Last week I microwaved some peanut butter M&Ms for 40 seconds, which is something I've done hundreds of times before to melt the chocolate on the inside. However, when I did it this time, there was some popping and then a big spark inside. There was no metal in the microwave, the bowl is microwave safe, but it did have a chip in it. I also left the M&Ms uncovered, while I usually cover them with a paper towel. Any idea what caused this? Someone elsewhere suggested this paper might be an explanation but I would think it would have happened before if that was the case.
Chocolate – Microwaving M&Ms produces sparks
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Best Answer
Off the top of my head I would say the sparking and popping is unexpected: usually a significant of water content would need to be present for this kind of behavior, as water conducts electricity and everything else not so much. There is water in peanut butter, but it is around 1-2% and is emulsified with fat, and that should reduce the conductivity substantially. But, the voltages inside a microwave oven are quite high and could force a conductive path through the emulsion to cause sparking.
My best guess is that whoever makes M&Ms (can't remember now) changed their peanut butter formulation and used slightly more water. It is batch specific?