# Microwave setting carrots on fire?



## MissQueenie

I noticed about 4 months ago that every single time I try to heat cooked carrots in my microwave, they start to spark or catch fire within 5 seconds or so of pushing "start" -- it doesn't matter what I use to heat them on (plastic, ceramic, glass), it doesn't matter if they are in liquid (chicken soup, for example), and it is ONLY carrots. The come out with charred edges.

I don't think I've ever seen this happen before, not even in this microwave until recently. What's going on? Is it time to replace the darn thing?


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## mothernature

WOW!! I'd keep a close eye on the microwave, something is wrong! Do you use one particular brand of carrots? Maybe try a different brand, something may be in your brand that causing this (some kind of preservative?)!


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## Guest

Make a video and put it on youtube, then sell the microwave on Ebay.
Does it burn carrots only?? try some sweet potatoes, about the same color. I'd set up a booth at the county fair and charge 25 cents for people to watch it.


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## MissQueenie

Oh my gosh, I just about died laughing reading these responses!

It is just carrots. I haven't used store-bought carrots in months, we've been getting ours from a local farm in the next town, so I don't think it's the preservatives. We DO have a lot of iron in the soil, though, I wonder if that's causing the sparks? I never thought of that!


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## dragonfly65

Found this online.

"Arcing (pronounced "AR-king") is sparks inside the microwave oven caused when microwaves react to gold paint on dishes, twist ties and other metallic materials. Some foods such as raw carrots and hot dogs can cause arcing while being microwaved. In hot dogs, this can be due to the uneven mixing of salts and additives. In carrots, it can be due to the minerals in the soil in which they were grown. Whatever the cause, turn off the oven immediately to end the sparks. Prolonged arcing can damage the oven and/or the utensil. If caught at once, arcing should not damage the oven. Remove the offending utensil or food from the oven and either substitute a microwave-safe utensil or cook the food by other methods."

You might have a lot of minerals in your carrots.


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## mothernature

Ok, to cover my tail, I assumed (bad thing to do) since you said heat up "cooked" carrots I thought you were using canned. I do not prefer canned anything, but some people do, we all get busy! Sure does sound like something in the carrots!!


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## Horseyrider

Wow. I learned something new today. Who'd a thunk it?


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## Tirzah

I started to tell my husband about this and he was smilin; "I was going to say that the carrots were high in iron"  

This happened to me a few weeks ago with some beets. They were fresh beets that I had previously grilled and started to reheat. That sure scared me and I ended up throwing away the beets.

(it's a good thing I checked my spelling, otherwise I would have 'preciously' grilled my beets )


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