NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

Man left with horrific burns on his face as TikTok egg hack backfires

NZ Herald
11 Nov, 2021 01:05 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A UK man has shared a warning about a viral TikTok hack after it left him with severe facial burns. Photo / @8gazmcd1
A UK man has shared a warning about a viral TikTok hack after it left him with severe facial burns. Photo / @8gazmcd1

A UK man has shared a warning about a viral TikTok hack after it left him with severe facial burns. Photo / @8gazmcd1

One man's attempt to cook an egg using a viral TikTok hack backfired when it literally blew up in his face.

Scotsman Gary McDougall, 40, shared a video on the app chronicling his cooking mishap that soon went viral, the New York Post reports.

And users were shocked after he revealed the cooking hack left him with full-body burns.

"Last night didn't go according to plan," McDougall, who lives in Perth, Scotland, explained in the video.

It began when he was poaching an egg in the microwave, something he said he'd done 100 million times before.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Read More

  • 'Don't do it': Viral poached egg hack leaves woman ...
  • The fried egg hack that cuts serious calories - NZ ...
  • 'Genius' egg-peeling hack: People furious over one ...
  • The secret to cooking the perfect eggs every time - ...
  • Drew Barrymore's clever trick for perfect boiled eggs ...

"You boil the kettle, fill an ordinary teacup halfway up with water and then crack the egg into the cup," he told Deadline News.

"You then put it in the microwave for 40 seconds and voila, one poached egg."

But disaster struck as soon as he took the egg out of the microwave. When he tried to use a spoon to scoop it out of the cup, it burst and shot scalding water all over his face and chest, leaving him with burns from his stomach to his face and forcing his right eye to close.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
The viral egg cooking hack quite literally blew up in his face. Photo / @8gazmcd1
The viral egg cooking hack quite literally blew up in his face. Photo / @8gazmcd1

He headed to the emergency department and is now recovering from the accident.

He's still able to see out of his injured eye, but he hopes his experience will discourage others from attempting the popular hack.

"Be careful all right, don't poach eggs in the microwave," he warned in the TikTok clip. "Buy one of those machines."

He's not the first to be injured while microwaving eggs. In July, a woman in Britain burned half the skin off her face while attempting the method.

Discover more

Entertainment

The Masked Singer NZ confirmed for second season

09 Nov 10:30 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
Lifestyle

The professor who’s found a cure for couples who don’t have sex

02 Jun 12:00 AM
Lifestyle

Jacinda Ardern’s memoir and the untold stories from her time as Prime Minister

01 Jun 07:43 PM
Premium
Lifestyle

Eclipse founder Debbs Murray: How coercive control shattered my world

01 Jun 02:00 AM

Sponsored: Cosy up to colour all year

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
'Most beautiful display': Locals marvel at southern lights spectacle
Hawkes Bay Today

'Most beautiful display': Locals marvel at southern lights spectacle

01 Jun 11:47 PM
Watch: Kiwi aerospace entrepreneur becomes first New Zealander in space
New Zealand

Watch: Kiwi aerospace entrepreneur becomes first New Zealander in space

01 Jun 11:41 PM
Nigeria floods leave more than 150 dead and more missing
World

Nigeria floods leave more than 150 dead and more missing

01 Jun 11:28 PM
Auckland teen wears mum’s ball dress to school ball 27 years later
Talanoa

Auckland teen wears mum’s ball dress to school ball 27 years later

01 Jun 11:00 PM
Mo’unga shrugs off broken hand to win Japanese title
Rugby

Mo’unga shrugs off broken hand to win Japanese title

01 Jun 10:27 PM

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
The professor who’s found a cure for couples who don’t have sex

The professor who’s found a cure for couples who don’t have sex

02 Jun 12:00 AM

Desire often wanes in long-term relationships, but there's ways to keep the spark alive.

Jacinda Ardern’s memoir and the untold stories from her time as Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern’s memoir and the untold stories from her time as Prime Minister

01 Jun 07:43 PM
Premium
Eclipse founder Debbs Murray: How coercive control shattered my world

Eclipse founder Debbs Murray: How coercive control shattered my world

01 Jun 02:00 AM
On The Up: From foster care to own boss - how a teen mum defied the odds

On The Up: From foster care to own boss - how a teen mum defied the odds

01 Jun 12:44 AM
Sponsored: Into the woods - the new biophilic design
sponsored

Sponsored: Into the woods - the new biophilic design

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search