![Butterkist](https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/butterkist-logo.png)
Disaster rarely gives you a heads up when it is going to strike. I was reminded of this last night when I created a small thermonuclear explosion in my kitchen last night.
After completing an article for WPMU Dev, I sat down with my girlfriend to watch a movie. We decided to have some popcorn too. So far, so good.
Rather than open a pre-made pack of popcorn, we opted for a packet of “fresh” popcorn via the microwave. The brand we had was Butterkist; which is the most popular popcorn brand in the UK.
![Butterkist Box](https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/butterkist-salted-microwave-popcorn.jpg)
Cooking Butterkist in the microwave is very simple. The instructions note that you simply put the popcorn in your microwave and heat the packet for three and a half minutes. Easy peasy lemon squeasy.
![Side of Butterkist Box](https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/butterkist-box-side-1.jpg)
I placed the popcorn box in the microwave, set the timer for three and a half minutes, and went back into my living room.
It is at this point of the story where the fun ends and the madness begins.
I heard an insane amount of popping so I ran into my kitchen and opened the microwave door. Waves of smoke hit my face. The only thing I have ever burnt in my life is toast; so I was really surprised at the volume of smoke that left the microwave.
I thought some of the popcorn could be salvaged. As you can see from the image below, I was very wrong. Everything was burnt to a crisp.
![Burnt Butterkist](https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/butterkist-burnt-1.jpg)
Surprisingly, my smoke alarm did not go off. But I took no chances and opened both doors to let all the smoke out. I also switched on the extractor fan from my cooker. Despite doing this, the kitchen continued to smell like the ass of a barbecue all night long.
![Burnt Butterkist](https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/butterkist-burnt-2.jpg)
Considering how much smoke was created through this, I was surprised that my microwave was not in a worse condition. Apart from the plate being a little burnt, everything was ok. A quick clean today was able to make everything look new again.
![Burnt Microwave](https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/microwave-burnt.jpg)
The Butterkist box says that popping times vary between one and a half and three and a half minutes; however the box states that it should take three and a half minutes to cook.
Closer inspection of the Butterkist box highlights a warning: “DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED WHILST COOKING”.
![Side of Butterkist Box](https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/butterkist-box-side-2.jpg)
In my defence, I was not concerned about leaving the popcorn unattended as last week I cooked a packet of Butterkist in my mums microwave (while we were staying over watching her dogs). She also has a modern microwave and the advised three and a half minutes cooked the popcorn to perfection. Plus my girlfriend cooks microwave popcorn all the time at her house and I have never seen this happening.
For whatever reason, my own microwave decided to declare war against the popcorn box and nuke it in half the time.
Obviously, I need to take some blame for this as the box does say to not to leave the packet unattended. However, I have been using microwaves all my life and never seen this happen. If a box tells me a meal will be ready in X amount of minutes; it never causes a nuclear explosion. Sure, sometimes the meal is slightly colder or slightly warmer than it should be, which indicates that it should have been cooked for a longer or shorter period of time. Though I have never seen a recommended cooking time cause such havoc.
If I had cooking the popcorn for another minute, I suspect there could have been a fire.
For all you popcorn fans out there, I advise you to be careful the next time you microwave popcorn. As I have learned, there is a fine line between a delicious snack and all out carnage in the kitchen :)
Kevin