30 Times Folks Online Messed Up A Meal In The Most Entertaining Way Possible For Unexplainable Reasons
One of the biggest, yet in some ways most beautiful, things about humans is that we err. Yep, mistakes make us unique and beautiful and while we ought to avoid them, we shouldn’t feel bad if they happen.
And some of the most entertaining mistakes we can make are those very temporary mental lapses in reasoning the way we ought to—brain farts. They happen, they’re unavoidable, so why not have some fun with them?
A Redditor by the nickname of u/BeauteousMaximus recently paid a visit to the r/Cooking subreddit with an open question urging people to share their biggest “brain farts” in cooking, and sharing how they themselves tried to make a cup of pour-over coffee into an upside-down mug.
And folks were eager to share their unexplainable cooking mishaps, making the post gain some modest attention with nearly 4,600 upvotes and over 2,700 comments.
We’ve siphoned the best responses to the call to share and created a lovely curated list below, so check it out, vote on the cooking disasters you laughed at the most, and why not share your own stories in the comment section below!
More Info: Reddit
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Can You Use A Colander For Soup?
made an absolutely gorgeous vegetable stock from scratch using scraps i'd been collecting & freezing for weeks & lots of beautiful fresh herbs. poured it into a colander and - yep, straight down the f******g drain. all of it. my brain forgot it was the liquid i was saving, not the colander bulls**t.
i immediately just sat down, bump, on the kitchen floor, & contemplated my life choices for a while.
Adding An Egg Mid-Cooking Among Semi-Cooked Ones
Lololol so one time, I was boiling eggs in the morning, and one of them cracked while in the pan, so I scooped that one out. Then I added another egg in and I was like “I’ll just leave that one in a little bit longer” AS IF I WAS GONNA BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART
Misplacin' The Bacon
Was really upset when I couldn't find my leftover bacon to have for breakfast. Found it the next day in the knife drawer.
I once roasted a lettuce and found the chicken in the salad drawer in the fridge. Goodness knows what my brain was doing.
Adding Cinnamon To Cinnamon Unfriendly Dishes
Was making a stock in a pressure cooker at 2 am, accidentally dumped a couple cinnamon sticks into it for unfathomable reasons.
It was godawful. Smelled like Santa had passed at a chicken restaurant.
Eggs Benedict Without The Eggs
Bruh I made eggs Benedict on Christmas and spent so much effort getting the hollandaise sauce right I totally forgot to poach eggs and served an English muffin with sauce
Making Hot Chocolate Using Five Spice Mix
My gf wanted a hot chocolate and asked me if I could get her one, while I get my coffee.
I took the bag with chinese five spices mix and mixed it with milk. I do know that this bag contains five spices and not cocoa, because it's my only plastic bag in that shelf and it it's written on it, but my brain was like 'brown powder - close enough'.
She didn't like it.
Always Forgetting The Rice
Sooooo many times when I’m making a dish served over rice I forget to start the rice until I’m almost finished cooking. Then have to keep the food warm while I wait for rice to cook. Face palm every time.
Since I've got a rice cooker it's easier to remember cooking the rice.
Dumping Shrimp Straight In The Garbage Can, No Cooking Required!
Went to drain some shrimp that I thawed at work. Had the strainer setup over the sink, garbage next to me to toss the bag in. Cut the bag open and dumped the shrimp right in the garbage
Explosive Lasagna
I once left a glass pan with lasagna on my electric stove, covering the back 2 burners. I then decided to make tea, put the kettle on the front burner, but turned on the wrong one. Walked away, but a few minutes later the lasagna pan exploded, covering my kitchen in tiny glass shrapnel.
Using Coconut Flour For Regular Bread
Used coconut flour instead of bread flour for a loaf of bread--that didn't go so well.
I also deep fried a pot holder once. I don't even know what was going on in my brain on that one.
Never heard of coconut flour before but my mission now is to aquire some ,mistake for you- new thing to try for me.
Grabbing Red-Hot Dishes Straight From The Oven With Your Bare Hands
I very frequently pull things out of the oven and forget that they're stupid hot because they are no longer in the hot place.
Greasing The Pan With Bug Spray
Greased the pan for rice krispy treats with bug spray rather than cooking spray. Fortunately, I realized before serving them to anyone (but not after filling the pan, so I had to run to the supermarket for more ingredients).
Using A Colander To Strain Linguine
I used a colander to strain my linguine, but the holes were bigger than the pasta so it all went through and fell into my sink.
