Ha! One time I came back to the office from lunch to find a fire truck outside and lots of folks in the lobby. An elevator door opens, and out strides one of Philadelphia’s Fire Department holding a burned half of a hamburger bun. And we’re not allowed to have toasters.
I like burnt popcorn. And burnt bacon. Burnt cheese, too. And several other burnt things. But not bread. I like it medium-dark, but not burnt.
Me too! Some of it does stink though…
Those pictures are crazy! Jesus.
People often make popcorn at my workplace, but it’s been a long time since anyone burned popcorn. Occasionally someone will warm up some fish, but it’s rare enough that I don’t mind it too much (even though it kind of makes me gag).
The other week though, I walked into the reception area (just off the kitchen) and could see a visible haze in the air. It smelled kind of like burnt popcorn, but more acrid and disgusting. Walking into the kitchen the smoke got thicker - don’t ask me how, but thankfully the fire alarm did not go off and we didn’t have to evacute.
It turns out some had burned their ramen noodles in the microwave.
I asked, how on earth can you burn ramen noodles - did they leave the microwave on for half an hour and all the water boiled away or something? Nope, they just forgot to add the water. :smack: So after a minute or so the noodles caught on fire and the styrofoam cup melted.
Also, I just remembered that a few months ago the fire alarm went off in my apartment building at 11:30 at night when it was really cold outside (Alberta winters, eh!). I turns out this crazy old guy on my floor had fallen asleep making toast (under the oven broiler, not in a real toaster). He wandered out into our smoke-filled hallway and casually informed me of this, but he didn’t bother to notify the firefighters of this. About five minutes later I heard the poor firefighters carrying their equipment up the stairs (17 floors!) and I pointed out the offending apartment so they wouldn’t have to knock on everyone’s door.
Oh, and as for toasters and toaster ovens. A jackass co-worker of mine is the only one who uses the toaster oven. Everyone else stopped using the toaster oven because everyday for lunch he cooks chicken nuggets, but never clean up after himself and the toaster oven is an oily mess. One day the hall was filling with smoke and I was expecting the fire alarm to go off again. So I went into the kitchen and unplugged the toaster oven full of chicken nuggets. The accumulated oil slime that had been coating the bototm of the tray after weeks of nuggets, had been burning and was now a black ooze that looked like tar.
The VP and the CEO were ticked. Not only was the stench so disgusting that neighbouring tenants had called our office, but my co-worker had left the building.
When he came back and was appriased of the situation, he came into my office and said: “So Cellphone, you’re the reason why my lunch isn’t ready?”
I should’ve punched him.
Fish I think is borderline - I don’t think it smells bad, and no one has complained about tuna or salmon in the microwave here, so I’ll keep doing it. But… BROCCOLI? What the heck is wrong with broccoli? I’m all for compromises and getting along and all, but at a certain point you’re dictating the food choices of others at a slightly ridiculous level. Sheesh.
For both fish and broccoli, it depends on the original state of the food at the time it’s put in the microwave. Frozen fish filets, like the Captain Highliner kind that are pre-cooked and only need you to heat them up, don’t usually cause a problem. The co-worker who was stinking up our office was cooking raw fish in the microwave (like cooking a raw slab for half an hour). That causes quite a different range of stench.
Some veggies like broccoli, cabbage, and bok choi can be in the same boat. We’ve never had problems with employees heating up left overs, including veggies from their dinner the night before. Re-heating yesterday’s broccoli doesn’t seem to be an issue. Although I guess it could be if you walk away and seriously overcook it to the point of funkiness.
I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone try to cook broccoli from raw to tender-crisp in our office though. But the raw fish was definitely the worst. :: barf ::
I’d be more concerned with the microwave-hogging involved in cooking anything from raw. Who does that? Leftovers and microwave dinners only, please.
I’m not sure I can say I’ve ever smelled fish or broccoli cooked from raw in a microwave, so I will withdraw my objection to that.
I do, but only lightly burnt. Not blackened, just an extra twenty seconds. I would never do that with a shared microwave, though.
When I worked at KrapMart, we had a “no fish in the microwave” rule-it was even posted. Maybe that would work?
The cheese is probably the worst for stink. But I like broiling a slice of American on white until the cheese starts rising and browns over. Stinks, but tastes great!
