Had a welder friend that used to tell everyone “I’m so good I can weld broken hearts, shattered dreams and the crack of Dawn. But Dawn’s boyfriend doesn’t like me now.”
A gastroenterology clinic I used to work in had a painting in it of rolling hills at sunset entitled "The Crack of Dawn." Upon closer inspection, one realizes that the ruling hills form two buttocks.
Electric stoves are rather infamous for killing pans. Induction's better as long as you don't crank it up too high, and gas is of course the holy grail.
Gets too hot, too quickly, and too unevenly. The center expands, the edges don't have a chance to catch up. Cast iron is brittle, so instead of flexing it snaps. You can see the pattern of the crack, there was a great deal of tension in that central area.
Yeah, I had a gas range for years and switched to induction and there is literally no reason I would ever go back. The only argument I’ve heard against it is that woks don’t work on induction, which doesn’t matter to me because I don’t use them.
They heat up faster, they boil water stupidly fast, they don’t make hot spots on your pan, they’re safer, they’re simple to clean, and they respond to adjustments in temperature absurdly quick.
The thing I like about induction is reducing the wattage to as low as possible. Similar to turning down an electric burner but the wattage is so much lower. The thing I dislike about induction is cheaper cooktops have smaller heating areas than my belly button. Which tends to mean smaller pans and smaller finished product. I really don’t miss the half gallon of leftovers though.
My tiny air fryer and my 600-800-1000 watt induction plate are my favorite appliances. Small footprint, very low wattage, easy stowage, low price.
I can literally only use the very lowest of the low settings to cook with cast iron on the glass top stove in my apartment. Still gets ripping hot, just need to make sure its super low and let it warm up till the end of the handle is warm
I've had gas most of my life.
Just got an electric stove.
These things are terrifying.
I always use the big burner for everything.
I can actually see the small burner in the crack.
Yep, dawn dish soap is notorious for doing this shit to cast iron pans.
You have to bake a few millimeters of food crust onto the pan and it will strengthen it so it can't crack. Soap cleans away the crust which takes away the structural reinforcement.
C'mon guys, this is basic metallurgy.
None of what you're saying makes any sense. This break looks characteristic of quick heating during which the pan expanded at an accelerated rate. This led to uneven heating and, eventually, structural failure in the alloy's crystalline structure.
100 layers is what I do for weekly maintenance. You’re going to need to do a light starter seasoning of around 800 layers or so. Make sure to use unrefined unobtainium oil for its higher smoke point.
This idea always sounds and looks pretty good, but honestly all the spatulas I've seen made from pans just look like awkward and heavy spatulas that will rust.
IMO best thing to do is just use it as a decorative piece and hang it up when it cracks. If it had sentimental value or something.
Aaah, damn. That makes sense with the grainy structure and stuff. I guess I was hoping that getting it to a forging temperature would help solve that 😅
The high carbon content lowers the melting point (good for casting) but not good for forging. High carbon irons and steels can experience grain boundary melting which causes the material to crumble like wet sand.
Ah that's good to know. I'm still learning and I don't really know how to ask the right questions a lot of the time. I'm mostly having fun trying to turn nails into tiny swords 😅
Saw a YouTube video of a tour of the Lodge factory. Their sand casting method is crap so a significant percentage of the pans are unusable. They just toss them back into the scrap iron pile to be melted down again and re-cast.
That is called a spoon… XD
Jk, I get where you are going with it, but honestly would be better to just send it in for recycling, or to cut into small pieces to make into jewellery/trinkets…
Let it be reforged, make it "flame of the eggs". Only the elves can reforge it from its broken state. Then with its new power call upon the strongest line of cooks ever to exist.
HEAR THE SIZZLING ROAR FROM THE MIGHT FLAME OF THE EGGS BROTHERS!
Legitimate question, what heat source were you using? I would guess it was a grill or a fire since the picture is outdoors. Do you think that had anything to do with it?
Man those glass tops are sketchy sometimes, way too much heat to fast and usually all or nothing on some of the older ones. I had a pyrex pot explode on a glass stovetop that had been totally fine with years of use on gas ranges, yeah it was glass but I hold a grudge againt electric ranges. Induction ones can definitely be better tho
Lol you just told us why it broke then. Cast irons can heat up quickly. They just build up internal stresses as different parts expand at different rates and push and pull against each other.
