of this famous dish, how it's made, and the real experiences of netizens who tried to replicate it. At the same time, the article also reminds coffee lovers: this practice can cause no small amount of trouble for your espresso machine. If you're intrigued by the curious combination of coffee and eggs, read on.

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The steam wand on an espresso machine probably never expected that in some corner of the world, its counterparts—beyond frothing milk and heating it—would actually be used to "scramble" eggs, and moreover become a famous dish in Colombian cafés?!

In the past, Western countries dealt with eggs in no way other than boiling, frying, or baking.

However, after tasting Japanese chawanmushi, the owner of a certain café had a flash of inspiration and came up with an idea: could eggs be given a tender, silky texture without using a water bath, and even have meat tucked inside?

With this thought in mind, he noticed the steam wand on the espresso machine… "Since steam can continuously heat milk, it should also be able to cook eggs and make them set." So the owner began experimenting: crack an egg into a coffee cup and beat it, add salt, butter, and ham, then proceeded with a very hardcore operation.

As everyone knows, it's impossible to heat milk with steam without producing bubbles, and this cup of eggs is no exception 😂. The steamed, set eggs are indeed very tender and silky, but also quite fluffy, with a texture like a soufflé and a rich, layered mouthfeel.

The diners present at the time were deeply intrigued by this egg dish served in a cup, shaped like a muffin, and ordered it one after another, and its texture completely overturned everyone's understanding of cooking eggs. Just like that, word of this dish spread throughout the entire town, and many cafés rushed to imitate it, and it eventually became a must-have breakfast option in cafés across several cities in Colombia.

Seeing how popular his invention was, the owner of Café El Polo didn't rest on his laurels either. Before long, he created La macana—a mixture of soda crackers, a large amount of butter, sugar, and milk placed in a coffee cup, cooked with steam, and finally sprinkled with cinnamon powder.

Although it doesn't look very appetizing, but! It is likewise one of the signature dishes of local cafés! One has to say, people are truly exceptionally fond of fluffy-textured foods.

Faced with this method of steaming eggs, many curious netizens also tried it at home. According to feedback from those who tried it, the eggs made this way are indeed soft, fluffy, and tender, like scrambled eggs that melt in your mouth.

But the actual scene during the process is truly quite a mess! After steaming, some people desperately scrape the coagulated egg off the steam wand with a small fork…

Some scrub hard with a scouring pad…

Other netizens complained that ever since using the steam wand to cook eggs, the vent holes got clogged with egg. Even after clearing them, egg liquid still seeps into the inner wall of the steam wand and solidifies, occasionally "adding some extra flavor" to the frothed milk… or else the latte faintly carries a hint of egg… (full of regret, complaining through tears)

Look! Just look at the steam wand at Café El Polo—clearly they gave up struggling a long time ago!

Today, after the author and a colleague watched these methods together, she immediately pinned me down, afraid I might try it! She said that after last time's experiment using raw eggs frothed into a fine foam to make Vietnam's famous egg coffee, she could faintly smell the fishy odor of eggs for an entire day.

Do you think I'm that kind of person?! (Yes) If the espresso machine didn't still need to serve the shop daily, I really would have the urge to give it a try! But reason ultimately triumphed over impulse!

Actually, if you want to achieve that soft, moist, and fluffy texture produced by a steam wand, you can completely switch to another method: beat the eggs, wait until the water just boils then immediately turn off the heat, stir to create a whirlpool, then immediately pour in the egg liquid, scoop it out the moment it sets, and gently press out the excess water, and you'll get the same effect.

However, the hassle of this method is not much less than scrambling eggs with a steam wand…

Image source: Internet, YT

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.