Undisputed (Mildly) Injured in Freak Microwave Accident

Post by **Dale** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:32 pm

What the heck just happened to me?

I'm sitting here with mild scalds to the fingers of my left hand. I'll live. But, I'm totally baffled about the science behind this freakish, nightmarish mishap involving a cup of coffee and a microwave oven.

What the heck just happened to me?

Ok. I decide I need an afternoon cup of coffee. I go in and the coffeepot is turned off and the coffee is not quite hot enough. So, I get out a mug, put some of that dreadful powered dairy substitute in the bottom of the cup. I pour cool coffee on top of the powder and put it in the microwave. Now, I'm sure I microwaved it too long. I open the microwave and carefully check the temperature of the mug handle. No problem. Warm to the touch, but not hot. I take the mug out of the microwave. Now, there's a spoon next to the microwave I had used a couple of hours ago. I put the spoon into the hot coffee to stir it and

all of the coffee suddenly boils over and burns my fingers.

What the heck just happened to me?

By the way, one of my daughters, when very young, coined a term for a sudden overflow of liquid out of a container. "It over-sploded!" she would say.

Anyway, anybody out there able to talk me through the science of

what the heck just happened to me?

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:34 pm

You should always put a plastic spoon in when you're boiling something liquid in the microwave.

Microwave ovens heat liquid at a different position than does boiling. Boiling heats from the bottom up, whereas microwave ovens heat everything at once and if there's nothing there to deflect the bubbles, when you touch the liquid with something, the bubbles will jump up and burn you.

That's why you're supposed to use a straw or plastic spoon when boiling liquids in the microwave.

Heal fast!!

Post by **Dale** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:36 pm

...and here's a picture of Hillary Clinton being scalded by superheated coffee

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:37 pm

Dale wrote:...and here's a picture of Hillary Clinton being scalded by superheated coffee

Is that really her? It looks like somebody from Saturday Night Live or something...

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:39 pm

The biggest problem I see in your story is that you use non-dairy powdered creamer. The coffee was probably, like, you know...offended.
Seriously Dale...milk, lactaid, soymilk, ricemilk, coconut milk...doesn't matter.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:40 pm

emmline wrote:The biggest problem I see in your story is that you use non-dairy powdered creamer. The coffee was probably, like, you know...offended.
Seriously Dale...milk, lactaid, soymilk, ricemilk, coconut milk...doesn't matter.

I've never drank coconut milk. Where do they sell it?

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:40 pm

Cranberry wrote:
emmline wrote:The biggest problem I see in your story is that you use non-dairy powdered creamer. The coffee was probably, like, you know...offended.
Seriously Dale...milk, lactaid, soymilk, ricemilk, coconut milk...doesn't matter.
I've never drank coconut milk. Where do they sell it?

In coconuts

Post by **Dale** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:41 pm

emmline wrote:The biggest problem I see in your story is that you use non-dairy powdered creamer. The coffee was probably, like, you know...offended.
Seriously Dale...milk, lactaid, soymilk, ricemilk, coconut milk...doesn't matter.

Yeah. I know. It was available and everything.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:44 pm

izzarina wrote:
Cranberry wrote:
emmline wrote:The biggest problem I see in your story is that you use non-dairy powdered creamer. The coffee was probably, like, you know...offended.
Seriously Dale...milk, lactaid, soymilk, ricemilk, coconut milk...doesn't matter.
I've never drank coconut milk. Where do they sell it?
In coconuts

Oh, I didn't know that was called milk!!

It makes sense though.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:46 pm

You can superheat liquids and cause them not to boil even though they are way above boiling temperature, but usually this only happens if there are no nucleation sites within the liquid. Grains of creamer would definitely qualify for a nucleation site, though, so I'd personally rule this one out. So, I'm guessing that the coffee was not hot enough to boil without the creamer, but as you stirred and added creamer to the coffee, it added enough nucleation sites to force out excess dissolved air. Also, air would be trapped between grains of the creamer, and this would also come out as you started dissolving the creamer into the coffee.

edit: A quick web search produces this:
http://van.hep.uiuc.edu/van/qa/section/ ... 102354.htm

scottielvr · Post by **scottielvr** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:49 pm

http://www.snopes.com/science/microwave.asp

Yeah, I know, I know, the whole Snopes thing. Soon there will be an anti-Snopes for the stuff on Snopes.

Anyway... The FDA supposedly has said that ".. If foreign materials such as instant coffee or sugar are added before heating, the risk is greatly reduced." Hah. So much for that.

I also don't think this is as rare as they term it, either. It's happened to me --I was just lucky enough not to get the coffee-plasma on my fingers...Sorry about the scald...hurts like a basmati, doesn't it. Feel better.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:49 pm

emmline wrote:The biggest problem I see in your story is that you use non-dairy powdered creamer. The coffee was probably, like, you know...offended.

Nyuk.

But not funny, otherwise. I've never heard of such a thing!

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:54 pm

I was thinking that if the creamer was in the bottom of the cup and then coldish coffee poured in, maybe the creamer got a skin on it and stayed dry underneath. Then when the super heated coffee was stirred the creamer grains suddenly were freed and made tons of nucleation points----sort of like when you throw in boiling chips at a bad time---and the coffee boiled over. Keep ice on those burns.

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Tue May 02, 2006 5:01 pm

Cranberry wrote:
izzarina wrote:
Cranberry wrote: I've never drank coconut milk. Where do they sell it?
In coconuts
Oh, I didn't know that was called milk!!

It makes sense though.

LOL! I was teasing you, Cran. Yes, there is milk in coconuts, but you can also buy it in a can. It's usually in the Mexican foods aisle (at least here in my part of OH). I use it sometimes when I make red beans and rice, to cook the rice in. It does tend to taste a bit odd, though, when you do that.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Tue May 02, 2006 5:17 pm

izzarina wrote:
Cranberry wrote:
izzarina wrote: In coconuts
Oh, I didn't know that was called milk!!

It makes sense though.
LOL! I was teasing you, Cran. Yes, there is milk in coconuts, but you can also buy it in a can. It's usually in the Mexican foods aisle (at least here in my part of OH). I use it sometimes when I make red beans and rice, to cook the rice in. It does tend to taste a bit odd, though, when you do that.

Oh...haha. That makes sense too.

I've drank soy milk, cow milk, rice milk, and even goat milk before. I just never connected coconuts with milk. I will henceforth forevermore, however.