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My Sweet POtatoe caught on fire!


Guest gogoblender

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Guest gogoblender

Zomg!

k, I have NO idea what just happenned.

Schot was in the kitchen cooking something and I was here at the computer doin my normal run of the mill stuff.

So...I went over to the kitchen to see what he had goin that I could maybe steal a bite of.

oooh...a plate piled with deliciously sliced sweet uncooked pototoes.

Course, I just had to nab one and while I was talkin to him with huge hand gestures and some skillfull misdirection I threw that one slice of raw sweet potato into the microwave and set the nuker on high for one minute.

5...

10...

20...

30...

...

...

 

SchzwaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAPP!

 

...FIRE

:whistle:

 

...explosion

:)

 

Fear!

:viking:

 

 

Guys, the slice caught on fire...loooooooooooool...k, I have no idea what just happenned.

zomg I've NEVER had anytihng catch on fire in the microwave before and my stolen slice of raw sweet potato was burnin!

Course, it was, at this point, impossible to hide the stolen slice with flames licking away inside the micro wave and schot yellin...turn it off...turn it off...

 

question...

 

k, how the heck would you "turn off" a microwave that had something burning in it?

 

Course I kicked the door open and...the fire went out.

But...

what the heck happenned here?

 

Is it so wrong to just throw a skinny slice of sweet potato into the machine then click it on high fer a minute?

 

Are today's vegetables now combustible?

 

Should I buy only organic from now on?

 

:)

 

gogo

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:whistle::):viking:

 

Oh I am sorry I shouldn't laugh but hell! my sides hurt!

 

Maybe Schot knew you would do that and hid some silver foil on the slice? :)

 

But to be safe only buy organic from now on and GoGo.....stop messing with that micro!

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I am thinking it was God smiting you for breaking the Seventh Commandment . . . Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Roommate's Sweet Potato! :)

 

I would not think it possible that 1 minute is too long. When I steam veggies in the microwave I put them in a pyrex container with a lid and a little water for 2-3 minutes without fear of explosion. Maybe too much nitrogen in the fertilizer. :whistle:

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K... I caaaan't believe you just stood there. Like, duuuude. Turn dah thing off fer crying out load! lol. No wait! Not by opening the microwave door!

:whistle:

:P

:4rofl:

 

Here I am content in a simple cooking and then... Along comes gogo. God forbid my life should ever be simple. Nonono. All myyyy simple moments must first be checked by gogo and then be given the official chaotic "OMG!" seal of approval. :viking:

 

At first I was like. "Oooooh, that's cooooool." That's ok for the first milisecond after which I looked at gogo knowing full well that he'd stop the microwave, being that he was standing right beside it. Right gogo. gogo? gogo!

I guess the look of awe and glee on his face, not to mention the jumping and clapping should have been an indicator to the contrary...

 

*sigh*

 

No more Yams for you gogo. :evil:

 

Oh and to answer yer question gogo it's because of the high sugar content in yams. :)

 

Do we have a spanking emoticon? :)

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The old burning sweet potatoe trick.....

 

Must admit, I've never done that before. I did ruin a microwave once with one of those microwave rice cookers. To this day I still swear that the directions said put it in for 30 minutes. What was left of the rice was suitable for use in a fishtank filter.

 

And not to go off topic, but remember those vacuum food sealers? The one that also comes with special marinating containers? I put some chicken and spices in one of those and sucked all the air out. I stuck it in the fridge and the thing exploded. The center piece was sucked into the bowl and the rest of the lid jumped to another shelf. The liquid contents--soy sauce mostly--sprayed the entire inside of the fridge.

 

The company provided free replacements and took the broken one to their R&D lab to study.

 

But as far as microwave destruction stories go....I bow to the master. :bow:

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Guest gogoblender

heh, great story,Sil

But..I don't wanna be the King of Microwave Ruin...

Someone come quick and snatch away the title!

:)

 

gogo

 

p.s. that vacuum food sealer sounds so destructive...

where can I buy one?

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  • 4 months later...

Well I haven't set fire to anything in the microwave YET but do have a interesting oven story. I had bought this oven that has a self cleaning feature in it. Being brand new I wasn't use to the controls. So one day I put a turkey in the oven and thought I had turned it on. Not realizing's I had just started the self cleaning cycle. Going back about 1/2 an hour later to my horror I found out my mistake. The oven was starting its self cleaning cycle which would take it up to 800 degrees ( for my European friends around 426 ) and then things got worse I found out when it passes a certain point a protective shield comes up over the oven window and the door locks it self !36_2_39.gif So at this point all reason exits my mind I run around trying to figure ways to unlock this increasing getting hotter oven. Then 10 minutes later my mind finally starts working and I come up with this extremely difficult and complex answer to my problem. I unplug it

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So what happened with the turkey? Was it squishy clean afterwards? :D

 

I have yet to burn anything in the microwave, though I once saw the effects of boiling an egg inside it. (I wasn't the one to do it though. :mad:)

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Talking about safety, don't boil water in mircowave ever. It doesn't happen often, but it is possible that the mircowave would explode the mineral inside the water. I'm dead serious.

