Butter Smoke
One evening, me and a mate were sitting at home, when we suddenly experienced a communal longing for some popcorn. Running to the kitchen, we soon found a bag of that microwave popcorn which cooks itself in a bag, and popped it in the microwave, returning to the lounge content that before long we would be feasting upon hot buttery popcorn.

One thing that we forgot, however, was the length of time needed before optimum popcorn-ness could be achieved. After about 7 or 8 minutes, we realised our mistake, and ran back to the kitchen to find the microwave, while still intact, completely opaque and filled with a strange yellow smoke. I was still in a state of shock as to the disappearence of our popcorn, but luckily my mate had the common sense to turn off the microwave.

I then thought I would be constructive, by having the 'common sense' to open the microwave. Yellow, buttery smoke poured out, making it impossible for us to breathe, so we did what any person would have done in the situation, and ran, closing the door behind us.

The next day, we woke up to the smell of butter and burning things, so we went downstairs to check on the popcorny mess from the night before. Luckily, there was a window open in the kitchen so the smoke had mostly gone, although an extremely pungent smell remained. Strangely, smoke seemed to still be drifting out from the microwave, and upon inspection, it became clear that under the extreme heat of the microwave, the popcorn had seeped more oil than I knew it could possibly contain, which itself had caught fire, and was still burning with a worrying blue flame.

3 weeks later, the whole house still smells of butter (which in itself isn't a bad thing, in my opinion, but the parents seem to disagee..), and I still don't have the courage to go near the microwave, just in case I accidentally start another oil fire in it..
(superficialfilter, Thu 3 Nov 2005, 12:23, Reply)