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Nagging Question
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Why Is It Bad to Run Cold Water over a Hot Pan?What’s wrong with a little sizzle? |
Washing a hot pan in cold water can cause it to warp says Chris Tracy, manager of Calphalon culinary relations. “The bottom of the pan will become uneven, and the pan will not sit on the burner securely.” This can be a safety issue if the pan spills or falls off the stove, and foods may not lie flat in the pan during cooking.
Why? “When any metal gets hot, it expands on the molecular level,” explains Mark Kelly, the marketing promotions manager at Lodge Cast Iron Cookware. “If the metal cools off too quickly, the molecules constrict too quickly, warping [the pan].” This is called thermal shock.
The bigger the difference in temperature between the liquid and the pan, the more intense the shock, says Tracy. So, for instance, if you deglaze a pan with tepid or room-temperature wine, that’s fine he says. But “if the liquids are cold or chilled, then they have a higher probability of causing thermal shock.”
Tracy says that warping is a concern for all types of metal, but that generally, the thicker the pan, the more resistant it will be. When it comes to washing, he suggests letting pans cool briefly and then putting tepid water on them. Also, he cautions that “you should always avoid complete submersion until the pan has cooled.”
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Makes sense.
Wow I didn't know that. Thanks.
not quite right, Mark. the warping is not caused by the speed of cooling. rather it is caused by the difference in temperature from the side being cooled by water and the other side. the cooler side shrinks while the hotter side stays nearer its original size. voila warpage. this difference in temperature gets worse if the pan is thicker. but thicker is also stronger, so you cannot always be sure if thick is more tolerant than thin. what you do need to be aware of is that if the pan is made of 2 different metals (like stainless bonded to aluminum etc) the thermal shock can be even worse. hitting such a pan with a blast of cold liquid can cause the layers to separate or bulge. small amounts of wine or water are ok regardless of their temperature. submerging a hot pan in water is almost always damaging even if it does not seem so at first.
So....if you wanted to make sure and clean up after cooking is it chill to perhaps run the pan under HOT water inorder to remove some debris? I like to soak my cooking materials right after usage to facilitate a quick clean up. The kitchen is a palace right?
several methods will work. mine is to splash a bit of hot water on the thing while it is still hot, sort of like deglazing the pan for a sauce. just use a bit and it will foam up as it removes the food remnants.
we used a similar method to clean a pan at a campfire, except we used coke cuz it would strip off any offending guk right down to the bare metal.
whatever you do, add liquid in small bits to cool the pan slowly, then submerge it or fill it after it's cooled.
Calphalon pans are the worst for warping! No wonder they want you to be careful about putting the pan under thermal stress.
Pans that warp are worthless to anyone with an induction or electric stove, since they don't sit. I have a Sitram saute pan with an aluminum disk bottom that has seen thousands of uses over the years, and it still sits perfectly flat despite having cold liquids poured into it at saute temperatures.
In fact, that's my most common cooking technique! Get pan hot (oil slightly smoking), sear meat, deglaze with wine or stock. How am I supposed to stop my lovely "fond" from burning otherwise?
In addition, Calphalon isn't exactly healthy. Overtime it wears off and I don't know if this is fact or fiction but I've heard little whispers about cancer etc. Of course, the can connect cancer to everything. But why not go with a more hardy metal? Calphalon sucks...I have the crappy pans to prove it.
A2hungry... I think you're thinking of Teflon, a non-stick coating. Calphalon is a manufacturer of cookware. My favorite pans are my Calphalon Triply Stainless (excluding my cast iron of course). Those have no health risk. No coating, no carcinogens.
One exception to the cold wate in a hot pan is Cast Iron Pans. I have clean my Cast iron pans for years by running cold water into a very hot cast iron pan. Never a warp of any kind, never a problem. I do not use soap in my well seasoned cast iron as it will wash away the seasoning, Just cold water in the hot pan
I prefer Circulon II to Calphalon. So far I destroyed my Calphalon pot but my Circulon II pots are still like new.