We dream of a world where the heat of the first bite of a meal shall never exceed the maximum bearable temperature of the human mouth. Too many tastebuds have been burned to death, too many meals ruined and too many tears shed. It’s time for the madness to stop. By raising awareness on First Bite Food Temperature (FBFT), but phrasing our message in youthful slang, checkyatemps.org believes this dream can become a reality.
When heated, these foods can be deceitful:
Hot Pie: Police Warning
This goes to show the police even see it as very important to be safe and not burn your mouth. “It will be thermo-nuclear - always blow on the pie”.
Hot drink: Remove lid from take-away hot drink and sense heat with hand or face. Blow liquid to cool down as required.
Hot pie: Pierce roof of the pie and allow inside to cool. Fan to speed the process.
Toastie/Jaffle: Bite off either end and allow air to pass through. Hover in front of functioning air-conditioning unit for a speedy result.
“Just the other morning I woke up and had an instant craving for the pizza I knew was left over in the fridge from the night before.When I heard the glorious beep of the microwave informing me my delicious snack was ready I leaped with joy. Pulling it out of the microwave I instantly remembered your wise advice that I must check the temp THUS preventing me from burning my mouth and I enjoyed my sweet, sweet pizza.” - Jade
“My friend offered me a cup of hot chocolate, I lifted the mug to my lips, eager to take a sip, but just in the nick of time I remembered to Check My Temps! My friend was not so lucky and she burnt her mouth. Thanks boys for saving my tongue and my day!” - Kara
“I had prepared a basic cheese-on-toast early on Saturday morning (bread, cheese, oregano – fairly standard). Now usually I would give the standard, but insufficient 2-3 blows on the cheese (which by this stage could very well be thermo-nuclear) and in my impatience dive in way to early burning the roof of my mouth, ruining the rest of the meal and potentially the rest of the weekend. This time around I was able to avoid such a catastrophe as my girlfriend in a stroke of genius had added fresh (ie post grill) tomato slices on top of the grilled cheese, thus providing a cool shield between the lava like cheese and the soft underbelly of my mouth. The beauty of this maneuver is that you get to enjoy the meal instantly while removing the risk of mouth burn.” - Julian
“I have just made myself an afternoon decafe capp, in the microwave. Now with your excellent public service announcement about Checking ya Temps! I was aware that this could be disasterous! So I checked my temp and guess what?hOO-ot! Luckily I did not burn my tounge (because of your 5 star PSA), BUT. Beware the burning crockey. The inside of my lip is now a little singed, it wasn’t a complete tounge toasting, I give it 1/2 success. So maybe a small warning on heat retaining mugs would be in order.” - Kell
“This morning i went to take a bit of, maybe the worst mouth burning culprit, a tomato and cheese toasty when i realized the cherry tomatoes and melted mozzarella were hidden thermo nuclear threats. I cut of the ends and allowed the filling to cool, mouth victory! thanks check ya temps for protecting the public, and my mouth - Safer communities together” - Leroy
“I was just chillen with my peeps when I decided to have the nectar of the gods. Hot Iced Tea. I went to take a gulp when I remembered to CHECK MY TEMPS! Luckily that I did because that nectar was HOT! So I put it in the freezer for a quick cool off.” - Robert
“Let’s not forget that checking ya temps works both ways; the other day I was about to bite into a delicious ice-cream sandwhich when I remembered my early on-set gum recession and subsequent tooth sensitivity. Luckily I let that sucker warm up a smidge before I let loose on it!” - Kathleen
“Thank you for Check Your Temp! We had Halloween cupcakes and I was so excited about my Cherry-Ripe pumpkin cupcake that I ALMOST gulped down my coffee to enjoy the delicious cupcake-coffee combo. Thanks to your public service on the People’s Show, I did NOT burn off the top of my cupcake, which would have hindered my cupcake enjoyment!” - Ellie
Email us your success story; let’s celebrate!
