My wife and myself have enjoyed Kraft’s EasyMac for a while now, popping one in the microwave when we wanted some macaroni and cheese but didn’t feel like going through the trouble of cooking some on the stove. We’ve probably cooked several hundred of these little containers over the last few years and never have we experienced the issue that we experienced tonight. I’m not writing this to give Kraft a bad name, but simply to make anybody who enjoys this food aware of this very serious potential issue.
We opened this container, filled it to the line with cool water, and placed it in the microwave for 3 minutes and 30 seconds just as we always have. I watched the countdown of the microwave for about the first 20 seconds so I know for sure beyond any shadow of doubt that the microwave was set appropriately. With about 60 seconds left to go on the microwave I walked back into the room to get ready to pull it out and mix in the cheese when I noticed that I could not see the EasyMac container within the microwave. I opened the microwave door and was essentially ‘hit in the face’ by smoke and was shocked to see this melted container.
I do plan on contacting Kraft to make them aware of this, but I suspect they are simply going to say that we didn’t follow the directions. I suspect they’ll say we didn’t fill it with enough water, filled it with hot water, or simply cooked it in the microwave for too long. Being that I could easily see any of that, especially the longer cook time, causing this I don’t expect Kraft to simply take my word on it. This certainly isn’t common or we’d all be aware of it and/or changes would have been made and/or the product would no longer exist. The other three containers from the same pack did not experience this issue, so I am really unsure as to what went wrong.
The moral of the story is that if you are going to cook Kraft EasyMac in your microwave, don’t simply walk away and assume that you will come back to pasta that is ready to be mixed with the cheese powder. You should stand where you can safely watch the macaroni cook and ensure that your container doesn’t melt down and essentially burst into flames. At this point my wife and I are going to assume that all EasyMac containers will melt and, as such, will no longer walk away from the microwave should we decide to cook one of these.
More pictures (click for larger), please note that the microwave was *white* inside before this happened, you can see where it’s still white in the image where the glass plate is removed. This stain is nearly impossible to get out and even with extensive scrubbing, the finish inside is still yellowish.
We have had this happen twice to us, and both times was because we forgot to add water. I’m inclined to believe that that’s what has happened with all of you. We’ve never had any issues otherwise, except for when we got in a hurry and/or were distracted. Simple human error here…
Same happened to us. Came home and kids wanted a late snack. First one came out fine the second burned through with thick smoke coming out microwave. As soon as I smelled smoke stopped at 2 minutes. Plastic cup melted and pasta burned. Whole house is filled with toxic smoke. Also triggered an asthma attack.
I can’t believe this has happened to so many people! I was making it today and about 30 seconds in it smelled like burning popcorn, which I assumed was leftover from someone else microwaving popcorn. About a minute in I opened it up to see what was burning and smoke was everywhere! The bowl was warped and the whole thing was black and burning. I’m a teacher and am SO thankful I stayed near the microwave! This is so dangerous
Yup. Just Happened about a minute ago and my house smells of death. What’s up Kraft??
Just happened to me last night. Made it the same way I always do. With a minute left on the timer smoke started pouring out of the back of the microwave. I ended up calling the fire dept as I initially thought it was an electrical issue with the microwave. It still stinks today. Need to buy a new microwave :(.
This same thing happened to my roommate, however he wasn’t cooking Kraft Macaroni. He was cooking instant chow mein from a brand called Nissin. He swears he added water. My guess if this is true then maybe there is trace metal in the products that falls in during packing.
Same thing happened to me last night. Plastic cup melted completely gone and a black pile of Mac was all that was left. I aired the house out for a couple hours until we couldn’t stand it anymore as the house went down to 51°! Today the house still smells really bad. How do you get this smell out of the entire house?!?!
I wish I had a good suggestion on airing things out. Would be better if it just didn’t happen and wasn’t necessary.
With as many people as have found this post – I wonder how many more this has happened to where they didn’t comment here.
Just happened this Morning to us, was making my son Mac and Cheese for lunch and less then 60 seconds later boom–whole house full of smoke and burned up cup and noodles the smoke was terrible. Wonder if anyone reported?
The microwaveable cheese ruined my microwave. I have video of it happening. I can use it for other things, just not this!
This happened tonight. My 15 year old daughter said it made her throat burn and she feels nauseous. That makes me quite uneasy! Hope no permanent damage done to her health. Scary!
I made the first mac and cheese cup for my grandkids and everything went well, I’ve done this hundreds of times. I put the second one in, set the microwave and turned around. The next thing I new there was a burnt smell coming from the microwave. I looked inside and noticed the noodles were all black and the cup was half melted. I took it outside and noticed there was still plenty of liquid in the cup. The house reeked of a burnt smell. I originally thought I did something wrong but I don’t believe that was the case. I thought of calling Kraft but I to figured they would tell me I did something wrong.
This literally just happened to my daughter today! The container was melted so bad you couldn’t even see it. It was melted down like a plate and the Mac and cheese was charred and balled up on top. It scared her so bad she called the fire department! I will definitely think twice about buying this for her to make in the future.
This just happened to my son. 12 years after the original complaint and this is still happening??? That’s pathetic!! Our entire house has a toxic smoke smell and the package is a lump of black melted garbage. I’ll never buy again, and will probably try to stay away from any Kraft product, too.
I made the mistake of allowing my 7 yr old daughter to make this on her own. She’s seen me make it several times, and I’ve also been present when she has made it before. I’m certain that she didn’t put water in it, and possibly set the time for 33:00 instead of 3:30. What’s more disturbing is that the huge plume of smoke that filled my apartment for 15 mins did NOT set off any smoke detectors! Lesson learned! We’re getting new batteries installed in the detectors, and were making the Easy Mac in a ceramic bowl instead. This could have been really really bad.
