Chef Uses Heated Construction Brick To Add Smoky Flavour To Food; Internet Says, 'Don't Call Them Chefs'

A viral cooking hack, widely shared on Instagram and X, shows a chef heating a red construction brick before pouring hot oil or tadka over it and placing it inside food to create a smoky flavour.

While some viewers initially compared the method to traditional smoking techniques used in Indian cooking, others quickly pointed out that construction bricks are not designed for food use.

Reposted by user Chirag Barjatya, he captioned the post with, “Some chef on Instagram posted a reel where he is heating the brick, yes those red brick used in construction. And then putting a tadka on it and then putting it in the food for flavor. 😖

Please don’t do this ever. Bricks are high in heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel, copper, zinc,

barium, antimony, selenium, molybdenum, silver, and beryllium. They might leech in your food.”

The trend has reminded some people of the traditional dhungar method, where hot charcoal is used to infuse dishes with smoke. However, social media users have highlighted a key difference: charcoal used for cooking is generally food-safe, while industrial materials such as construction bricks may contain chemicals and heavy metals.

Bricks are typically made from clay and other raw materials that can carry impurities. Depending on how they are manufactured, they may contain trace amounts of metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and chromium. When exposed to very high temperatures and oil, some of these substances may leach into food.

The viral reel led to a flood of reactions online, with many users criticising influencers for promoting unsafe food practices in the name of going viral.

One user asked, “Does cooking in earthen pots( matka) also do the same damage ,bro? @chiragbarjatya”

To this message he replied, “If the earthen pots are made from industrial material, yes 💀 Find a good source then only use it.”

Another user wrote, “That’s not creative cooking, it’s a health risk. Heating construction bricks and dipping them into food can release toxic metals like lead, arsenic, and cadmium. This isn’t a flavor hack, it’s a contamination problem,”

A different comment read, “People are literally doing unnecessary things to get viral in Instagram. There are many ways of tadka ,but he choose Brick🤡”

Another person wrote, “These fool influencers will kill half of humanity with their reels. So many people follow these chefs and fitness influencers. The future is doomed,”

One user commented, “Our country really said: cow piss and cow dung weren’t a complete diet, so now we’ve got Instagram ‘influencers’ with Ivy League vocab and Neolithic brains pushing snake oil that’ll kill you and recipes that’ll finish the job,”

Another said, “Jeez… people are going to put anything & everything under the sun into their food, in the name of unique taste… and then end up in a hospital, while their relatives will discuss the side-effects of medicine,”

Some chef on Instagram posted a reel where he is heating the brick, yes those red brick used in construction. And then putting a tadka on it and then putting it in the food for flavor. 😖

Please don’t do this ever. Bricks are high in heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, chromium,… pic.twitter.com/rzRyJO0HSX

— Chirag Barjatya (@chiragbarjatya) April 20, 2026

One more user wrote, “Putting tadka (hot spiced oil) on a heated red construction brick and then using it to infuse flavor into buttermilk or any food carries a real risk of leaching heavy metals (and other trace elements) into your food, though the exact amount is variable and often low—but not guaranteed to be zero or safe. Ok this is certifiably horrible”

Another humorous comment read, “Next stunt, add phenyl to the food to make it taste like IGI food court,”