Microwave popcorn cooking smell = good
Burned microwave popcorn smell = bad
People who like their microwave popcorn a little burned and do it that way on purpose = my coworker, Gary
People who fucking love popcorn, but have to resist because they don’t wish to ingest all those calories and fats = me
People who love movie popcorn and can’t help but ask for more of that fake buttery topping = me
People who don’t go to the movies much anymore = me :mad:
People who are overly sensitive to whether their leftover lunch (no fish) might stink up the place and therefore eat it cold instead = me, alas
Well yah, the carp!
Burnt popcorn can’t be a popular taste or there would be a imitation flavor burnt popcorn on the market.
Gather 'round, chillun, for a story of microwave stupidity the likes of which you’ve never heard before.
See, a long long time ago, back when Granny Bean was just a sweet young thing, there were two verrryyyy tall buildings in New York City. And one bright clear September day, some terrorists flew airplanes right into those very tall buildings. And the buildings fell down. A lot of people died.
Now, a very good friend of Granny Bean’s worked in one of those very tall buildings. But she and the people she worked with were very lucky. Almost all of them got out alive. But since the buildings had fallen down, they had no place to go to work anymore.
Their company rented some space nearby so that they could go back to work, and they did. They were all a little jumpy, as I’m sure you can imagine.
Then, some other terrorists started sending out letters that contained a terrible disease called anthrax. People who opened these letters got very sick. And nobody knew who would receive the letters! And the people in that office got even more jumpy.
Then one day, a receptionist had what she thought was a very good idea, but was actually a very bad idea. She thought it would be a good idea to make sure that any of the anthrax disease that might be in the mail was dead before anyone had a chance to open it.
So she microwaved the mail.
And the microwave went BOOM!
And this office full of very jumpy people heard the big explosion and saw the hallways fill with smoke. And they were terrified. They thought that they were being attacked by terrorists again!! They ran screaming out of the building.
They were very relieved when they found out that it wasn’t a terrorist attack, but just someone who thought it would be a good idea to microwave the mail.
And so they all beat her to death with their staplers.
Okay, that last thing isn’t true, but you know they all were thinking about it…
There’s a woman in my office who routinely puts things in the toaster oven and then wanders away, promptly forgetting the bagel or Stouffer’s lasagne or Lean Cuisine or whatever crap she’s left in there.
One of my coworkers has taken to calling her Mrs. Toastfire.
These stories have made me go snerk. Has Otto checked in since his OP? Lately?
Ok, my pictures were good, but Green Bean wins.
Thanks for the pictures, Santo!
I’m on the side of the non-popcorners. I hate the smell of popcorn as a rule, and when it’s burned, it’s just awful. It can trigger a migraine, and makes me sick.
Years ago, I worked with a woman who would routinely put a bag in the microwave (which was equipped with a ‘Popcorn’ button, too!), set it for 6 or 7 minutes and walk away. Someone would always go in and rescue the bag when it was near-to-smoking, and she’d come back, sometimes as much as an hour later, looking for her forgotten popcorn. If it was cold (obviously), she’d put it back in the microwave for a few more minutes. :eek:
When I got pregnant, I succeeded in getting a no-popcorn rule in place. The smell was killing me.
We too have the popcorn making/burning co-worker. It is a 50/50 shot when she makes popcorn if it will be okay for consumption.
Her bright idea is to walk her freshly popped bag from the cafeteria, down the hall and out the side door and into the foyer where she then opens it. I guess she assumes that this helps eliminate the smell whether good or bad.
This does not work however as then the entire hall and the foyer smell of popcorn. If the popcorn is burnt she leaves it in the small garbage can in the foyer which then continues to stick up the 6 by 6 space even worse. This foyer and side door are the main employee entrance.
There were enough complaints that they installed a fan above each microwave. There is a sign on the door of each microwave that instructs you to set the fan for at least 10 minutes to defuse the odor (or delectable smell) of your lunch with an arrow pointing toward the fan.
Our special popcorn lady either can not read or does not think the sign applies to her as she never sets the fan and continues to take her popcorn on a trip before she eats it.
Ha ha ha Otto…It’s me and you’ll never know who I am… ha ha haaaaaaa…now I’ll do it more just to piss you off. asshole. 
just kidding.