Never a dull moment!

Unfreakingbelievable! My mother broke the microwave tonight. She was drying fresh parsley on a sheet of waxed paper when she heard a pop then a bang. She saw flames in the microwave and opened the door. Fortunately she did not create a backdraft and the fire went out immediately.

Pics of the burned out microwave.

My mother has a gift. She can break unbreakable Thermoses, Polaroid cameras and vacuums. Actually, I think she just wears out the vaccuum cleaners. She is a little OCD and likes to see the lines on the carpet.


Guess I'm going shopping for a microwave tomorrow.

does 'nt the first pic show a matal pan ? did your Mama pu the waxed paper on a metal pan in the micro???

I feel your mothers pain. I seem to continually break things, last thing on my list was our shower and just before that it was the microwave. As a warning, never microwave crispy seaweed - ever!!

You're having one hell of a week!

First thought...she didn't have anything in there to absorb the microwaves, so they got absorbed by the microwave ceiling. There needs to be something with water in it to absorb the microwaves. Once the parsley dried out, there was nothing to absorb the microwaves.

Last time I visited my mom I decided to make a pizza for dinner before she got home from work. Preheated the oven, rolled out the dough, mixed my cheeses and sliced a bunch of yummy vegetables. I was having a lot of fun putting it together, grooving around the kitchen to some music and slugging a glass of wine.

BAM!!

I jumped like there was a gunshot and couldn't figure out what the fuck that was.

BAM!!

Another one? What the fuck?

I open the oven and flames shoot out. Awesome. Just a quick flash and then it died down. So I peer inside to find a bunch of charred remains of several exploded bags of potato chips.

Tells you everything you need to know about how often my mother cooks. She uses the fucking oven as a pantry.

OUCH njqt... I haven't had a problem with my microwave, but now that I've just typed this sentence, I'd better knock on wood because I know it'll probably get fried before the end of the weekend... I kinda have that knack too, only it's with various pieces of electronic equipment breaking on their own. Stereos, computers, TVs, guitar amps, dvd players, etc... and they're good quality too, it's just that they seem to *go* all at once..

I don't know anything about microwaves but I figured it had something to do with moisture and the parsley.

I love your mom. She is just like my aunt Louise.

OMG I have so many questions!!!

Firstly, I had no idea you could dry out parsley in the m/w. That said, I have no idea why you want to dry parsley!

Secondly, why can't you do seaweed?!?!?! I now have this TERRIBLE temptation to find out why?!?! Please tell me flame boy before I do something stupid!

hotbtminla - that is the funniest thing I've heard! Thank you!

Jovial - I do have a question... if there'd been water in there to absorb the wicrowaves, wouldn't it just have steamed the parsley, instead of drying it?!!? And is that true about 'nothing to absorb the m/ws'?!!? I have no clue

So poor NJQT466... I am so sorry for your deceased microwave but it sounds like it's time to go shopping!! I looooove shopping (though please note shoe shops don't sell microwaves.... though can be just as useful). Actually... I don't use the microwave at all.

*hugs* to you and just keep you Mom away from your kitchen, stereo, tv, computer..... definitely keep her away from your computer!

mwah

Doesn't seem to make sense to dry anything in a microwave. But what do I know? Haven't owned one since 1995. My wife called it "the tea warmer".

Wait until she tries to boil an egg in the microwave.

I replaced my mother's Kenmore last year after she did that.

From wikipedia:

Another hazard is the resonance of the magnetron tube itself. If the microwave is run without an object to absorb the radiation, a standing wave will form. The energy is reflected back and forth between the tube and the cooking chamber. This may cause the tube to 'cook' itself and burn out. Thus dehydrated food, or food wrapped in metal which does not arc, is problematic without being an obvious fire hazard

As far as drying the parsley, I guess you would have to put a small cup of water in the microwave next to the parsley. The idea being that some of the microwaves hit the moisture on the parsley causing it to heat up and evaporate, but after that happens the cup of water is still there to absorb the microwaves if you run it a little too long.

Maybe your mom is losing it. I know an old lady with dementia that keeps all her cereal, chips, and crackers in the oven. She thinks the warmth of the pilot is going to keep them crisp. It's an electric oven.