If you ever make Kraft EasyMac, you should not walk away while it cooks in the microwave

Kraft EasyMac Meltdown 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.

Kraft EasyMac Meltdown

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88 comments

  1. This same thing happened today to my son. There was 1 minute left and smoke was rolling out of the microwave. The container was melted more than yours. I will never buy this again!

  2. That’s hilarious — not about the cup but that this same thing happened to me too!

    The scent was horrible and I had to go outside just to stop myself from getting a migraine.

  3. Same thing happened to my daughter. Came back to a pile of black gunk in the microwave. Container was gone and the smoke and smell was horrible!! Hard to breathe 🙁 scary

  4. Same thing happened to me and I almost had a heart attack. I heated up one in microwave and it was fine turn around put second one in and helped my daughter in highchair wen I turned back around smoke everywhere and burnt Mac n cheese wft is this crap that it’s melting the container. Kraft had no answers and my microwave is shot to hell. Thanks Kraft for nothing .

  5. My daughter followed the instructions, not her first time making Mac and cheese, and the container burnt before the timing in the packaging filling our apartment with a terrible smell. Beware, don’t leave your microwave unattended when making Kraft Mac and cheese!

  6. Just happened to me last night. I thought maybe I forgot to put water in it, but I remember doing that. I’m not an idiot. I’m glad to see it’s not just me but this is scary – and the smell is AWFUL!

  7. Yep happened to my son. Two in different microwaves. Same time. Wonder I’d metal from cheese packet got in there. Pu. Was black all over

  8. This just happened to me this weekend! I was shocked, and disappointed. How long does the smell linger? I’ve been trying to clean the microwave all weekend, and the whole house still smells awful.

  9. SAME THING HAPPENED TO MY DAUGHTER. FOAM CONTAINER TOTALLY MELTED AND BURNED. THE SMELL WAS GAGGING US. STILL HAD A MINUTE LEFT TO COOK. I HAD TO PURCHASE A NEW MICROWAVE THE NEXT DAY 3/18?2017 BECAUSE I FELT THE ONE WE HAD WAS TOO COMPROMISED. THREE DAYS LATER THE HOUSE STILL SMELLS FROM THE SMOKE. EVEN AFTER WE OPENED WINDOWS AND DOORS AND PUT THE EXHAUST FANS ON. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

  10. I was home alone and it smelt like burnt popcorn when I was cooking it. I thought it was from yesterday when my popcorn got burned. I leaved to go watch more tv and the smell increased. I see smoke going out of the microwave, opening it to see burnt popcorn. The smell of burnt “popcorn” looms throughout the house. I lost my appetite through the terrible smell. Never doing this again unless someone is home.

  11. Just happened to us tonight. Sounds like my son might have cooked it right aftetall. The smell is horrible. We will not buy this product again Kraft!

  12. Just happened to me and microwave is dead. Brand new stainless machine. Anyone take any action against Mac and cheese folks?

  13. I am so angry and have to wonder what if my 15 year old, home alone, had cooked this instead of me. This is inexcusable. I have messaged Kraft and posted on their page… I see others did the same and got coupons for more Mac and cheese. Corporate world. Great

  14. These pictures look exactly like what just happened to my co-worker a few minutes ago here in our office. Smoke was pouring out of the microwave with more than a minute of time left to cook. The whole building smells like burnt macaroni. We even had people from other offices across the building coming to see if we were OK and what was burning. This is so dangerous! Why hasn’t Kraft done something about this?!

  15. OMG! This happened to us tonight! Son makes makes it in the microwave, thank goodness he stayed in the kitchen! He said he made it as he usually does, put it in the microwave, turned around, then smelled the burning, saw the cup melting, & opened the door & the smoke came pouring out! Completely burnt! After all these reports, I am surprised that Kraft is still making them!

  16. I’m surprised as well. I honestly never expected so many reports of this happening. I sort of assumed my case was a freak incident but clearly not.

  17. This just happened to me today. I made my son his Mac and cheese and it came out fine. I then made my other son the same one and walked away. Thank god mg husband was in the kitchen because the Mac and cheese caught fire. I remember putting water in it also. It doesn’t make sense. They should recall these. To dangerous to have especially if Little kids are making it or forget to put water in it. Not safe and I am going to think twice about buying these again.

  18. Just happened to me. With my son in high chair 5 feet away. Over a minute left on the timer. Whole house stinks, windows open and heat off on a cold rainy night. Not too happy about having to de-smoke the house tomorrow on my day off. Will never buy this product again. Ugh. Will probably buy new microwave tomorrow too.

  19. Just happened to me. The first one I cooked was fine. Stuck the second one in and it did the same as everyone else. Smoke was so bad I evacuated the house and turned on the whole house fan. I would hate for someone with breathing issues to have to deal with this issue. I will be buying a new microwave tomorrow. The smell is unbearable.

  20. Just happened to my 8 year old son too. Smoke billowing out of the microwave. The container is black! The smell is horrible! The whole house smells like toxic fumes. He put the cup in for 3 minutes and filled with water just like the directions said. This is crazy that a company can get away will selling this product. Who knows what we are breathing in. We will never buy again!

  21. The same thing happened to me in my apartment and it was awful. Literally stood outside with the door open to get rid of the smoke. Hard to breath. First time this has happened to me and it was kind of scary.

  22. Just happened to me. First one I cooked was fine. The second one melted the entire cup and was a lump of burnt black macaroni. All these reports. This is insane. Smell is pretty horrible.

  23. I am surprised that this is so common. I bet there are most likely a lot of others that experience this and don’t find this page.