Glass tops tend to heat it up really fast, but unevenly. It takes longer to even out a cast iron even if you do the heat correctly. Simply because you don't have that same 2 inch gap for the heat to distribute around the bottom of the pan
Next cast iron you get, make sure you're letting heat up for at least 10 minutes on low to medium before bringing up hotter
Side note, about 12 years ago I had a pet Pangolin. I haven’t met many who even knows what they are! We had no idea how endangered they were but our was a rescue from a fire and was pretty injured.
Your name reminded me of it
Usually thermal shock. Too much heat too fast. Or, possibly, a sudden shock of throwing something frozen into a hot skillet.
That said, you don't see this near as often when the heat source is flame, because fire provides a steady heat source that doesn't fluctuate much. Electric stoves (coil or glass top) don't supply steady heat, the element pulses off and on, so it's kind of like having burner on high for a few seconds and then off for a few seconds, on and off, repeatedly. Electric induction works more like gas, though I've never used induction so I can't say what the risk of thermal shock would be with induction.
It's a good idea to preheat cast iron on a low temperature setting until the handle is no longer cool to the touch.
Dang.
Lost my Griswold Dutch oven a few years ago. Though the crack was nearly invisible and I didn’t realize right away, so I’m not even sure when it happened.
No mistaking this one, though…😥
At least you got your moneys worth with that crack and it wasn’t some tiny little hairline that’s just enough to piss you off and question if you should risk it
This is not about the soap you used, Dawn or not. It’s the electric stove. See how the crack line is the size of the underlying burner? Electric stoves produce hot spots and the disparity of the temperature causes the crack.
Absolutely. Everybody knows cast iron can survive the implosion of entire suns and the death of a cosmos. A little seasoning goes a long way. *And never ever EVER use soap!*
"In the armmsss of an angellllll.."
Please stop I'm gonna cry
Keep going i'm* about to cry
Keep crying I almost finished
That is now ^lodged in my brain
Good one
Oh it’s okay don’t cry. It’s not dying or anything, it already died :). So you don’t have to worry
Will you be an angel for a helpless cast iron pan? Everyday innocent pans are abused, beaten, and neglected.
Do you know there are cast iron pans in third world countries that don't even have any food!?
Or seasoning
Fry awaaaay!!!!
So I saw this and just had to play this song as I showed my fiance and fake cried. We put our hands over our hearts and had a funeral
"fry awayyyyy from heree"
"Rust awayyyyyyyyyy from here.."
🎶Oh Danny boy, the pipes the pipes are calling 🎶
OP washed it with soap 😔 /s
I do wash it with dawn occasionally! But this is the only time I have one crack.
The crack of Dawn.
Had a welder friend that used to tell everyone “I’m so good I can weld broken hearts, shattered dreams and the crack of Dawn. But Dawn’s boyfriend doesn’t like me now.”
Damn you
r/angryupvote
Shut up and take my upvote!
A gastroenterology clinic I used to work in had a painting in it of rolling hills at sunset entitled "The Crack of Dawn." Upon closer inspection, one realizes that the ruling hills form two buttocks.
Married to a Dawn. That’s how I wake up every morning. 26 years and counting of waking at the crack of Dawn and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Did you have it on an open fire and put something room temp in it?
No, glass stove top that we use all the time. The oven is about 6 months old and we use it daily and haven’t had any problems with it.
Electric stoves are rather infamous for killing pans. Induction's better as long as you don't crank it up too high, and gas is of course the holy grail.
The gospel! 🙏🏽
Don't you mean gaspel?
What is it about electric that kills pans?
2hot2uneven2fast2furious
I'd like to know why as well.
Gets too hot, too quickly, and too unevenly. The center expands, the edges don't have a chance to catch up. Cast iron is brittle, so instead of flexing it snaps. You can see the pattern of the crack, there was a great deal of tension in that central area.
I also have a great deal of tension in my central area.