“No time for chit chat boys just got an important notifications: Had a curry laksa the other day and decided to eat in. I had prepared myself for the serving temp of the laksa and taken into account that it usually cools on the walk home and would therefore be hotter when served than usual, but came unstuck when i stirred it after a while of sipping from the edges of the bowl and spread the heat back through the entire meal, so when i then sipped again the sides were as hot as the middle. Be warned when eating laksa and other soupish dishes.” - Duncan
“Dearest Father Hamish and Mother Andy. I have commited a cardinal sin for which i am begging your forgivness. Early saturday morning i was about to enjoy a flavoursome pie, when in the exitment i regretably forgot to check my temps, thus burning my tounge and ruining the rest of my day and the birthday party that was to come later. I hope that in time i will be forgiven for my sins and will be able to carry on with my life.” - Kurtis
“I have just experienced a rather unpleasant experience having melted some plastic cheese on toast under the grill. When I removed the toast I check the temp by touching the top, realising it would be hot, but assuming not too hot. My first bite thought me a valuable lesson and has destroyed the rest of my day as my tongue spends it time looking for some unburnt flesh in my mouth. As I bit into the lava like cheese it moulded itself to the roof of my mouth preventing me from spitting it out or doing anything other than endure the most painful experience. I sat on the lounge pondering whether to try and transfer the lava to the back of my throat and transfer the pain or wait unitl the molding to the roof of my mouth was complete and cool enough to dislodge with my finger. I decided to try and chew through the pain and spread the pain. A memorable experience to say the least. - My lunch was destroyed. Check you temps should be made law and termometers assigned to each households, much the same as garbage bins are assigned to each household.” - Tristan
“My mother in law made a delicious whole salmon, baked with fennel and cherry tomatoes. Having eaten many a grilled tomato and studied thermo-dynamics at university, I exercised due caution when tucking into the tommies. My sister in law was not so wary and had a cherry tomato explode its near boiling contents inside her mouth, ruining her meal, and her weekend.” - Jonny
“I was eating some pineapple today and I really like pineapple & of course ate too much. My mouth started tasting sour and bitter… it almost felt as if it had been burnt!! Then mum came home from the supermarket and she had bought me a chocolate bar. Of course I tore straight into it but it didn’t take me long to realise I couldn’t taste it! It didn’t taste like chocolate anymore! I had eaten too much pineapple and it had left my mouth tasteless! I was very disappointed.. I’m not sure the pineapple was worth not being able to taste for the rest of the day! So beware of fruits (esp. tropical fruits) that can leave your mouth feeling almost the same as if it were burnt! Checkyafruits!” - Ella
“I am usuallly pretty good with Checking My Temps… BUT in my battle to overcome hunger, I made a bowl of nachos. I scoffed a few down, and had momentary mind lapse in which I forgot about the potential dangers of not checking my temps.. I took a bite, and some salsa oozed onto my tongue, rendering it burnt and no longer fit for action. I warn everyone, not checking your temps can strike at any time! My first few mouthfuls were of adequate temperature, but this temp caught me off guard, and midway into the food! A classic case of not CHECKING MY TEMPS and proceding with caution.” - Emma
“My husband found himself in an awful situation as a young boy, with the dreaded ‘Hot Gut Combo‘. He was at a family friends party where one of the horderves being served were those mini vol-au-vaunt things. He’d already had a few that were fine in temperature and so, had become complacent in checking the temp. The last one he picked up was boiling hot therefore burning his mouth which shocked him so much that he immediately swallowed it.This resulted in the molten lava cheese burning a hole in his stomach . He lost consciousness and was rushed to hospital. He was forced to live on ice-cream and jelly for weeks, which as you can imagine would have been hell for a little boy….. It’s hard to hear when someone you love is affected by not checking their temps but even harder when they are faced with the double whammy of early swallowing syndrome. Thankfully he has pulled through it ok with just the occasional panic attack at the sight of miniature pastries. Lets hope that being a guts isn’t genetic or our three kids are in trouble…” - Corrin
