Scary to think about

Daniel gave me a chunk of his king, and as was trimming it up for cooking later, I put the trimmings in the microwave for the cats. I was startled when the meat began to spark, so I put in a couple more small chunks. They sparked just like tin foil. I tried once more, this time examining the meat very carefully to make sure nothing had gotten on it, and it sparked again.

Is it possible there could be that much heavy metal contamination in a 20+ lb. king? Makes me not so much want to eat it at all.

I'm not 100% sure about this but my guess would be high levels of mercury. Unless your pregnant you should be alright.

thats crazy and considering how much king ive ate makes it even more scary :crap

I bet these dudes are just messing with ya.

http://www.bingoaustralia.com/bingo-...cracklepop.jpg

Simple solution is to feed it to the cats raw. No sparks.

Seriously, does anyone know what would cause this?

Another reason I don't eat em haha.

Was there any skin on them? and if so could that have an affect?

Apparently 'Arcing' is quite common in some foods, especially certain fruits (grapes), chopped veggies (carrots) and hotdogs.
Other foods may exhibit such due to various factors or combination of factors, e.g. size/shape, moisture, salt content, mineral content, food additives and more.
Dense vegetables such as green beans, carrots and green peppers have a higher amount of minerals in them than other food items. These minerals include iron, magnesium and selenium.


I'm not finding anything about high mercury levels in fish (or anything else) and microwave arcing.

Did you have your MW on 'high' or 100% power?
Try a lower setting.

I have no idea IF mercury or other heavy metals in food would react the way you described.
But there shouldn't be much mercury in a 20# king and certainly not enough in an 8 ounce piece (portion) for most folks to be concerned.*

*Young children and women of child-bearing age may wish to be more cautious...

Was the skin on?

I'm sure it is Bush's fault!

No skin, and I tried it again tonight with a cut from a different portion of the chunk and there was no sparking. Mystery.

I wouldn't dare serve it to the cats raw. These are highly sophisticated (spoiled rotten---by my wife, of course) cats that would not only turn up their noses at raw fish, but would probably take it off and hide it in an inaccessible place so I could enjoy it later.