IKEA Blanda Blank Bowl Can Start a Fire

The Blanda Blank bowl from IKEA is being called a fire starter. A Swedish customer recently found that his grapes caught on fire in the stainless steel bowl after he left them in the hot sun. IKEA is not recalling the item because they believe the risk is low. It is also something that can happen in similar stainless steel bowls.

IKEA tells CNBC, "In risk assessment for the bowl Blanda, it has been established that many different parameters would have to converge for the content of the bowl to overheat and that the risk for this to happen is very low. The round design of the bowl further contributes to a very low risk of spreading, in case of any overheated material in the bowl."

The CNBC story also cites Mike Tuts, a professor and chair of the Columbia University physics department. The professor explains that the parabolic shape and mirror effect of the bowl can cause small objects to ignite using the bowl. The intense rays of the sun when focused together on a small object can eventually cause it to ignite. CNBC even tested the bowl on small pieces of paper and found the longest and thinnest pieces of paper would burn using the bowl.

The IKEA Blanda Blank bowl can be found on ikea.com. It costs $4.99. Here's a video of the man's grapes catching fire in it.