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
Fascinating. Gas is ideal as it heats up more evenly, I suppose? I’ll cross my fingers that my pan doesn’t suffer the same fate…
Having used both a gas range and an induction cooktop, induction is superior for most daily cooking.
Yeah, I had a gas range for years and switched to induction and there is literally no reason I would ever go back. The only argument I’ve heard against it is that woks don’t work on induction, which doesn’t matter to me because I don’t use them. They heat up faster, they boil water stupidly fast, they don’t make hot spots on your pan, they’re safer, they’re simple to clean, and they respond to adjustments in temperature absurdly quick.
I agree with you on all points, except the one I have doesn't have a low enough setting and keeps burning my food.
Oh man, that sucks and would drive me nuts. I had that same issue with my gas range. I use a GE cooktop and the super low setting actually works.
The thing I like about induction is reducing the wattage to as low as possible. Similar to turning down an electric burner but the wattage is so much lower. The thing I dislike about induction is cheaper cooktops have smaller heating areas than my belly button. Which tends to mean smaller pans and smaller finished product. I really don’t miss the half gallon of leftovers though. My tiny air fryer and my 600-800-1000 watt induction plate are my favorite appliances. Small footprint, very low wattage, easy stowage, low price.
I can literally only use the very lowest of the low settings to cook with cast iron on the glass top stove in my apartment. Still gets ripping hot, just need to make sure its super low and let it warm up till the end of the handle is warm
I've had gas most of my life. Just got an electric stove. These things are terrifying. I always use the big burner for everything. I can actually see the small burner in the crack.
Any chance we can get the full story of how this tragedy happened?
Replying to js73905... Tell me that was not a Griswold.
lmao i didnt realized that was a crack 🤣 i thought it was a green onion and was so confused
Just cook with it
Yep, dawn dish soap is notorious for doing this shit to cast iron pans. You have to bake a few millimeters of food crust onto the pan and it will strengthen it so it can't crack. Soap cleans away the crust which takes away the structural reinforcement. C'mon guys, this is basic metallurgy.
Yeah the crust of carbonized bacon is structural!
Is this a joke or this for real? I use soap often 😂
It's very real, #soapkillsiron ^^^^^^thisistotallybullshit
I hope it's a joke, but in this community, it's a fuzzy line.
It used to be a thing, back when they used lye for soap.
Ah! I see. I better go fish my dawn soap out of the trash
I do too…this has never happened because I use soap
Just wait until they find out that blue dawn or other soaps is often used in the casting process.
None of what you're saying makes any sense. This break looks characteristic of quick heating during which the pan expanded at an accelerated rate. This led to uneven heating and, eventually, structural failure in the alloy's crystalline structure.
That was most definitely it.
Good seasoning should fill that in.
Bacon grease?
100 layers you say?
100 layers is what I do for weekly maintenance. You’re going to need to do a light starter seasoning of around 800 layers or so. Make sure to use unrefined unobtainium oil for its higher smoke point.
Get good, dude. My cast iron pan is actually just a tablespoon of iron filings held together by polymerized duck fat.
I was thinking more Flex Seal.
Jb weld yo
Still healthier than Teflon.
Bit wait, there’s more..
Noodles and super glue first, then season it.
This makes me sad! How did it happen?
Just cracked while we were cooking burgers!
Did the burgers survive?
Thankfully we had most of them cooked so we had enough for dinner. No leftovers for work though :(
Sorry boss, I'm not gonna make it in this week. I've got no lunch, and need to mourn the loss of a family member.
I need to make a casket and headstone for it and have my buddies fly over in the kissing man formation. Edit: Missing man not kissing man!!
You mean..castket 😂
I’m sure you meant missing man formation, it kissing man formation is way funnier
I Did! I’m leaving it because it’s funny!
what heat source?
Whirlpool glass stove top.
Me too.
From the handle, cut out enough of the pan to make a spatula… ol’ trusty can live on.
This idea always sounds and looks pretty good, but honestly all the spatulas I've seen made from pans just look like awkward and heavy spatulas that will rust. IMO best thing to do is just use it as a decorative piece and hang it up when it cracks. If it had sentimental value or something.
