A mom on TikTok is warning others not to make the trending recipe for poached eggs in the microwave after trying it left her burned and with skin peeling off of half her face. The mom, Shafia Bashir, who goes by @shaf_b321 on TikTok, had put boiling water in a mug, then added the egg and microwaved it to cook it. But then things took a turn for the worse when she took a spoon to the egg and it exploded, scalding half of her face, and causing the skin to peel off the right side.
Although online cooking hacks promise to save people time, they're not always worth attempting, whether they're trending on TikTok or not. According to Consumer Reports, at least 10,000 people have been harmed as a result of microwave burns. Steam can escape from food after being microwaved, causing painful and harmful burns. The magazine also advises against boiling water in the microwave because it can abruptly erupt.
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'I was in absolute agony' the mom said.
Shafia described the pain of the exploding egg as “absolute agony” and said her burns were “stinging” for up to 12 hours after the incident, reported Independent. She also appears to be trying to make the best of the situation by warning others in a TikTok video.
In the video, Shafia dances around in a formal gown while "Beauty and the Beast" plays, trying to make light of her situation. But from her video, it looks painful.
In the caption she wrote, "Do not make a poached egg in the microwave odawise ul have the same surprise i had happened on Friday xx rocking my new look 2 faced from batman." Hopefully others on TikTok will heed her warning.
She had been using the method for three years, but she may never do it again after this.
The mom of one had apparently been making poached eggs this way for three years prior to the incident. She told Independent, “My ex-mother-in-law told me about it. She told me how to make a poached egg in the microwave. I had been doing it for three years.”
She explained, “I boiled the kettle, half-filled the mug with water, put salt inside, the egg inside, and microwaved it for a minute. It wasn’t cooked, so I put it in for another minute. After it happened, I put my face under the tap for 20 mins. But the burning lasted for 12 hours. It just didn’t stop."
If she decided to never eat eggs again, it would be completely understandable after what she’s been through.
Cooking eggs in the microwave can be dangerous and can potentially cause explosions.
Doctors are recommending that microwaves feature clear warnings about the dangers of exploding eggs, per CBC, even prior to the recent trending TikTok cooking hack.
A 9-year-old girl suffered eye injuries when she heated a boiled egg in the microwave in 2004 and it exploded, the news outlet reported. An eye specialist at Queen Mary’s Hospital in southern England, Saurabib Goyal, wrote, "In view of the potential seriousness of injury from exploding microwaved eggs, such warnings should be made more obvious, possibly being displayed on the microwave oven itself,” the outlet reported.
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This is not the only 'explosive' egg trend on TikTok.
Some influencers have taken to playing "Exploding egg roulette" and though it’s meant to be a funny viral trend, exploding eggs are dangerous, as mom Shafia warned others.
A video posted by @makayla339 showing a mom and her daughter reacting to her slicing a boiled egg exploding received over 4 million views and 250,000 likes. While they both appear to be unharmed in the video, other users warned against participating in the trend.
“Don’t do this yall it can cause 3rd degree burns,” cautioned one user.
Another commented: “Please be careful?? A girl tried to do this and a piece of egg went into her eye and she suffered permanent damage.”
Fortunately, Shafia’s face and skin are healing. “My face has healed now, luckily with no scars. I used Vaseline, Sudocrem, whatever I could get my hands on,” she said, per Independent. But when it comes to trending TikTok hacks and challenges, her story proves that users should proceed with caution.
