I have an odd, and probably very elementary question, but please
bear with me.

I put a few eggs into boiling water to hard-boil them. Within about
30 seconds, I heard a very loud CRACK! noise, looked in the pot and
saw one of the eggs losing its contents into the water. At the end
of the boiling period, there was a moderate sized hole in the shell
of that egg, and it was floating, so probably mostly empty.

I've had eggs crack and lose some of their contents before, but never
with so much force, making such a loud noise. Has anyone had this
experience before? It makes me wonder whether something was wrong
with the egg, eg, maybe it was spoiled, and pressure from gas inside
the shell (from bacteria) caused it to crack really forcefully. Can't
say I've ever heard of this happening, though.

They were in the refrigerator prior to being put into the boiling
water, but that's always the case when I boil eggs (which I do very
regularly). Also, I usually put salt into the water before adding
the eggs, which helps keep them from cracking, but I'd forgotten this
time.

I realize this post is a little weird and might end up fodder for
jokes, but I'm actually a bit phobic about food poisoning, so I'd
appreciate at least a *few* serious answers.

Thanks.

Joyce
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