Same thing happened to us. Just over a minute left and smoke was rolling out of the microwave
Yeah – it’s one thing if you forget to put the water in or let it run way longer than it should. I know in my case I definitely didn’t do that – but I am sure it happens.
8 years later and this is still an active problem apparently. Made the first cup perfectly fine. Second cup goes in to the microwave and bursts into flames. With 2 minutes left to spear. My entire apartment is filled with these toxic fumes and my alarms went off for the 30 minutes alerting neighboring tenants. This is embarrassing and disappointing. I’ve been making these cups for years. A class action suit should definitely be brought forward.
Just happened to us. We have hundreds of these over the years for our kids, and never had an issue. Tonight, with more than a minute left, I noticed the smoke filling our house. The cup was completely melted and all that remained was a black, burned crisp pile of macaroni. The plate was shattered. The interior of the microwave was destroyed. Our microwave was an above the oven insert, and the replacement cost will be about $1,500.00. If Kraft does not agree to replace our microwave, we are making a claim and will file suit if necessary. This is f’ing ridiculous, it has been going on for years and they have obviously done nothing about it.
Guys there’s a simple explanation atom. No matter what you think , you all forgot to add water to it. Thats what happened it’s not a defect you to the craft packaging.
It just happened to us too. My daughter put it in the microwave and followed instructions and walked away for 3 minutes and came back to a smoked filled microwave. The entire house smell awful. When I went downstairs after I smell the smoke, the smoke smell was so heavy that I coughed a lot and had to run to get some air. This should be banned!!!!!
This just happened to my son today. He swore he made it like he always does. Smoke everywhere and a ball of black macaroni and no cup left. We have every window open and 2 fans going. Anyone know how to get the smell out? I’m now getting a headache and my son has asthma.
Just happened to me earlier today. Will be forced to purchase a new microwave, that smell is no joke. Migraine all day.
This just happened to me microwave smells house smells microwave probably not usable anymore and now my son is terrified. I will be contacting kraft about the issue. Some people on here continue to say “people didn’t add water” if you check the siding of the packaging and see droplets obviously metal combustion occurred or packaging defect. This is also coming from someone who was a firefighter. This product needs to be recalled.
Happened few days ago to my roommate. The microwave still smells when turned on, and the smell is still lingering.
Happened to me with their Velveeta Shells and Cheese. Seems like they have a problem. Should we get a class action together, this is as of 8/6/2021
It was a very cold winter day here in Richmond, Virginia. In fact, it was so cold that I didn’t even want to walk outside to my car to go pickup some takeout food. Now, I’m no Gordon Ramsay, so I decided that I would do what I do best… whip up a tasty Deluxe Easy Mac. I would say I’m a frequent user of the Kraft mac n cheese products (3-4 nights a week) and I’ve never had an issue until tonight. At approximately 7pm, I started my normal easy mac dinner routine. I took out the cheese packet, filled the water to the line, mixed up the questionable white powder that sits inside the crevices of the noodles, and set the microwave to 3 1/2 minutes. I walked to the couch to check a few text messages as the noodles cooked. As I looked back to my microwave to check how much time was left, the unthinkable happened. An enormous cloud of smoke filled the kitchen and I rushed to the microwave to turn that shit off immediately. The only thing that remained was a half melted easy mac container, some fossilized looking black noodles, and a rank ass smell that filled our 900 sq ft apartment for the rest of the night. Now, as I sit here with watery eyes and a burning cough from this god awful burnt plastic smell, I wonder what possibly could’ve gone wrong with my deluxe easy mac meal. I’m relieved to see this has happened to others and hope that we will eventually get closure from this traumatic experience.
Welt the year is 2021 and it looks like this same issue is still occurring. Just happened to us this evening. Shame on Kraft.
Just happened to me today as well. I remember putting the water.bit wasn’t even finished and I saw smoke seeping through. I opened to check and tons of smoke came out luckily there wasn’t a flame but it definitely made us couch. My whole place has smelled all day but I is getting worse. I am nervous to try and use the microwave after this.
This just happened to me! So scary. I was so scared I thought I was gonna die. These need to be taken off the market!
this bullshit happened to me rn. i was cooking my second one, put in water, and smoke fucking filled the whole kitchen, my eyes sting, smell is terrible. this is some bullshit.
Just happened to us. Completely melted everything. Terrible smell. Anyone figure out how to get rid of the smell? We have an above oven microwave so very expensive to replace. Why is there not a class action lawsuit?
My bad… I see that I am not the only case for 2022. I blame the side effects of this stench on my brain cells!!
same thing happened to me, the container was more charred but still bad! i only had it in for 2 minutes too!!
it was super weird because i made oatmeal right before it and that was fine but the macaroni wasn’t.
i thought my microwave broke but it would’ve been weird since it cooked fine a minute before i put the macaroni in.
This happened to me today. I walked away for about a minute and next thing I knew the smoke alarm was screeching. I stopped the microwave and opened the door and smoke rolled out. The ceiling above the microwave is blackened. This happened six hours ago and I can’t get the smell out of my nose and my throat is sore. I had the ceiling fan and the stove exhaust fan on for about two hours. I’ll call the company tomorrow (Monday) which I’m sure will be futile.
It just happened to us too. We are trying to air out the house. This has never happened before.
Same thing just happened to me! my sister remembers putting water in and I can tell the pasta was cooked somewhat. We can’t figure out what burned but the smoke has been awful. Never had a problem in the 10+ years we have been buying this product.
I am glad I am not alone in this. I filled mine to the line with cold water, set it to cook in the microwave for 3:15, walked outside for less than a minute, then came back in to see a thick billow of smoke, and the blackened mac ‘n cheese was still cooking in its now warped and blackened bowl.