“i totally forgot to CHECK MA TEMPS, the other night when i had a fire and was roasting marshmellos. MAN it was on fire and i just blew it out and put it straight in my mouth. OUCH. It was a rookie error man a rookie error, my toung burnt so bad it hurts to talk. Like hamish, i do enjoy food a lot (probs more that average) but i wanted the marshmello so bad i swallowed it whole and also burnt my throught. OUCH. Now i am scared of hot foods. I need your help guys to get back onto hot foods. HELP ME” - Paris
“The other day I dumped cold milk on my hot cereal (porridge) and somehow expected that the combination would result in a lukewarm mix of the two. It did not. Instead I got cold milk and piping hot cream of rice, which I learnt after the first bite. BE CAREFUL!” - Heather
“Hidden Nasty: After a big night of karaoke, it was time to leave the pub and head to my mates house. On the way I stopped at McDonalds for one of those fancy Chicken Burgers. As I placed my order at the driveway and paid, I was informed there would be a wait, none of these burgers had been made to order. My mouth watered instantly at the excitement of the freshness of my meal. But I should have been more careful, so pumped for my freshly made burger I forgot to Check My Temps, and hot mayonnaise seared the roof of my mouth, blistering it instantly.It is easy to be fooled by a burger! Not your usual hot food.But please don’t make the same mistake I did” - Barry
“My story is the reverse, in temperature… Quite a while ago I took my relatives to the Chinese Gardens and it was a really hot day. There was this ice cream vendor selling ice blocks and drinks from his small cart, so I sprung for some ice blocks for all of us. Unfortunately for me…. big mistake. I unwrapped my iceblock and placed the yummy delight into my mouth. Heres where the fun began…. I tried to remove the iceblock from my mouth and my lips were welding to the iceblock. Apparently the Ice Block vendor was using ‘dry ice’ to keep his ice blocks cool - unbeknown to me… So here I am trying to pry this iceblock from my lips, kinda freakin out whilst my cousin and his children are laughing their heads off…. Yes, I know my family has a warped sense of humour. I can see the humour of it now but at the time, it was very, very painful. I actually yanked the iceblock from my lips and some of my skin from my lips stuck to the iceblock, resulting in me walking around with a tissue on my lips to stop the blood flow. Not pretty at all. So, its not only ‘hot’ food items that can surprise you but also unexpected ‘cold’ ones” - Lee
“I was visiting the In-Laws last weekend and my mother in-law kindly offered to rustle up a couple of toasty pies (she’s a Kiwi) filled with delicious Tasty Cheese and tomatoes. She produced a couple of beautifully golden sandwiches that would tempt the gods and I grabbed one half with both handsand took a huge bite. At this point in my life I was unaware ofCheckyatemps.org and didn’t realise the destructive potential of hot cheese and hot tomato. As I pulled the sandwich away from my face a slice of searing hot tomato slipped out of the sandwich and stuck to my bottom lip. I’ve cried with joy at the shear pleasure of a good sandwich before but these tears where a heady blend of agony and betrayal.Some good advice though is Lucas PawPaw ointment is exceptional for taking the pain out of burns, so I slapped some of that on, aired the jaffles with the air conditioning unit and kept on munching.” - Phil
“Last night my mum made an amazing mac and cheese with a beautiful cheesy creamy sauce! I had (as Hamish puts it) promised myself this meal and been looking forward to it ALL day. When i sat down after hours of waiting and took the first bite i was too eager eat it that i forgot to check my temp and a horrible thing happened. i bit into the macaroni and didnt realise the hot cheesy sauce was inside the tube of the past. When i bit into it the molten hot sauce spirted into my mouth and burnt a layer of tastebuds off the tip of my tongue. I had to spend the rest of the night sucking on ice cubes - not as satisfying as mums mac and cheese! Afterwards i was so hungry and so angry i felt like breaking the law, smoking, speeding and stealing (even stealing another tongue if i had to!) This just shows the consequences of not checking your temps. Rigorous study has proven it leads to extreme teenage rebellion and ultimate failure in life… People PLEASE check ya temps!” - Alison
