YouTube is full of baking hack videos, from 5-minute crafts to So Yummy and others. These videos seem to always go viral, and this seems to be simply because they hit all the sweet spot of YouTubes search algorithm. What YouTube cant see, is that a lot of these are actually very dangerous or should at least come with some warnings. Here are the top 5 YouTube dangerous food hacks
Basically these channels are content farms, a content farm is like a video factory. They produce endless amounts of video content for their you tube channel which is exactly what the YouTube algorithm wants. Videos that people just binge watch. A lot of Crafts channels have this same format and editing style.
What viewers don’t know, is that most of these cooking and baking hacks don’t even work and are nothing but clever video editing and trickery. Its all about Views and getting viral, but it doesn’t really matter if the recipe works or not.
When recipes don’t work the worst thing that happens is you lose your time and money and possibly the motivation to cook. But what happens when the recipe is actually dangerous and can hurt or even worse kill you?
YouTube features many videos that are dangerous and come without any warning but as they don’t break any of the creator policies they can be freely published.
So I have found five of the most dangerous Kitchen Hacks on YouTube and listed them in this article. I am embedding the videos in this post but please be aware that these are dangerous and can cause serious harm and bodily injury so DO NOT try these at home.
Nr 5. Hot Caramel on a Mixer
Question: What do you get by pouring 140C or 300F degree Hot Caramel on a fast spinning Mixer?
If your answer was “severe burns” then you are correct. So Yummy released a video titled How to make caramel and chocolate desserts which features various Caramel hacks. One of them is the video of a hand mixer that has hot caramel poured over it while spinning. Never a great idea!
Ann Reardon from “How to Cook that” did a few expose videos to cover this hack among others. Her expression really says it all, watch the full video here:
The video is still on “So Yummy” to this day and has gathered 2 million views.
Nr 4. Bleached Strawberries
Yes, somehow 5-Minute Crafts thought its a great Idea to teach kids how to bleach strawberries white. But I am sure they added a warning that these are not edible afterwards??? Nope… no they didn’t.
In the 5-Minute crafts video “36 Crazy Fruit Hacks YOU SHOULD TRY” one of the hacks shows you how to dip a strawberry in bleach until it is completely white. The video has since been removed from the compilation but had already gathered more than 1.5 Million views before it was edited out. Below is a screenshot of the video prior to its removal.
Nr 3. Charcoal Ice Cream
Yes, this is no joke. Someone at 5 Minute crafts actually thought it would be a great idea to use Activated Charcoal in an Ice Cream recipe. Activated Charcoal side effects include diarrhoea, constipation, vomiting, and blockage of the digestive tract. This Ice Cream will be a scoop to remember! Please don’t try this out. Also, dry ice can injure you and burn off your skin or even fingers.
Nr 2. Wrapping your face in Cling Film to prevent Onion tears!
If someone suggested you wrap your face with cling film three times to avoid Onion tears you would think they are pulling your leg. But what if you told that to a 6 or 7 year old child?
Believe it or not but Crafty Panda suggests that you wrap your face with cling film to avoid Onion tears. A video that has almost 5 million views and is mostly made by younger kids or teens shows how you can wrap your face with cling film to prevent crying when cutting onions.
No warning of the dangers involved with wrapping your face with an airtight material what so ever. I am in awe and shock every time I see this video and I am surprised it has not been taken off YouTube.
Nr 1. Popcorn in a Soda Tin
In 2019 a 14-year-old Zhe Zhe and 13-year olf Xiao Yu tried a popcorn hack video they saw online. The video showed how two soda tins and some alcohol could make popcorn. This resulted in an explosion that killed the 14-year-old and severely burned the 13-year-old girl.
YouTuber Ms Yeah received a lot of social justice as she had a video on her YouTube page that showed this process. It was later shown that the girls had used a different method and not the one of Ms Yeah’s video. Ms Yeah, however, paid for the girl’s medical bills and expenses. This does not reverse the damage but she did take responsibility in some way.
What do do if you see a potential Dangerous Video
When you see a video hack that is potential dangerous the first thing you should do is report it to YouTube. Using the three dot menu on the bottom of each video gives you the option to “report” a video. You can then select “harmful or Dangerous Acts”
Disliking and commenting on the video actually has a positive effect on the video ranking. I know you might be tempted to add a warning or dislike but by doing that you achieve the opposite, the YouTube algorithm will see interaction with the video and will only rank it higher in the search results. So the best thing you can do is Report and leave in this instance.