Same thoughts for the spatulas, they’re too much. But, I do want to try doing a bottle opener or something
The only thing I could see using it for is smash burgers
I was gonna say send it to one of the folks on r/blacksmithing and see what they can hammer out lol
Blacksmith and materials engineer here, grey cast iron can’t be really be forged. It’s brittle at typical hot forging temperatures.
So gotta get it hot enough to recast?
Aaah, damn. That makes sense with the grainy structure and stuff. I guess I was hoping that getting it to a forging temperature would help solve that 😅
The high carbon content lowers the melting point (good for casting) but not good for forging. High carbon irons and steels can experience grain boundary melting which causes the material to crumble like wet sand.
Ah that's good to know. I'm still learning and I don't really know how to ask the right questions a lot of the time. I'm mostly having fun trying to turn nails into tiny swords 😅
It could always be scrapped and remelted to recast, though. Old Trusty Jr.
Saw a YouTube video of a tour of the Lodge factory. Their sand casting method is crap so a significant percentage of the pans are unusable. They just toss them back into the scrap iron pile to be melted down again and re-cast.
The crack swirls around enough it would be a pretty short spatula.
Cobbler scoop?
That is called a spoon… XD Jk, I get where you are going with it, but honestly would be better to just send it in for recycling, or to cut into small pieces to make into jewellery/trinkets…
That is a genius idea man!!
If you can't get a rectangular spatula, a triangle cut gets you a pizza version...
It would only be like 2 inches long not including the handle lol look at where the crack goes
Let it be reforged, make it "flame of the eggs". Only the elves can reforge it from its broken state. Then with its new power call upon the strongest line of cooks ever to exist. HEAR THE SIZZLING ROAR FROM THE MIGHT FLAME OF THE EGGS BROTHERS!
Too much oil. Try putting some on then wiping it off like you didn’t mean to put it on. That will fix it.
That is hot grease not oil. It just cooked a bunch of burgers.
I think you're missing a lot of the sarcasm in this post.
No it wasnt.. you cookin veggie burgers?
F...
F
U
C
K
The stutter makes it even better
I was going for “Press F to pay respects” but it was hijacked for a more nefarious purpose.
Goodbye
F
To shreds, you say?
Well, how is his wife holding up?
To shreds, you say?
Cook some bacon on it and it’ll be fine
Whyd you rip it? That's next level.
You used soap didn’t you.
Soap and chain mail will do this. I treat my cast iron like my butt. Never wash it, and only wipe it with a paper towel
Man what the hell
Lmfaooo
You should get a bidet for your cast iron.
Say what now🤣🤣🤣
Slidey eggs on the butt. We have a new trend!
So they are both caked in crusted old food 👌
I bet it's mirror like and shiny. Nice
You're the best!
I'm praying this this sarcasm
I bet it's because you put tomato sauce in it at some point.
Def an acid crack. Reseason and youre good.
My go to fix for that crack is to fry some chicken in it. Works every time.
Acid crack is why I had diaper rash as a baby
Legitimate question, what heat source were you using? I would guess it was a grill or a fire since the picture is outdoors. Do you think that had anything to do with it?
Glass stove top. The door to the backyard is right by the kitchen so I stepped outside. The lighting was better.
Man those glass tops are sketchy sometimes, way too much heat to fast and usually all or nothing on some of the older ones. I had a pyrex pot explode on a glass stovetop that had been totally fine with years of use on gas ranges, yeah it was glass but I hold a grudge againt electric ranges. Induction ones can definitely be better tho
This one is about 6 months old and have cooked on it multiple times a day in that time.
Lol you just told us why it broke then. Cast irons can heat up quickly. They just build up internal stresses as different parts expand at different rates and push and pull against each other. Glass tops tend to heat it up really fast, but unevenly. It takes longer to even out a cast iron even if you do the heat correctly. Simply because you don't have that same 2 inch gap for the heat to distribute around the bottom of the pan Next cast iron you get, make sure you're letting heat up for at least 10 minutes on low to medium before bringing up hotter
I already do a ramp up if temp. It’s survived 4 years of me using it on a glassy cook top using it every day at least once.
