20 Strangest Things People Have Cooked in Microwaves

Many people have funny memories of when when they put forks or tinfoil in the microwave - when they were five years old, and didn't know any better. Far funnier are the many, fully grown men (let's be honest - not too many women do stuff like this) who decide to tempt fate and "see what happens" when the most unthinkable things are exposed to micro waves and concentrated heat. Thanks to YouTube, these stories can come alive with videos of the explosions, meltdowns, and panic that inevitably follow these "bright ideas." Enjoy!

1) These days it seems like everyone is feeling the crunch of a huge cell phone bill. Between text messaging, photo swapping and Internet access, wireless providers take any excuse they can find to nickel and dime you to death. But while most of us just complain about it, this unhappy customer stuffed his phone into the microwave to perform a full-fledged exorcism! Okay, so you can't really exorcise the demons inside a cell phone, but give the guy credit for some sick animation!



2) In this video, a couple of teenage boys introduce a microwave they've named "Javier" that they have placed in the middle of an open field and powered with an extension cord. Why pull this prank outside, you ask? Simple: even the most fearless daredevil wouldn't risk microwaving a pound of pure gunpowder inside their home! And by the time the video gets about 39 seconds in, it'll be all too obvious to you why doing this outside was a very, very good idea!



3) Another installment from the "Is it a good idea to microwave this?" series finds our young daredevils microwaving a lava lamp. This task required some special precautions, such as duct-taping the edges of the microwave door to keep the horrific smelling, toxic fumes from seeping out. But even with every I dotted and every T crossed, the lamp shatters under the extreme heat, leaving a hot, gooey pool of red all over the inside. Yuck! It's a good thing this duo was prepared, going so far as to encase their microwave in "a state-of-the-art facility equipped with tinfoil shielding, a ventilation system, and emergency surge protectors."



4) You really have to scratch your head and wonder about a guy who would title a video "is it a good idea to microwave nickel cadmium batteries?" Still, you have to admire a couple of pranksters who take things seriously enough to wear insulated rubber gloves and dust masks before nuking a huge battery on high. It's a good thing too, because the roaring flames would be much more intimidating without the proper precautions!




5) It might seem pointless to microwave food if the point is to do something funny and new. Indeed, the maker of this video wonders whether the "hard-shelled tropical treat break the curse of the boring food experiments" when he decides to nuke a coconut in his microwave. So what became of it? After setting a cook time of 35 minutes ("by far the longest time we've ever done for any experiment", says one of the pranksters), they eventually pull the coconut out to find that its shell has cracked in half and what's left of the milk inside is searing hot!



6) This whiz-kid thought it'd be smart to put a lit match inside a drinking glass and microwave it on high. It only took about 20 seconds for the glass to explode and send its shards all over the microwave, but that doesn't concern the prankster who was quoted on YouTube as saying "Microwaves are like itty bitty destruction derby cars. IN YOUR OWN HOME!!" Pretty funny if you ask us!



7) This video finds our favorite microwave pranksters in a paradoxical frame of mind, as they embark on answering the immortal query "what would happen if you microwaved a microwave?" While they don't literally put one microwave inside of another, they do cook the motor of a microwave, with some pretty stunning results!



8) Most people look at snow globes and think about season's greetings, holiday parties, and spending time with those you love most. Not these guys! In this video you'll see that even common holiday decorations are really just another new and interesting thing to roast inside of a microwave. Before long, their "snowglobe of holiday cheer" explodes within the microwave and sends a thick, choking, billowing smoke pouring out of the cracks with enough force to separate the door from its hinges.



9) Ever wonder what happens to a condom when you microwave it? Probably not, but luckily for the sake of dumb humor, some people do, and take the extra step of finding out! Hit play and watch as the unused prophylactic is balloons and expands to the point where it fills up the entire inside of the microwave.



10) Anyone remember Furbys? Most of us have tried to forget that they ever existed, but the pranksters in this video had other ideas! In twelve short but beautiful seconds, you can behold as this annoying, motion-activated, walking, talking stuffed animal is fried into total meltdown mode inside the microwave. Kudos to these guys for doing what so many have probably wanted to do for so long!



11) The title of this video boldly inquires "What happens when you put soap in a microwave?" Well, you'll have to watch the video to find out, but suffice it to say that it's loud, messy, and smells terrible. And if you watch closely, you might have to rub your eyes to make sure the soap isn't transforming itself into some kind of mutant hell-bent on coming after you for revenge!



12) You might not think a ping pong ball would get many laughs in an article featuring gunpowder and snowglobe explosions, but you'd be wrong! In just over a minute, this ball has exploded with enough heat and force to cause a small fire inside the microwave, offering encouragement to pranksters everywhere that tiny hinges do indeed swing huge doors!



13) The caption of this video wonders "Anyone ever try to microwave fireworks? Well, we did!" True to their word, the kids in this video have dragged an old microwave that looks like it was manufacturered in the Carter administration out into a field and stuffed it full of explosive toys and goodies. After about 45 seconds of heat, the microwave billows with so much smoke that the neighbors might have mistaken it for a mushroom cloud going off!



14) These geniuses stuff a microwave full of dry ice material and stuff it under a pile of rocks in the woods to contain the huge force and explosion. Sure enough, the chemical reaction between the dry ice and heat waves creates an explosion powerful enough to push up all of the rocks and blow the door straight off of its hinges! Of all the experiments listed here, this one above all is one you probably shouldn't try at home.



15) This wise guy (apparently hoping to be featured in the next edition of "The Darwin Awards") decides to see what happens when you microwave a full, unopened can of Rust-Oleum spray paint. The whole things seems pretty anti-climactic until about 3:50 in, when a small fire inside the microwave quickly erupts into a full-blown blaze. Thankfully, the kid who orchestrated the whole thing put it out with water before things got really nasty!



16) If you're the kind of person who wants to see cool, flashy explosions without a lot of waiting or buildup, this video is just what you've been looking for. Watch as two kids microwave a can of Coke wrapped in a copper wire. In less than 10 seconds you see multicolored explosions and flashes of light before the guy nervously exhorts his partner to "turn it off, turn it off!"



17) Arguably the most visually stimulating, cool-looking explosion on the list is this one, which features an SOS pad wrapped inside a glass expresso mug microwaved on high. It's an unconventional thing to microwave but there's no arguing with "thirty highly action packed plasmatic seconds of on the edge of your seat microwaving mega BA'BOOM action like the sun was set free." (This is another one you might not want to try in Mom and Dad's old clunker in the kitchen.)



18) No collection of cool microwaved things would be complete without the video entitled "Ultra Massive Microwave Steam Boom!!" The mastermind behind this stunt said he simply needed to throw out a 32 oz bottle of Fiji water but, lacking a trash can, thought microwaving it was "the logical choice." Things quickly take a turn for the worst though, culminating in a massive, ear drum-busting explosion that YouTube cautions people to wear earphones before listening to.



19) Another very cool-looking explosion is this one, which shows what happens when you microwave a giant mercury-powered lightbulb. While there isn't one climactic moment or huge explosion, there is a sizzling, glowing, purple-white orb of flames and sparks for about a minute straight.



20) Rounding out our collection is a "science experiment" to discover the results of microwaving an enormous Ostrich egg. But unlike most eggs, Ostrich eggs expand under extreme heat until they burst, as this one does in grand fashion. Fortunately, the trained professionals in the video set up the microwave outside, on a table far away from any people - a good precaution, seeing as the microwave totally explodes after about 20 seconds!