When Did People Start Saying Fry An Egg On The Sidewalk?
The oldest known use of this phrase was in an 1899 issue of the Atlanta Constitution, as part of an article titled “How to Keep Cool” written by Dr. Francis Henry Wade. He wrote in one section: “With the thermometer cavorting away up among the nineties, with the bricks of the sidewalks hot enough to fry eggs, with ‘heat prostrations’ and sun strokes ‘filling bodies with anguish and bosoms with fear,’ as the poet puts it, the question ‘How to keep cool?’ becomes an all-absorbing one of the hour in the mind of everyone, no matter what his vocation or walk of life.” It is unknown whether people began to use this phrase consistently after this, but this is the oldest recorded version of it. In a heatwave in 1933, an article in the Los Angeles Times had the following text: “Nobody tried to fry eggs in the sun in the street, but discussions on every corner were to the effect that it could be done if the eggs and the frying pan had been handy.”
However, neither of these statements is based on science, and the people who casually say this also aren’t doing experiments and math to find this, even if those who believe themselves to be smart may claim to be something of a scientist themselves.
How Hot Does An Egg Need To Be To Cook?
In order to properly cook an egg white, it needs to reach an internal temperature of 65 C (149 F), with the yolk needing to reach an internal temperature of 70 C (158 F). It is generally advised to go a few degrees above this to be able to ensure the egg gets cooked, so to be safe, let’s assume that you need a temperature of 75 C (167 F) to be able to cook an egg.
What Factors Impact The Temperature Of The Sidewalk?
There are a lot of factors that can make a sidewalk get hot. Below is a quick list of possible factors that, when added up, can make a sidewalk very hot:
- The temperature that day. Hotter temperatures will logically make surfaces such as sidewalks hotter.
- How much sunlight the sidewalk gets. Being in direct sunlight can make the sidewalk get hotter than it would be on a cloudy day.
- Darker coloured sidewalks absorb more heat, and as a result, have higher temperatures than more lightly covered ones.
There are a few other factors as well, but these are the most prominent ones.
How Hot Can A Sidewalk Get?
There is this handy tool that can help you calculate the temperature of pavement on a hot day. However, to help save time, I have used it to calculate the temperature of a sunny, partially cloudy and fully cloudy day at temperatures that meet or exceed 30 C. To simplify, I have rounded all temperatures to the closest one degree. All temperatures are listed in Celsius.
Since a temperature of 70 C is needed to cook an egg at minimum, a sunny day would need to be at around 42 C+, with it not being possible on cloudy, or even partially cloudy days unless the temperature is well more than 50 C. Even with this in mind, you must remember that this is for a minimum, as other factors can make the lowest needed temperature even higher.
Does Canada Get Hot Enough To Cook An Egg On The Sidewalk?
The hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada at the time of this article (June 2025) was recorded on June 29, 2021, in Lytton, BC. It was 49.6 C (121 F). Every temperature in Canada over 45 C was the same day, all in BC as part of the 2021 Western North America Heat Wave. Although every province, and even every territory except Nunavut has experienced temperatures of above 35 C (95 F).
Should You Eat An Egg Cooked On The Sidewalk?
No, never eat an egg that you have cooked on the sidewalk. The vast amount of dirt there, due to foot traffic, the natural state of sidewalks, as well as anything that could blow on it from an outdoor environment makes anything cooked on the sidewalk highly unsanitary and unsafe to eat.
