BOLTON, United Kingdom — A terrified British mother is warning against cooking eggs in the microwave after the viral TikTok hack exploded and left her skin peeling from her face. Shafia Bashir says she’s been in “absolute agony” after attempting to make a poached egg using a popular recipe available online.
Using the viral TikTok cooking hack as a guide, the 37-year-old poured some boiling water in a mug before adding the egg. She then put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes to cook. However, when she touched the egg with a cold spoon, it erupted “like a fountain” and scolded the right side of her face — leaving her in the “most excruciating” pain of her life.
Shafia was rushed to a local hospital where doctors treated her burns, but she says they were still stinging 12 hours after the incident. Though her wounds have now healed, the mother of one is still cautioning others to think twice about attempting the popular cooking hack.
“I just don’t want anyone else going through that, because it is trending on TikTok…It was the most excruciating pain in my life,” Bashir says in an online video.
“It was a terrifying time for me. I was in absolute agony. As soon as I put the cold spoon in, it exploded like a fountain and it scolded me. I put my face under the tap and then had to get my mate to look after my daughter so I could go to [the hospital]. My face has healed now, luckily with no scars. I used Vaseline, Sudocrem, whatever I could get my hands on.”
Shafia, who lives in the British town of Bolton, says she had been making this particular egg dish for three years when she decided to cook it on May 12. She followed the recipe that her ex-mother-in-law taught her, but on this occasion, she was left stunned when the viral cooking trick ended in disaster.
“I did it exactly the same as I usually do it. I had already made the toast, I was starving!” Shafia explains in her video. “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.”
“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 minutes. But the burning lasted for 12 hours. It just didn’t stop.”
The British Medical Journal previously said that microwave ovens should display clear warnings about exploding eggs. Cooking shelled eggs in a microwave is dangerous because the casing holds in heat. Once you have removed the egg from the microwave, it will carry on cooking itself and any disruption can cause an explosion.
Similar dangers can apply when cooking sunny side up or poached eggs in the microwave. These cooking hacks have been popular on social media sites such as TikTok, as people look for ways to save time with everyday life tasks.
However, this isn’t the first time the trick has gone wrong. Chantelle Conway of Farnworth claims a similar thing happened to her in 2021. Shafia says she’s been left traumatized after the incident and vows to never eat an egg again. Despite all of this, she also sees the funny side of her experiences and made light of them to her 15,000 followers on TikTok.
“For my last videos on TikTok, I did Beauty and the Beast and Tony Montana from Scarface, with the burn. My followers thought it was a filter!”
This isn’t the only concerning life hack on TikTok
A video claiming that the mix of balsamic vinegar and flavored sparkling water creates a “healthier” alternative to soda already has over six million views on TikTok. Unfortunately, researchers from the American Dental Association warn that adding acids to sugar-free beverages will likely result in some major tooth enamel erosion.
“I love balsamic vinegar, but I enjoy it more on my salad than in my drinking glass. It’s much kinder to the teeth than bathing them in a beverage blend of two acids,” says Dr. Edmond Hewlett, a spokesperson for the American Dental Association, in a media release. “The more acidic the drink, the greater the risk of tooth erosion with frequent consumption.”
Is it time to ban TikTok?
A new survey shows that more than four in five (83%) Americans agree that the government should regulate the use of certain apps when it poses a threat to the country or citizens of the country.
At a time where relations between the U.S. and China already under scrutiny, Dr. James Hendler, Untethered World Chair of Computer, Web and Cognitive Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, says we could also see legislation to address more widespread internet privacy concerns.
“There is definitely worry about TikTok and its relation to the Chinese government. There is clearly a connection there,” Hendler says in a statement. “That connection clearly concerns some people in the national security area. If they decide this was a real threat, then they can actually take action.”
However, according to the survey of 2,000 social media users conducted by OnePoll, two-thirds (68%) agree that if the U.S. government were to ban Tik Tok, it would infringe on First Amendment rights.
South West News Service writers Douglas Whitbread & Zach Harrison contributed to this report.
