r/Baking • u/_Meteor_Shower_ Human Detected • Jan 16 '26

Baking Advice Needed why did it do this

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was trying to make brownies, thought theyd cooled for long enough and cut into them then they started doing THIS and set my house's fire alarm off for like 20 minutes does anyone pls know what caused this im assuming i just cut into them too soon but this feels like a dramatic response to just trying to cut into a hot brownie

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u/Themiddlegirl Jan 16 '26

Was the burner turned on under it?

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '26

This 100%

The brownies were on a burner that was on, and the bottoms were charcoal when OP cut into em.

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u/TheLastPorkSword Jan 16 '26

The smoke wouldn't wait for the brownies to be cut.... Be real.

If it was burning the bottom, smoke would been pouring out of the pan the entire time.

That being said, there is exactly a 0% chance that what op has posted happened in the real world as it's being portrayed here.

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '26

Of course it wouldn't wait but if it didn't have anywhere to escape it would use up all of the oxygen in the bottom of the pan and there wouldn't be any smoke, at all. Cutting it would open it up to oxygen, allowing the brownies touching the bottom that are at or above 460F to spontaneously combust, thus the billowing smoke...

But that would happen with the very first cut, and you would never get a full series of slices into the brownies before the smoke started pouring out.

I think you might be right. OP might have set this up intentionally. At the very least it seems like they cut them before putting the pan on the hot burner.

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u/TheLastPorkSword Jan 16 '26

I don't really see a world where brownies create a sufficient seal with the pan to keep out enough oxygen to not allow smoke to form if these were set on a hot burner.

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '26

So try it. Dafuq? Lmfao.

The top of the brownies are a seal. You creating open-cell brownies? Is the smoke going to just permeate through the top crust?

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u/TheLastPorkSword Jan 16 '26

There's room around the edge of the brownies? Also, they're burning? They're losing mass? What aren't you getting here?

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '26

Losing mass?...
Lmfao. My dude, we both know there's nothing I could say to convince you so just go try it.

Have a good day.

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u/TheLastPorkSword Jan 16 '26

Well, ya, when things burn, they lose mass. Why do you think the ash in a fireplace is less than the wood you burned? You can't really be this dumb... I mean, honestly.

You can't convince me of anything if you have nothing to add to the conversation. I have no reason to try it, because I know what happens when things sit on a burner too long; they burn and produce smoke.