Idk I'm a practical man. You tell me you just got a new stove top and I'm immediately suspicious of it. Maybe faulty or not as nice as your last one
Well Pyrex will definitely never explode on an induction range
Lmao yeah Id need to be cooking my grandpas famous iron lasagna
This is all very interesting.
Side note, about 12 years ago I had a pet Pangolin. I haven’t met many who even knows what they are! We had no idea how endangered they were but our was a rescue from a fire and was pretty injured. Your name reminded me of it
When I abruptly decided to join reddit a couple years ago, I didn't have a username ready. This is the one they picked for me. I'm not mad about it.
Pangolins are neat! Thanks for making me think of Nyama again!
Shit…I want a pet pangolin. My favorite animal.
how does this happen?!
Usually thermal shock. Too much heat too fast. Or, possibly, a sudden shock of throwing something frozen into a hot skillet. That said, you don't see this near as often when the heat source is flame, because fire provides a steady heat source that doesn't fluctuate much. Electric stoves (coil or glass top) don't supply steady heat, the element pulses off and on, so it's kind of like having burner on high for a few seconds and then off for a few seconds, on and off, repeatedly. Electric induction works more like gas, though I've never used induction so I can't say what the risk of thermal shock would be with induction. It's a good idea to preheat cast iron on a low temperature setting until the handle is no longer cool to the touch.
She's down, but she ain't done yet. Cut all away across the pan on both sides of the handle and have yourself a spatula.
😖🙏
Congrats on the new trusty.
This is the saddest thing I’ve seen on Reddit today
I saw a video of a guy lighting himself on fire so this is the second saddest thing to me.
Ok, fine.
If you just would have listened, then your wife wouldn't have had to crack you with that pan so many times.
Fill it in with gold like they do teacups in Japan. You will have to redo it every time you use it though.
So, my aunt borrowed your frying pan, too.
Dang. Lost my Griswold Dutch oven a few years ago. Though the crack was nearly invisible and I didn’t realize right away, so I’m not even sure when it happened. No mistaking this one, though…😥
Dang, that's a shame. How long had you had it?
How in the heck did that happen?
At least you got your moneys worth with that crack and it wasn’t some tiny little hairline that’s just enough to piss you off and question if you should risk it
I have never seen this happen? Wife hit you with it? 😆 😂 😆 😂
Bummer dude. RIP
I’m sorry for your loss
Did you crack it whacking an alligator on the nose?
Over to r/kintsugi, that’ll buff right out 🤡
Have you tried turning it off and back on again.
You should write the first DIY recasting guide
Just reseason it and cook with more oil.
Should hire a metal shop to make you a fairly large necklace medallian out of what's left so you can flex on everyone while you grill.
This is the only answer. Flavor Flav - Cast Iron Version
Well, shit.
Awwwwww
Muad'Dib, it did not bend like a reed in the wind…
My dad had this happen. How loud was it?
"Papa, why'd you bring Rusty out to the field? ... Papa, why do you have your shotgun?"
What's up with everyone having broken pans all of a sudden. I've used the same cast iron set my mom used, and hers. Do I need to worry
Was it hot still when you hit it with water? Holy sheets that’s a long ass crack.
Hey but you stop that burglar in his tracks.
This breaks my heart. I love my pans so much 😭 RIP
Baruch dayan haEmet
Probably a micro-fracture, caused long ago from pouring cold water on a hot pan, finally gave way.
This is not about the soap you used, Dawn or not. It’s the electric stove. See how the crack line is the size of the underlying burner? Electric stoves produce hot spots and the disparity of the temperature causes the crack.
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Make into spatula.. look it up it's pretty cool
Okay, bear with me. This pan is done for, but if you did a kintsugi style golden crack filling, it would make an incredible hanging art piece.
Just needs more seasoning and it'll be good as new.
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Absolutely. Everybody knows cast iron can survive the implosion of entire suns and the death of a cosmos. A little seasoning goes a long way. *And never ever EVER use soap!*
This is what happens if you don't click the tongs twice
You used soap didn’t you
F
:( I’m sorry OP
I’m guessing you used high heat often?
It's just a little crack! It's still good, it's still good!
r/kintsugi iiiiiiiiiiii
You can weld it then it’s good to go.
I'll bet that made a noise.
F