“Made a nice stirfry last week, checked my temps, all veg good, checken good, thought I was safe, bit into a chunk of broccoli, burnt the roof of my mouth. rest of the meal was ruined, mouth still sore a week later” - Danny
“Latina ravioli pasta is a highlight of my food life. Ricotta and Spinach is my preferred brand and as luck would have it, that was the one on sale at Coles. Cooked perfectly, sauce (also on sale) was prepared. I even had Parmesan cheese to garnish.Sat down for a lovely lunch. First bite; couldn’t wait. So imagine my horror when I bit into the pasta pillow and found my tongue scalded by boiling hot water. It hadn’t come out during my admittedly brisk straining of the pasta and proceeded to burn the top of my tongue so severely I couldn’t finish the dish; had to give it to my mother who didn’t appreciate the glory of Latina, and then sucked on ice cubes until the pain went away.I wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone, emotional and physical, so I back Check Ya Temps” - Kat
“Hey guys, this is a horror story for checkyatemps.com When me and my family were going on holiday a few years ago, we stopped at a diner for lunch. My dad bought a ham, cheese and tomato toasted sandwich.Without checking his temps he took his first bite and when pulling the sandwich away from his mouth after his first bite the tomato all came out at once and went all over his chin and left a really big red welt, it hurt him so much Mum had to drive the next leg of the trip. Moral of the story, ALWAYS CHECK YOUR TEMPS!” - Luke
“They sell popcicles at lunch, so I decided to eat one, and forgot to check my temps…and my mouth got stuck to the popcicle for a full thirty seconds! When I went onto your website, there seems to be only HOT temperatures to check…surely if you pull off all the taste buds when the food is too COLD, that’s just as bad?!” - Sarah
“Check ya temps next time on spring rolls and toasted cheese sandwiches, especially when you use cheese singles. My husband just smashed a plate because he forgot to check his temps and burnt his lip on the melting cheese, therefore dropping the plate to remove the burning cheese…” - Joanne
“i wanted to ping my jam donut and did so for 2mins 30 seconds and the outside was only slightly warm, so i thought thats about right and bit right into the centre which like the core of the earth was filled with liquid hot magma the burned every taste bud my tongue had. i literally couldnt taste food for a couple of weeks” - Jon
“my Nana’s roast lamb is something to really rave about. but last night, first bite, was staight to the roast potato’s. My favourite. I’d forgot that they had been cooking in the oven for one and a half hours, at 180 degrees. My tounge was so scolded that i could not taste anything for the rest of the meal. IF ONLY I HAD CHECKED MY TEMPS!” - AJ
“Because of the awesome Summer weather my dad had decided to barbeque some sausages for tea. He handed me a plate, I picked up each sausage to place it on a piece of bread. They weren’t that hot and I thought it’d be safe. I took the biggest bite I could out of one sausage and the blazing meat scorched the roof of my mouth. It was blistering and peeling and I couldn’t really eat or drink anything for awhile. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, please everyone check your temps!” - Andrew
“The other day my sister re-heated a meat pie for me and goes I think it might still be cold. Thinking it was cold i didn’t bother to CHECK YA TEMPS and it was infact the opposite of cold. Some people might even have called it thermo-nuclear or other made up words. Burnt the top of my mouth. Ruined my day maybe even my life. I’d like to share this story with people so they learn of the deceptiveness of microwaves, and even when people say it isn’t hot, Not to trust them.” - Tom
“My Boyfriend Kiel (photo above) was so over-excited when biting into his Subway Meatball Sub that he forgot to CHECK HIS TEMPS. Meatball sauce exploded out like an eruption of molten lava onto his face and he was burnt around the sides of his mouth. He suffered blistering that lasted for days afterwards. It was comical - but still very serious.” - Stephanie
Email us your testimonial so we can help raise awareness of the detrimental effect of hot foods.
