Air Date: December 22, 2004
In this episode Adam and Jamie tested holiday-related myths while revealing the top ten myths (to date) as voted upon by fans. They were:
A frozen turkey can explode if it is dropped into deep fryer pot too fast.
busted
While it will not explode, the turkey can cause the boiling oil to splash all over the place (which can be extremely dangerous) if it is dropped into the deep fryer improperly.
Placing a silver spoon in a bottle of champagne can keep it bubblier for longer.
busted
The spoon actually reduces the fizziness of champagne. In a blind taste test when compared to several controls (opened champagne, re-corked champagne and unopened champagne) both Adam and Jamie ranked the spooned champagne the lowest in terms of fizziness.
A falling icicle can kill a person.
confirmed
An icicle over 1.5 feet (45 cm) in length falling from about 15 feet completely penetrated a steak, showing that it is possible for a icicle to kill a person.
A clothed snowman melts slower than a naked one.
confirmed
In the 80 °F (25 °C) San Francisco summer heat, the naked snowman melted considerably faster than the clothed snowman. The clothes on the snowman protected it from the heat and acted as insulation to help keep the temperature of the snow from rising.
A urine stream can freeze in the cold of winter.
busted
When tested in a freezer at -70 °F (-50 °C) the fake urine stream the MythBusters used did not freeze in midair.
The area around a fireplace is actually colder than the rest of the room when a fire is burning.
confirmed
The area near the burning fire was around 1.5 °C colder than the rest of the room.
My favourite Myth from the top 10 is the “escape from Alcatraz”. I think the did it a wonderful way, testing it in reality. I always loved the show. Congratulation to Adam and Jamie.
September 22, 2007 at 10:47 AMMythbusters got the deep-frying a turkey completely wrong. First off, they didn’t use a propane fire (they used electric). Secondly, they didn’t heat it to the highest temperature setting. AND there is evidence this has happened before. In 1998, there were 75 incidents involving flame, fire or burns from fire caused from oil spilling over and catching fire according to the CPSC.
January 6, 2008 at 1:47 PM