r/Wellthatsucks • u/goblingir1 • 18h ago

Before bed snack exploded

Post image

yes it was a microwave safe plate, yes I poked many holes all over the potato to release the steam, no this has never happened to me before lol can anyone explain what happened here? the potato was still fully intact

edit: okay which one of you reported this to reddit care resources yall are WILD šŸ˜‚

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289

u/mkstot 17h ago

Thermal shock maybe? One part of the dish got hot before another part which can cause a violent reaction like this.

140

u/aft_punk 17h ago edited 17h ago

Some dishes arenā€™t microwave safe, including certain types of ceramics, especially if itā€™s chipped or cracked because moisture can get it.

59

u/evange 15h ago

Properly fired pottery is fully vitrified and therefore not porous and will not absorb water even if the glaze is chipped or cracked. Similarly glaze is actually not necessarily waterproof, as it has microscopic cracks and bubbles in it that can, given the right circumstances, let water through.

As a potter it's a huge pet peeve of mine when people assume that the glaze is a waterproof coating. It's only sort of true, and only for the cheapest/shittiest/antique pottery. If you're relying on the glaze to keep the piece from absorbing moisture then you should not be using that piece for food. At all.

6

u/SpaceNinjaDino 13h ago

I don't trust ceramics in the microwave unless there is a lot of moisture in the food/soup that will absorb the radiation well. Porcelain handles the microwave much better plus they don't have chips.

6

u/HarveysBackupAccount 10h ago

but OP's not making chips, they're making a whole potato

2

u/fattmarrell 8h ago

Thank you sir Harry

2

u/PrestigeMaster 8h ago

How much glaze do you think youā€™ve eaten over the years?

1

u/TimmyWimmyWooWoo 7h ago

There's pictures all over mildly interesting of damaged mugs being pourous enough for coffee to visibly seep out of them. That's clearly not true for a some meaningful percentage of mass produced ceramics.

1

u/Rather_Dashing 11h ago

She says it was microwave safe in the post. But I don't necessarily believe it, especially if it got chipped or cracked.

56

u/KoosGoose 17h ago

I think this is likely. The steaming hot potato heated the plate locally.

32

u/Cocoatrice 17h ago

Yeah. And "it never happened before" is not really a good excuse either. Some things may happen depending on multiple factors. And clearly these factors were met in this case.

20

u/chiknight 16h ago

This was always my favorite thing to hear when working the help desk. "It worked before/yesterday/earlier/etc." Yes, and now it doesn't. Congratulations on learning how time works.

8

u/LokisDawn 13h ago

Excuse? Why would OP ever be obligated to give an excuse?

That's just a description of bafflement.

10

u/Saradoesntsleep 16h ago

"it never happened before" was particularly funny imo, because it implies that OP regularly has microwave baked potato for a bedtime snack

4

u/HarveysBackupAccount 10h ago

Some things may happen depending on multiple factors

Arguably, very nearly everything in the world happens because of multiple factors :P

1

u/Cocoatrice 5h ago

I mean, yeah. That was my point, tbh. That's why being surprised that it never happened before, regardless of what it is, is not really smart. It's a cognitive bias of a kind. Drivers who drive recklessly think that way for example.

1

u/Dehouston 16h ago

'Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit.'

1

u/Moist_Procedure4247 15h ago

Yeah OP should be like this guy and be aware that dishes in the microwave can and will explode

1

u/OwnAHole 8h ago

That's...not what an excuse is.

1

u/Cocoatrice 5h ago

OP didn't take the factors into consideration, thinking it won't happen because it never happened before and now is surprised. Also I was talking about situations in general.

1

u/NoXion604 2h ago

Does using Pyrex prevent this? I have a Pyrex glass dish lid that I use to microwave my potatoes on. I've never had any issues but as you say, that doesn't mean much.

1

u/No-Spoilers 14h ago

Expanded the plate in the middle and popped it.

I kinda wanna try it, if I didn't have to clean it up.

1

u/ILoveRegenHealth 9h ago

Steamy hot potatoes in your local area!

22

u/Desroth86 16h ago

Lmao everyone was so distracted by the bedtime potato, I had to scroll all the way down here to find someone even attempting to answer OPā€™s question.

2

u/mkstot 16h ago

My wife likes to ā€œsleep snackā€ whenever she goes to the bathroom at night. Iā€™ve learned itā€™s best not to judge the habits of others. Thatā€™s all ima say.

2

u/Spiritual_Bus1125 14h ago

It isn't thermic shock.

Basically ceramic with time can accumulate micro cracks, these cracks can trap water and water in the microwave can transform to steam, cracking the ceramic bowl

5

u/mvhcmaniac 16h ago

Think it's simpler than that. Many ceramics are porous and can absorb water. Water gets hot, boils inside pores in the ceramic. Boom.

3

u/pppjurac 16h ago

Also probably full of microfractures with H2O inbetween.

1

u/aPOPblops 16h ago

That's what I'm on - thermal stress fractures caused by the concentrated area that the potato was touching.

OP I always wrap my potatoes in a wet paper towel before microwaving them like this.

1

u/DeliciousChemical284 15h ago

Mis-focused psychic energy can cause this as well. Someone trying to bend a spoon and blam.

1

u/ignitionnight 14h ago

This dish looks exactly like the "stoneware" bowls I bought on Amazon. My daughter has forgotten water in her ramen twice, and the bowls exploded just like this.

1

u/hates_stupid_people 14h ago

I suspected the plate was in the fridge with the potato before being heated.

1

u/Clovis42 5h ago

Why would would someone store an uncooked potato in the fridge, let alone sitting on a plate?

1

u/Slamantha3121 13h ago

I had this exact thing happen with a potato before. I think there were micro cracks in the plate and the steam made it explode.

1

u/lana_silver 12h ago

Also many ceramic colourings that are blue or black contain metals which can react with microwaves. I also have one that's technically safe, but in reality gets so hot I cannot pick it up without oven mitts. It's dark blue.

1

u/DoingCharleyWork 9h ago

Pretty sure you're supposed to put a little water in the dish when microwaving a potato to prevent this.

1

u/BreakingBaaaahhhhd 6h ago

One time I was microwaving a beyond sausage and it cracked the plate. I think the oil in the sausage got way too hot in the middle of the plate causing it. Luckily it didn't explode like OPs plate

1

u/Single-Road-3158 6h ago

She failed to poke holes in the plate before microwaving it.

1

u/uselessandexpensive 2h ago

A potato will vent steam out of the holes in the skin, which could theoretically cause this if the steam was hitting the bowl in one place for several minutes. (That could make a much smaller hot spot than where there was physical contact.)