  24. I was home alone and Reyes to cook one and I left the kitchen while it cooked. When I came back there was smoke pouring out of the microwave and it was hard to breath. Never buying these again

  25. My daughter wanted a late night snack so my wife what’s going to make her Kraft macaroni and cheese in a cup. My wife went back to the room and my daughter came in there and was hollering about smoke in the house. My wife were in in the kitchen and are microwave had smoke pouring out of it. It hadn’t even been in there for the recommended cooking time. Our microwave is completely destroyed are ceiling above the microwave is now black because of the smoke our house is completely filled with smoke and we have been trying to air it out for a while now. This was a four pack original and they recommended three and a half minutes in the microwave. We have purchased this product many many times and never had any issues until now. I’m guessing that the manufacturer that makes the cups for kraft has some type of issue going on. I urge you to be extremely careful and use Extreme Caution when cooking this product. Tomorrow I will be calling Kraft and see what their response is.

  26. May 17, 2018 same thing happened to me on real this is been going on way too long for something not to be done not safe to the smell ungodly a plastic smell unsafe had to send my grandkids outside while I opened windows turn fans on etc. etc. I will be calling craft also

  27. My 13 yr old daughter made a cup today and all was fine. 5 minutes later, my 15 year old son made a cup (from the same package). With more than a minute left, the cup melted, the macaroni burned into one big black lump and smoke was pouring out of microwave. It doesn’t make sense. Our over-the-range microwave is about 9 months old and now the inside is stained yellow and the smell is horrific. I’m so angry!! I think national attention needs to be brought to this issue. It’s completely dangerous, a safety hazard and inexcusable.

  28. This unfortunately just happened to my cousin tonight. Extremely disappointed in a product that I have been so loyal to. We were sitting in our hotel room during a family vacation when all of a sudden we smelt THE smell of this burning cup, and we actually saw the cup catch on fire. We spent 10 minutes fanning the fire alarms. Although my cousin is a little slow, he swears that he also filled the cup up with the appropriate amount of water. We are calling Kraft ASAP and petitioning to sue.

  29. This was scary , it just happened at my home making Mac and cheese for my grandson. The Mac and cheese engulfed in smoke and container and noodles burned to a crisp. Definitely not safe. The Company needs to fix this issue ASAP.

  30. This happened to me this afternoon there was about a minute left on the microwave and it started making a lot of weird popping noises I ran in and I couldn’t see in the microwave I opened it and the smoke was so think and yellow the fire alarms wouldn’t stop going off and the smoke made me feel like I was going to vomit. They need to do something about this. It melted so much more and the pasta was all completely burnt.

  31. His just happened to my daughter too. I came home to the terrible smell and my daughter said she put 3. Min 30 sec. and walked away came back to the burning container and Black smoke. I was away at the store. Open all windows turn on all fans and the whole house still smells like burnt plastic. I placed the microwave outside for now.

  32. Literally just happened to us. How did everyone get rid of this awful smell????
    My son had a minute left as well and the pasta was black with a thick cloud of smoke.

  33. This happened to my family this week. Luckily, I was home with my 2 daughters when the smoke filled our kitchen. Stores need to pull Kraft from the shelves immediately.

  34. This happened to me today! What a scare and a hassle too. The microwave is extremely hard to clean and the smell of smoke is horrendous. I’m scared that the fire alarm will sound at any minute and that I’ll be responsible to pay fire department fees as a result. Why hasn’t the company looked after this yet? I’ve been a loyal mac & cheese buyer for years by now. This was probably my 30th package I was trying to make. Needless to say, I won’t be buying these products again.

  35. This happened to my son this week. He’s been making them for a while and I know he followed the directions. The house was full of smoke. The container melted and charred. And my microwave still smells horrible. I don’t know what will get the smell out. I’m glad it didn’t burn the house down with my son in it.

  36. This just happened to my girlfriend and I at college. She put the container in the microwave, water filled to the line, and went into her room while it cooked, only to discover the room full of smoke. The smoke set off the fire alarm and caused the whole dorm to be evacuated. The container is melted and black. Outrageous!

  37. It litterally just happened to me last night, I walked a way from the mac and cheese and it LOOKED LIKE A TORNADO inside the microwave i was scared. Then i opened it, a ton of smoke came out. I had to take all the pets out of the house because they hated the smell, they were crying like crazy.

  38. This happened to my 12 year old daughter last night. We were blaming her for possibly hitting an extra button on the time and accidentally cooking it way over the instructed time. I’m guessing she cooked for it 3 minutes exactly like she always has. The cup was melted and everything incinerated. The smell was absolutely ghastly and I wonder what it was doing to our family of 6 as we were breathing in the awful fumes all evening as we slept?

  39. My daughter just made Mac n cheese, same story. Getting a headache from all the smoke. How could so much damage be done in 10 minutes?! Is there metal in the bowls? This is concerning

  40. Same thing just happened to my daughter! The house smells so bad that we are on the verge of throwing up! She followed the directions as always and we make them the same every time! I don’t understand why it happened!

  41. This just happened to us and I googled this to see if it was the microwave or not. I wish I could post pictures of it.

  42. So glad I looked this up. My 15 year old daughter just called panicking that the microwave was on fire and black smoke coming out! It was the Mac n Cheese container burnt to a crisp! She followed all the directions like she has done a ton of times. She was coughing so bad that I could not hear what she was saying. They should pull these off the market until they figure out what is going on!!

  43. Same thing happened to us this morning. Before the 3.5 mins was up my daughter yells fire! There was smoke shooting out and microwave was full of flames. I yanked open the back door and my husband threw the microwave into the yard. Thank God we saw it when we did or it could have burned our entire house down.

  44. We are on our 2nd microwave in 30 days. We wrongly assumed the 1st happening was a bad microwave. Wish I had read this thread before we bought and killed a 2nd, brand new microwave. Ugh.

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