Imagine being delighted to share what you thought was a helpful trick that may make a daily task a little easier, just to get dog-piled by a bunch of strangers.
That’s what appears to have happened with TikToker Isaac (@my_florida_roots2), who had a “cooking hack” that he uploaded to his account. In his video, she shows off a boiling pot of noodles that is somehow magically stirring itself.
Isaac’s kind enough to explain to his viewers how this goes down in his clip, even naming the specific thermodynamic phenomena responsible for the hands-free stirring ramen miracle.
“So if you’re ever cooking ramen or anything once you’re boiling your water put your pot about halfway it’ll cause a convection current in the water and it’ll stir all the noodles or everything for you. You don’t got to do a thing,” he says as he zooms his lens into the pot of water which is turning the noodles over automatically.
If you’re wondering what exactly a convection current is, here’s an official definition from the Berkeley UC Museum of Paleontology: “Convection currents are heat-driven cycles that occur in the air, ocean, and mantle. They are caused by a difference in temperature, often due to a differing proximity to a heat source. The difference in temperature relates directly to the density of the material, causing this effect.”
The implications of these currents as they naturally occur in our planet can cause massive shifts in the way the earth is structured over time, too (so it’s not just about lazy boy hacks for cooking noodles, either): “Governed by the principle that warm rises and cool sinks, convection currents cause plate tectonics, thunderstorms, desert and tropical regions, even the Earth’s magnetic field!” the resource states.
Isaac isn’t the only person to wax on poetically about the wondrous applications of convection currents when boiling noodles. Redditor @MadOrBadPick1 uploaded a video of one in action to the site’s r/blackmagicf*ckery sub which shows a pot of ramen stirring itself.
While many gazed upon the undulating wad of noodles stirring themselves, others offered logical explanations for the phenomena: “You get a convection current like that in any boiling water. The noodles just make it more visible,” one person said.
@my_florida_roots2 Cooking hack #hack #cooking #boiling #ramennoodles #ramen ♬ original sound – Isaac
Self-stirring noodles
byu/MadOrBadPick1 inblackmagicfuckery
In Isaac’s video, it appears that he’s using an electric heater, so there does seem to be some truth to what the Redditor is referring to.
Some TikTokers who responded to Isaac’s post, however, didn’t really think that his process of making ramen noodles were all that smart.
For many commenters it had everything to do with his season sequencing.
“You guys… put in the flavor packet *while* it’s boiling?” someone asked.
Another thought that he was boiling them for way too long, writing, “Do yall enjoy soggy noodles?”
Someone else was team season-the-noodles-after-they’re-cooked, sharing, “Ngl I boil the noodles, pour out 90% of the water, then add the flavor.”
Other folks had plenty of criticisms for the man’s noodle-preparing ways.
“Bros noodles are soggy,” one wrote.
“Why is there so much water,” another asked.
“You’re over cooking your noodles sir,” another wrote.
Another user on the app wrote that Isaac probably didn’t end up getting the response to the clip that he thought he would: “Bro thought he made a discovery but is just getting flamed in the comments.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Isaac via TikTok comment for further information.
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