Is it possible for a potato to catch fire after 10 minutes in the microwave

firemicrowavepotatoes

Yesterday on reddit a user posted this picture of a potato:

http://i.imgur.com/3nHAqaX.jpg

He said that he followed an online recipe. He put it in the microwave for 5 minutes, turned the potato, and put it back in for 5 more minutes. When he came back to check on it, the potato was on fire.

But the picture looks so surreal, it is even possible for a potato to start to glow red? Especially after only 10 minutes in the microwave? That would mean that this video recipe is actually quite unsafe. Or could it be a microwave malfunction?

Microwaved potatoes sound like a good idea, but now I don't think I would dare try.

Additional pictures:

Second potato angle

The glowing insides of the potato

The potato still in the microwave, just after he put out the fire

Burnt microwave plate

The brand of potato used

Best Answer

"Should be fine" is like saying 'well, there's really low odds of something going wrong'. I have no idea what the odds are, but yes, it's possible.

I had microwaved potatoes many times, and then had a rather strange incident that I described in another question about microwaving potatoes, and included links to other incidents of people mentioned it happened to them.

I've since had a few years to think about what happened, and there's a few possibilities besides what I originally mentioned:

  • I don't know how old the potatoes were. They might've been older and a little bit dry.
  • I was half asleep, and it's possible that I didn't poke them a few times. I don't know if that could've led to the skin separating from the meat of the potato and that drying out & catching fire.
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