Granola has become a bit of a trend lately, with countless recipes and hacks popping up all over the internet. From swapping honey for maple syrup to throwing in ingredients like pistachios or coconut flakes, people are getting creative.

So I decided to give one popular idea a go - a time-saving granola hack I found online. While shop-bought granola is convenient, it never tastes as good as homemade. The only problem? Making it from scratch usually takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. And I’m not the most patient person.

After dinner one evening, I had a sudden craving for granola, and I wanted it fast. So I turned to Reddit, where users were sharing tips on how to speed up the process.

One person claimed you could make granola in just 15 minutes using a simple oven trick. The advice? Preheat your oven to 200C and then switch to the grill setting on maximum heat to finish it off quicker.

It sounded genius. So I mixed my ingredients, oats, seeds, maple syrup and a bit of oil, and popped it into the oven. Then I followed the advice and turned on the grill.

That’s when things went wrong.

I looked away for just a minute and the granola was already burning. Thick smoke started pouring out of the oven and I had to rush the tray outside into the garden. Moments later, the fire alarm started blaring.

Luckily, nothing actually caught fire, but the kitchen filled with smoke, and I got more than I bargained for.

After things settled down, I tried to salvage what I could. The top layer was completely burnt, but underneath it was still usable. I scraped off the worst bits and had the rest with strawberries and chocolate sauce.

Surprisingly, it still tasted pretty good. Some spoonfuls were a little too crispy, but the extra crunch wasn’t terrible.

If you're thinking about trying the hack, here’s my advice: it might work, but don’t take your eyes off it, not even for a second.

The grill can burn things incredibly fast, and the time you save might not be worth the smoke and panic.

I might give it another go with more caution next time. But for now, it’s back to the slow and steady method.