Warning! Water Can Explode in the Microwave
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Heating water in the microwave can actually be dangerous. A man decided to have a cup of instant coffee, so he heated a cup of water in the microwave. When the timer went off, he removed the cup from the microwave and noticed that the water had not boiled. Just then, the water literally “blew up” in his face. His whole face was blistered with first and second degree burns, which left some permanent scaring and damage to his left eye. While at the hospital, the doctor attending him stated that his is a fairly common occurrence. Water (alone) should never be heated in a microwave oven. Why?
This phenomenon is known as superheating. It can occur anytime water is heated - especially if the cup or bowl is new. What happens is that the water heats faster than the vapor bubbles can form. If the cup is very new, then it is unlikely to have small surface scratches in it that provide a place for the bubbles to form (called nucleation sites). Without bubbles, the water cannot release the heat that has built up, the liquid does not boil and it continues to heat up past its boiling point. If the water is bumped or jarred, it’s enough of a shock to cause the bubbles to rapidly form and the result is an exploding liquid that is scalding hot. One solution is to place a wooden stir stick or something non-metallic in the water to help diffuse the energy as it’s heating in the microwave.
While sharing this story with audiences, I’ve learned that many people have had similar experiences but never understood why the water just blew up. It’s an important piece of science to share with others in hopes of preventing a potential disaster.
Hmmmm… Ive heard of this before but i didnt belive that it could actully happen. So what that says that if a new cup is used to heat water its lickely that the water will explode. This is very interesting I think ill look upon this
This just happened to me today at work! Heated up a mug for tea, noticed it wasn’t boiling and boom- right up the left side of my neck and face. About 2 tbsp of water left in the mug. True! Stopping for aloe vera on the way home.
dont know if its true..but will find out …is microwave a health risk? i always use it to make tea..but lookin at u.s.a where baby boomers and society has grown up on microwave food, i dont see them affected now in life..those who used it in the 1980’s in usa japan etc..so doubt tht my mom is correct in saying microwave heating is bad for you, with the radiation etc..
Not sure about microwave ovens posing any health risks. I’m sure there’s plenty of stuff on the internet on both sides. Sorry I don’t know more about it.
This is absolutely true! I have seen it happen. I have also had it happen to me. The first time it happened, it wasn’t water… it was soup. Bell went off, microwave stopped running. Opened the door, grabbed a napkin and some crackers, spoon. Then reached in to grab the soup, touched the little handle of the edge of the cup and blam, with 10 or 11 other employees watching, the soup shot straight up, covered the entire inside of the microwave, flooded out the front. Second time was just water in prep for ramen noodles. Same thing, touched it and sploosh, boiling water everywhere… burned me and actually shot out of the oven onto my shirt, pants and shoes.
Believe it or you’ll likely pay a price for ignorance.
I’ve had this happen. Scared me to death! I’d never heard of it before. I wanted to boil a cup of water, and I set the timer for 2 minutes. At the end, it hadn’t boiled at all, so I added more time. It still didn’t boil. I was looking through the window on the door to see if it was boiling, and all of a sudden… BOOM! It was enough force to fling the microwave door open. The cup jumped up and hit the top of the microwave, the sat back down straight up. It never turned over, but it was empty. All of the water shot out violently inside the microwave, and much of it sprayed out through the open door. I’d never seen anything like this before! That’s why I came to the internet to search to find out why this happened. Apparently, it’s fairly common! BE CAREFUL!!!
Interesting phenomenon…it works with eggs too as I found out! Wanna try, take a styrofoam cup, crack an uncooked egg into it, discard the shell, microwave on high for 1 minute…in approx 45 seconds, your microwave will be goo-ed with half cooked egg matter…enjoy!
This just happened to me. I put 8oz of water into a pyrex glass microwaveable jug and I heated it for about 3 minutes. When I opened the microwave to remove the water I noticed it was not boiling. I didn’t think much of it, so I reached in and picked up the jug by the handle. The water exploded out of the jug and scalded my arm. I never knew this could happen. I have now learned from reading in the internet to put a wooden spoon in the water to prevent this from happening.
Diana — I going to have Dr. Gordon Linberg who is a burn specialist on as a guest on 9NEWS on Monday to discuss this very issue. I’ll be sure to post the streaming video on the blog.
