Microwave issue

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Tonight i put a stick of butter, in its wrapping, in the microwave and i melted it for 10 seconds. about 8 seconds in the microwave looked like a lightening storm was going on inside. Sparks were flying every which way and i instantly opened the door to shut it off. The house smelled like burning for quite some time.</p>

<p>I just ran it for another 10 seconds, empty, and it seemed to be ok. </p>

<p>Has anyone ever had this happen? Is it safe to use? I’m afraid to put anything in and walk away and I don’t want to start a fire. I could see that happening if the butter was wrapped in tin foil but it wasn’t. Is there something in the butter wrapping that would cause this to happen?</p>

2

<p>Butter tends to explode in the microwave. It should be heated in a covered container at reduced power. Here is how to clean the microwave now:
[How</a> to Get Rid of the Smell of Butter That Exploded in the Microwave | eHow.com](<a href=“http://www.ehow.com/how_8762589_rid-smell-butter-exploded-microwave.html]How”>http://www.ehow.com/how_8762589_rid-smell-butter-exploded-microwave.html)</p>

3

<p>It didn’t explode though, it barely even softened. It was only 8 seconds in when the microwave went crazy. I put it on a plate.</p>

4

<p>take off the wrapper next time and try again. It should be OK. I usually soften butter 5 seconds at a time–on a plate, uncovered, and turn the stick over for another 5 second. YMMV (your microwave may vary)–but I wouldn’t turn it on for more than 5 seconds at a time.</p>

5

<p>Could cooking it for 8 minutes cause the microwave to send sparks and the house smell like smoke?</p>

<p>I usually do 5 and 5 and flip it also but this time I decided to do all ten at once. Guess that was my mistake. I also bought a generic butter that I don’t normally purchase so it’s possible that their wrapper is a little different and not microwave friendly.</p>

6

<p>I take it you mean 8 seconds?
It is probably something in the wrapper. Though I have seen margarine with foil wrappers, butter usually has a wax paper wrapper. What you’re describing sounds like what happens if there is something metal in the microwave. But sometimes if a microwave “dies” (not sure how to describe it–like its element burns out–this happened to me a couple times), it will smell like smoke or electrical fire. The fan/light may still work, but it will not heat–so test it with a cup of water and see if it still heats.</p>

7

<p>That’s what I was thinking - that is was margarine in a wrapper that has foil in it.</p>

8

<p>Oops, i did mean eight seconds! Minutes would have been a mess!!! </p>

<p>Yes it had the normal looking wax paper wrapper.</p>

<p>I’ll try to heat something today.</p>

<p>It just had scared me when it did that</p>

<p>Sent from my DROID BIONIC using CC</p>

9

<p>It’s likely it was something on the wrapper such as the ink used for printing. One time I placed a package of frozen tortillas, still inside the original plastic bag, in the microwave to defrost. I was a few feet away busy with other parts of the meal. I looked up and noticed a small flame in the microwave. After I pulled it out and stopped the fire, I looked at the bag. Plastic shouldn’t cause a fire in the microwave. I noticed that the burned area seemed to have started in an area with a lot of printing on it. My guess is that there was something in the ink. I don’t put original plastic bags or any wrappers in the microwave any more.</p>

10

<p>Arcing in a microwave is very common.</p>

<p>It happens when I heat frozen green beans.</p>

<p>Not sure of the cause and I don’t believe most of the reasons cited on the Internet (metal trim in the dish, grease left on the insides of the M/W, etc.).</p>

11

<p>Any food that gets hot enough from microwaves can become so hot, that it starts paper on fire. (or plastic) and yes some ink attracts microwave energy and may contain metal. Which will also become hot enough to start food on fire.</p>

12

<p>I agree that it’s probably something in the ink on the wrapper. </p>

<p>As an FYI, running a microwave empty is bad for the magnetron. Run it with a cup of water, if you need to test it.</p>

<p>Green beans notoriously arc due to the mineral content. </p>

<p>Metal, shaped such that there are no gaps through air small enough to arc, isn’t a problem in the microwave. For instance, you can hard boil eggs in their shells by wrapping each egg individually in aluminum foil, and putting the foil-wrapped eggs in a large container of water in the microwave. The microwaves heat the water (but not the eggs), and the water cooks the eggs. (This is one of those things, like cooking an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in a pan of water on the stovetop until it caramelizes, where people who have never done it will claim that it doesn’t work / will explode. I’ve done it hundreds of times, with a wide variety of microwave ovens. It works fine and never explodes.)</p>

13

<p>Used it twice today and it was OK.</p>

<p>I only ran it empty for 10 sec to test it yesterday in fear of it catching fire’</p>

<p>No more butter wrappers!!</p>

<p>Sent from my Nexus 7 using CC</p>

14

<p>The same thing happened to our microwave this summer. I unplugged it and never plugged it in again. It was a perfect excuse for a replacement. Our old microwave was 25+ years old. I LOVE the new one.</p>

15

<p>Whatever you do, do NOT microwave a whole egg in the shell, then crack it open…</p>