That's why I have two colanders, regular and mesh - and both stainless steel.
Graham Cracker Clams Casino
My father grabbed the ground up Graham Crackers instead of the bread crumbs for clams casino. You DO NOT want to eat Graham Cracker Clams Casino.
Potato Chocolate
When I was a teen I accidentally put used vegetable oil in a packet chocolate cake mix. Cake tasted like baked potatoes and lamb with a hint of chocolate.
Putting Sugar Into The Flour Container
I was making pancakes and put the two tablespoons of sugar into the container that holds my flour rather than the pancake bowl
I was making my daughter sone medicine in juice as she doesn't like the taste and poured the juice into a full medicine bottle husband laughs at me then does the same thing 3 weeks later - we need more sleep lol
Use Powdered Sugar Instead Of Flour, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!
Spent a bunch of time making filet mignon with an herb and Cabernet gravy out of the leftover fat in the pan and on the final bit of thickening the gravy, I added powdered sugar instead of flour.
Cooking Plastic For 9 Hours
I once slow cooked a large ham for 9 hours, came to get it out and it was still wrapped up in its plastic.
Fried Pan Toast
I was making French toast for too many people and forgot to dip a batch in the egg stuff…. Enjoy your pan fried toast.
Pouring Vanilla Extract Into A Salad
I accidentally started to pour vanilla extract in salad dressing instead of vinegar.
I guess it's not the stupidest mistake since it was clear imitation vanilla extract in a bottle that looked extremely similar to the vinegar, and I realized pretty quickly and only put a tiny bit in, but after tasting it out of curiosity, I have to say that the flavor was certainly... memorable. It turns out that vanilla can taste amazingly horrible in savory stuff.
My sister mistook anise extract for almond extract; really gross cookies
Skin Lotion In Soup
squirted skin lotion into the soup
put coffee in the dishwasher detergent dish
get this person the f**k outta the kitchen... or .. or wherever they were
This Bit Of Equipment Is Not Designed For This Purpose, Mam
I once used my blender plunger to push something into the food processor.
Those replacement plastic plungers are surprisingly expensive
20 Minutes, 20 Seconds, What's The Difference?
I accidentally put a plastic jar of peanut butter in the microwave for 20 minutes instead of 20 seconds. Came back to a molten puddle
Who Knew Garlic Powder Is Not A Good Substitute For Cinnamon?
I once made a yogurt parfait and sprinkled garlic powder on top instead of cinnamon. Such a dumb mistake when I was in a rush lol
Problems With Soy And Worcesterhire Sauce Bottles
I've done the gravy thing, total duh moment.
Soy Sauce and Worcesterhire bottles sometimes have a pour spout when you uncap them and sometimes they don't. I've made messes a few times by not checking before pouring. most recently I put half a bottle of soy sauce into my soup.
Sometimes I lose count of how much flour I've already measured and have to re-measure it, which is odd because I bake often, sometimes I just totally blank.
Soy sauce and worcester sauce can sucessfully substitute for each other in gravy although the flavor will be slightly different.
Why Does This Flour Taste So Sweet?
Was making homemade cheese sauce for mac/cheese and accidentally used powdered sugar instead of flour
Ahh my MIL did same with potatoes au gratin but it was really good. 10/10 would make again
How About Some Nut Grey Tea?
I used to have a bowl of oatmeal and nuts with a jasmin tea for breakfast. I chopped the nuts and poured them in the tea cup that was full of boiling water.
Uncooked Chickpeas And Hummus Don't Mix
Started blending my hummus with soaked but uncooked chickpeas. 3/10, would not repeat.
60 Grams Of Salt Added With A Whole Lot Of Regret
I was deep in thought when I realized I added 60g of salt into the pan.
I once added salt instead of sugar in croissants. For some reason the dough didn't rise.
Using Baking Soda Instead Of Corn Starch
A few different times while making sauces, my brain has entirely turned off and I've grabbed the baking soda instead of the cornstarch to thicken them.
my sister did the opposite recently, making corn bread. It tasted pretty normal but had the approximate density of a neutron star. I suggested that maybe her baking soda had lost its oomph, so she got it out to check. She came back with two very-similar-looking containers, and said, "I think I know what happened."
Note: this post originally had 40 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I managed to burn a salad during Thanksgiving. I was mixing up a salad since I’d been banned from the oven after the Great Yam Fire of 2018 and managed to knock a candle from the windowsill into it. Burned salad doesn’t taste good, especially when parts of it are coated in wax.
