Just had my cast iron skillet explode on the stove

I was searing a pork chop in my kitchen in Austin around 7 PM when I heard this loud crack. Turns out I had put that cold skillet straight onto high heat after pulling it from the fridge. The thing split right down the middle, sent hot oil spraying across the counter and almost hit my arm. Has anyone else had a pan crack on them from sudden temperature change like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

victorhill10d ago

My cousin runs a repair shop here in town and he says he sees this all the time with skillets and even ceramic bakeware. It's like people treat their pans like they're indestructible but they're really just metal that got stressed out from being made in a factory. I've noticed the same thing happens with phone screens dropping from a pocket or a car window shattering when you hit a pothole. Everything we own has these tiny hidden flaws that just wait for the wrong moment to fail. It's like we're all walking around with ticking time bombs in our kitchens and pockets and we don't even know it.

reese_nelson10d ago

Honestly, the "straight onto high heat from the fridge" part is the issue but not in the way most people think. I had a similar thing happen with an old Griswold pan a few years back. The real problem isn't just the cold pan hitting the flame, it's that a lot of modern skillets have hidden micro-cracks from being dropped or banged around during shipping. That sudden shock just opens them up the rest of the way.