Cooking—it’s that optional thing that we do when we don’t want to look like lazy good-for-nothings eating cheese and salami straight out of the pack and munching on raw vegetables instead of making a salad. Even cavemen and barbarians were able to cook things well. But even with the help of modern technology, we sometimes end up absolutely butchering our meals and making mega cooking fails.

Prepare your stomachs, dear Readers, for Bored Panda has baked up a feast of the most incredible cooking fails for you to enjoy. Upvote your fave pics and leave a comment about the times you messed up while cooking. Psst. We’ve got more epic cooking fails for you to taste right here, here, and here. Remember to chew well and take your time. Patience and focus have a lot to do with success in the kitchen (and in life, but that’s another story). If you’re distracted or running around like a headless chicken then odds are, you’ll make a ton of mistakes. Before you know it, your spaghetti’s on fire. Or worse—it’s fallen straight inside your shoes. Don’t believe us? Scroll on down.

Pie artist and baking and cooking pro Jessica Clark-Bojin was kind enough to give Bored Panda a few great tips and tricks to help all of us out in the kitchen and prevent massive disasters from happening. "Kitchen 'mistakes' can range from the catastrophic, 'I forgot the pot roast in the oven and now the kitchen is on fire' to the more benign, 'I accidentally put paprika in the cookies instead of cinnamon', but in most instances, they stem from the same thing: distraction and a lack of preparation." Read on for her delicious insights into avoiding kitchen mistakes.