The Great Yam fire of 2018...oh you gave me a good laugh there. Thanks ☺️
Me, too!!! LOL
So, are you banned from the kitchen yet?
You are now in charge of bringing the napkins and starting out of the kitchen and away from the food until it's time to eat!
You shouldn't probably not even walk by a kitchen much less go inside.😜
Don't feel bad, my kids set the kitchen on fire putting out cereal
Once made carrot cake: grated the carrots, mixed the ingredients, poured into the pan, and placed in the oven to bake. 20 minutes later, realized that the pile of grated carrots was still sitting on the counter. It was pretty good carrot-less carrot cake, but still...
I feel your pain. Don't you just have this undescribable feeling when you look over and see something like that? Like - "I have just wasted part of my life on that mistake!" - type of feeling.
I will admit that more than once, I've started the coffee-maker with no coffee, but still made a fine pot of hot water! Once in awhile, I like to start it WITH the coffee - but no water in the resevoir. The best entertainment though is when there IS water and there IS coffee - but I didn't put the emptyncarafe on the hotplate first... Good times.
As a waitress I had to tell customers more than once, after they'd ask me to brew a fresh pot of coffee. I'd have to go back to them : Certainly sir, right after this pot of hot water , I'll be glad to brew you a nice pot of fresh coffee.
Pumpkin bread baked in coffee cans. Poured the batter in, put into the oven, and 5 minutes later spotted the dates, raisins, and chopped nuts in a dish that I forgot to stir in. I quick took one out and stirred them in, that one was not a success. The other pumpkin bread baked all right, but was pretty blah.
Not cooking, but more than once I have walked into my bedroom with my phone and a glass of water, put the phone on a coaster and thrown the glass of water onto the bed. Now I mutter to myself as I enter the room "glass on coaster, phone on bed, glass on coaster, phone on bed..."
Pull the pin, throw the grenade
Remember: Pillage first, THEN burn.
I have heard of people doing that same thing. I would love to see it happen in person but I would probably laugh so hard I would pee in my pants
This gave me a good laugh... Especially when you think of it as you wet your bed 🤣🤣🤣
I managed to burn a salad during Thanksgiving. I was mixing up a salad since I’d been banned from the oven after the Great Yam Fire of 2018 and managed to knock a candle from the windowsill into it. Burned salad doesn’t taste good, especially when parts of it are coated in wax.
The Great Yam fire of 2018...oh you gave me a good laugh there. Thanks ☺️
Me, too!!! LOL
So, are you banned from the kitchen yet?
You are now in charge of bringing the napkins and starting out of the kitchen and away from the food until it's time to eat!
You shouldn't probably not even walk by a kitchen much less go inside.😜
Don't feel bad, my kids set the kitchen on fire putting out cereal
Once made carrot cake: grated the carrots, mixed the ingredients, poured into the pan, and placed in the oven to bake. 20 minutes later, realized that the pile of grated carrots was still sitting on the counter. It was pretty good carrot-less carrot cake, but still...
I feel your pain. Don't you just have this undescribable feeling when you look over and see something like that? Like - "I have just wasted part of my life on that mistake!" - type of feeling.
I will admit that more than once, I've started the coffee-maker with no coffee, but still made a fine pot of hot water! Once in awhile, I like to start it WITH the coffee - but no water in the resevoir. The best entertainment though is when there IS water and there IS coffee - but I didn't put the emptyncarafe on the hotplate first... Good times.
As a waitress I had to tell customers more than once, after they'd ask me to brew a fresh pot of coffee. I'd have to go back to them : Certainly sir, right after this pot of hot water , I'll be glad to brew you a nice pot of fresh coffee.
Pumpkin bread baked in coffee cans. Poured the batter in, put into the oven, and 5 minutes later spotted the dates, raisins, and chopped nuts in a dish that I forgot to stir in. I quick took one out and stirred them in, that one was not a success. The other pumpkin bread baked all right, but was pretty blah.
Not cooking, but more than once I have walked into my bedroom with my phone and a glass of water, put the phone on a coaster and thrown the glass of water onto the bed. Now I mutter to myself as I enter the room "glass on coaster, phone on bed, glass on coaster, phone on bed..."
Pull the pin, throw the grenade
Remember: Pillage first, THEN burn.
I have heard of people doing that same thing. I would love to see it happen in person but I would probably laugh so hard I would pee in my pants
This gave me a good laugh... Especially when you think of it as you wet your bed 🤣🤣🤣