421: Making Hash Browns

2013-05-23T22:14:33Z

84.174.6.176: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 421
| date = September 5, 2008
| title = Making Hash Browns
| image = making_hash_browns.png
| titletext = There are at least fourteen ways this could go badly (seventeen if that fork is a dangerous crossbreed.)
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is attempting to make {{w|hash browns}}. A hash brown is a way of serving a potato where the potato has been diced or shredded in some way, then pan-fried. Cueball's method for making hash browns, though, is rather unique. He is throwing potatoes into the air and striking them with a flaming tennis racket at his friend, who is holding a tray with a dangerously tilting glass of orange juice balanced on top. His friend is holding a fork in the other hand. The idea is that the tennis racket would simultaneously dice the potato, fry it, and then launch the completed product towards his friend's plate. In reality, this probably wouldn't do much. To properly {{w|Pan frying|pan-fry}} food, it must be cooked in a pan with some oil to lubricate the food, with enough time for the heat to transfer through the oil and spread properly through the food. Hitting a potato with a flaming tennis racket would not cook it as it would strike it too quickly, and it probably wouldn't dice it either unless the wire of the racket is incredibly sharp. Cueball would probably just end up batting a very hot, uncooked, unprepared potato at his friend.

The title text comments on how many ways this experiment could go badly, and jokes that there are even more potential problems if the fork Cueball's friend is holding is a cross-breed. Here are just a few potential ways the activity could go wrong.

# Cueball could burn himself with the flaming tennis racket.
# The can of gasoline could leak and then Cueball could drop the racket, causing a fire to spread.
# Cueball may fail to hit the potato and it would get dirty from the ground.
# Cueball may fail to hit the potato and whack himself with the aforementioned flaming tennis racket.
# Cueball may hit the potato and knock the plate out of his friend's hand, smashing it.
# Cueball may hit the potato and knock the glass out of his friend's hand, smashing that instead.
# Both of the above could happen.
# Cueball might instead hit the potato at his friend's head.
# Cueball could accidentally launch the tennis racket itself (if he has exceptionally poor grip,) at his friend.
# His friend might catch the potato and burn himself on it (it would be a hot potato.)
# Cueball could drop the tennis racket onto the can of gasoline, causing it to explode.
# Even if none of the above happened, Cueball would fail to actually ''cook'' the potato
# Likewise, Cueball would probably not succeed in dicing the potato.

It's unclear what Randall may or may not have had on his mind, though, with regards to specific ways the situation in the comic could go wrong.

The title text is a reference to [[419: Forks and Spoons]], which was published only four days earlier.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands holding a flaming tennis racket. He is throwing a potato in the air as if to serve like a tennis ball. Behind him is a red gas can and a sack of potatoes. Across from him is a another person holding a fork in one hand and balancing a serving tray with a glass of orange juice on it.]

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics with color]]

421: Making Hash Browns

2013-05-23T22:11:36Z

84.174.6.176: reference

{{comic
| number = 421
| date = September 5, 2008
| title = Making Hash Browns
| image = making_hash_browns.png
| titletext = There are at least fourteen ways this could go badly (seventeen if that fork is a dangerous crossbreed.)
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is attempting to make {{w|hash browns}}. A hash brown is a way of serving a potato where the potato has been diced or shredded in some way, then pan-fried. Cueball's method for making hash browns, though, is rather unique. He is throwing potatoes into the air and striking them with a flaming tennis racket at his friend, who is holding a tray with a dangerously tilting glass of orange juice balanced on top. His friend is holding a fork in the other hand. The idea is that the tennis racket would simultaneously dice the potato, fry it, and then launch the completed product towards his friend's plate. In reality, this probably wouldn't do much. To properly {{w|Pan frying|pan-fry}} food, it must be cooked in a pan with some oil to lubricate the food, with enough time for the heat to transfer through the oil and spread properly through the food. Hitting a potato with a flaming tennis racket would not cook it as it would strike it too quickly, and it probably wouldn't dice it either unless the wire of the racket is incredibly sharp. Cueball would probably just end up batting a very hot, uncooked, unprepared potato at his friend.

The title text comments on how many ways this experiment could go badly, and jokes that there are even more potential problems if the fork Cueball's friend is holding is a cross-breed. Here are just a few potential ways the activity could go wrong.

# Cueball could burn himself with the flaming tennis racket.
# The can of gasoline could leak and then Cueball could drop the racket, causing a fire to spread.
# Cueball may fail to hit the potato and it would get dirty from the ground.
# Cueball may fail to hit the potato and whack himself with the aforementioned flaming tennis racket.
# Cueball may hit the potato and knock the plate out of his friend's hand, smashing it.
# Cueball may hit the potato and knock the glass out of his friend's hand, smashing that instead.
# Both of the above could happen.
# Cueball might instead hit the potato at his friend's head.
# Cueball could accidentally launch the tennis racket itself (if he has exceptionally poor grip,) at his friend.
# His friend might catch the potato and burn himself on it (it would be a hot potato.)
# Cueball could drop the tennis racket onto the can of gasoline, causing it to explode.
# Even if none of the above happened, Cueball would fail to actually ''cook'' the potato
# Likewise, Cueball would probably not succeed in dicing the potato.

It's unclear what Randall may or may not have had on his mind, though, with regards to specific ways the situation in the comic could go wrong.

The title text is a reference to [[419: Forks and Spoons]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands holding a flaming tennis racket. He is throwing a potato in the air as if to serve like a tennis ball. Behind him is a red gas can and a sack of potatoes. Across from him is a another person holding a fork in one hand and balancing a serving tray with a glass of orange juice on it.]

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Comics with color]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

421: Making Hash Browns

421: Making Hash Browns