This is a real problem. The American Burn Association (ABA) has identified scald burns from superheated liquids in microwaves as a target for a new public awareness campaign. These burns are dramatic and traumatic because they often affect the face and hands of the burn victim. Fortunately, these burns rarely need grafting; however, they are extremely painful and in children these burns often lead to hospitalization for wound care and pain control. The best way to avoid these burns is to place a wooden coffee stirrer in the liquid when heating it and also to let all heated liquids cool for a few minutes inside the microwave before removing them.
If you receive one of these burns, and especially if it covers the face or hands, seek a burn care specialist for care. Initial treatment for the burn can be performed in an ED or at a doctor’s office, but a burn specialist should see the burn within 24-48 hours after the injury, especially if the face is involved. If the eyes are involved, an ophthalmologist should be consulted immediately. Both burn units in the state of Colorado are open 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week/ 365 days a year. There is one in Greeley, CO and one at the University of Colorado in Denver.
This is not an “urban myth”. It’s real and it’s painful. My son-in-law had to go every day to get his wound cleaned and rebandaged, then every other day.
We took a picture of the burns on his hand right after it happened. I posted it on my blog, feel free to check it out. Not pretty!
This phenomenon is not merely confined to the microwave but it could also happen on the stovetop or whenever you are heating a very pure liquid up.
Tips: Avoid heating up either distilled or de-ionized water. These types of water have less ionic content than normal tap water. If your dish can stand it, put some salt in before boiling, this will increase the ionic content of the water and make it less likely to superheat.
I’ve never heard of this before, but why can’t people just not super-heat their water? Why does tea or coffee or soup have to be SO hot?
YOUR ARTICLE IS VERY INTERESTING
my daughter was making a poached egg in the microwave today when she took it out it blow p on her face she has blisters and her two eyes are burned we are just going up to the hostpital. she is in so much pain.
True! Happened to us this morning. Scary!
This happened to me at work this morning. I had already heated a cup (not new) of water but forgot about it. When I finally went back to the microwave I had to reheat the water as it was only warm and not hot enough for my tea. I set the microwave for two minutes and was watching the cup so I could stop the microwave when I saw the water start to boil. At about one minute of time the water exploded out of the cup. I had never seen anything like this happen before and I have been boiling water in this manner for years.
My son stuck a hard-boiled egg into the microwave to heat it up, and the egg exploded. Thing is, the microwave itself blew a fuse or something and there’s no power now. There’s no reset button, or anything. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks, if you do.
Mike.
My son put a hard boiled egg into the microwave to heat it up (no shell). The egg exploded with a terrific bang. Now the microwave has no power. There isn’t a reset key or anything. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
I have also had this happen to me but not with water. I was heating up milk to make creamy cocoa. I was standing there waiting for the bubbles to start so that I would know when the milk was hot enough to add the chocolate powder into it. It never did boil so I opened up the microwave to see if it was hot enough by stirring the milk using a metal spoon. I guess the milk had formed a skin on top that did not let the heat escape and when I stuck the spoon into the milk it shot straight up out of the mug onto my hand and the inside top of the microwave and down onto the turntable. It scared me to death but fortunately it only burned a couple fingers and that’s all. I have never heated milk up in the microwave since.
this happened to me this morning, put a cup of milk in, but it didnt boil, so i gave it a bit longer, when i took it out it looked like the milk had seperated, i put a spoon in to stir it but it just exploded in my face.. quick reactions was to put cold water on the burns, got a couple of small blisters, but i guess it could of been a lot worse..! wont be doing that again..
For anyone who thinks this cannot happen, my wife is presently at an Eye Surgery center with her mother. Her mother was removing a cup of microwaved water behind me in the kitchen, when the cup exploded, leaving steaming water and embedded shards of glass in the ceiling and walls. My wife just called from the hospital to say that her mother has lost her right eye totally to the flying glass and scalding water and her left has but a minor chance of recovering from the scalding should a cornea transplant become feasable sometime in the future.
This happened to my father on the weekend, but with milk! He put his mug in the microwave with cold milk, like he has done for a long time. He saw it starting to bubble so stopped the microwave, reached in and took it out and as he did it exploded, scalding his forehead and a little into the scalp!
The mug was still in tact and my father is currently in seeking medical assistance for his burns.
Yes, indeed it does happen and not just with water!
from now on, ill be more careful on anything i put into our microwave.