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Lol! It's true! I saw that on Mythbusters.

 

It was pretty fun to watch, but dangerous should it happen to you, since the water will explode when you open the door. :D

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Call me evil but I love this thread. It's monday morning not the greatest day of the week for me so just to come and read this post cheers me up no end. Gogo, Schot hahah I can just see it. Cheers for the chuckles :D

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Talking about safety, don't boil water in mircowave ever. It doesn't happen often, but it is possible that the mircowave would explode the mineral inside the water. I'm dead serious.

Actually, it's not the mineral, it's the air bubbles that naturally occur when boiling water, and you can avoid it by using the proper type of cooking vessel. I boil water in my microwave all the time without fear of explosion after Alton Brown explained the cause (I was unable to find the exploding water video from good eats, but here's a small selection of "shorts" that you can watch if you're interested. If nothing else it may show why I trust his information implicitly.).

 

There are 2 keys to worry free microwave water boiling (or if you reverse them, I suppose they would be keys for how to explode your water). The first is to use a cooking vessel that's large enough so that the amount of water you want to boil doesn't completely fill it. Boiling water agitatates, so you want to give it some extra room to move around. The second is to make sure the top of the cooking vessel is not smaller than the bottom (such as a glass milk bottle). You need lots of surface space for the air that the water releases to escape. The explosions are caused by the air not having enough room to escape properly, so remaining in the water and gravitating together to form one huge air bubble that has to escape, and eventually gets enough pressure/force to expand out the sides of the vessel thereby causing the explosion.

 

Dang, I really wish I could have found Alton's explanation, it probably reads much better. The bottom line though, is that as long as the thing you're boiling it in (it's a given that it's microwave safe, and heat-safe enough to boil water in I hope) isn't filled all the way and is wider at the top than the main body (I use a big glass 4 cup oven safe measuring cup), you should be perfectly safe :D

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Actually, it's not the mineral, it's the air bubbles

 

Oh indeed? I heard the mineral explanation from a doctor no less! Some doctor that is! :D (he is so going to hear this the next time I see him)

 

I stand corrected, Thx.

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  • 1 year later...
Talking about safety, don't boil water in mircowave ever. It doesn't happen often, but it is possible that the mircowave would explode the mineral inside the water. I'm dead serious.

Actually, it's not the mineral, it's the air bubbles that naturally occur when boiling water, and you can avoid it by using the proper type of cooking vessel. I boil water in my microwave all the time without fear of explosion after Alton Brown explained the cause (I was unable to find the exploding water video from good eats, but here's a small selection of "shorts" that you can watch if you're interested. If nothing else it may show why I trust his information implicitly.).

 

There are 2 keys to worry free microwave water boiling (or if you reverse them, I suppose they would be keys for how to explode your water). The first is to use a cooking vessel that's large enough so that the amount of water you want to boil doesn't completely fill it. Boiling water agitatates, so you want to give it some extra room to move around. The second is to make sure the top of the cooking vessel is not smaller than the bottom (such as a glass milk bottle). You need lots of surface space for the air that the water releases to escape. The explosions are caused by the air not having enough room to escape properly, so remaining in the water and gravitating together to form one huge air bubble that has to escape, and eventually gets enough pressure/force to expand out the sides of the vessel thereby causing the explosion.

 

Dang, I really wish I could have found Alton's explanation, it probably reads much better. The bottom line though, is that as long as the thing you're boiling it in (it's a given that it's microwave safe, and heat-safe enough to boil water in I hope) isn't filled all the way and is wider at the top than the main body (I use a big glass 4 cup oven safe measuring cup), you should be perfectly safe :)

 

Good and interesting info, Carolyn.

 

And I never actually knew that. I do boil water in the microwave. It's tons faster than for me to use the stove, though I have heard that using a kettle for tea water could be faster. I've always been careful to put in water a fair bit below the lip, as because the water does agitate, getting water to boil inside of a cup can be rather tricky if you don't want it to splash all over. It seems like you either get it to just boil...or when it finally does it hit the boil point it wants to jump out and hit the walls. When it comes to convenience, boiling water cup by cup is so fast and very efficient time/wise in the morning, I don't think I'd be able to get the morning going without this.

 

:)

 

gogo

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water in the microwave also has to do with how the water is heated in the microwave. if the surface of the water is perfectly smooth then the next thing to break the surface tension of the water can make the air escape explosively. if you burble it in the microwave and break the surface tension with something in the container thats microsafe then it wont explode. I have done it safely for years without a problem. if the container is deep enough just give the water a swirl when you take it out (a gentle one) and that will break the surface tension too. the extra space to the top of the container will contain any "explosions" of hot water.

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heh, know what you mean by this Mom...but didn't know it had to do with the surface tension. What I do know is that I have to be VERY careful when I break the surface of a liquid heated by a microwave. It's weird stuff, and in the past ( and during morning's when I'm clueless until I have the coffee :)) I've poured sugar in... only to have the cup explode on me like a furious mini-volcano. As well, just breaking the surface with a spoon can make the water get agitated and look like it's boiling all over again.

 

Strange stuff

 

:)

 

gogo

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