The One Thing You Should Never Do After Cooking

hot pans

Do your pots and pans wobble around on your stovetop? Does your pan seem to have hot and cold spots, resulting in half-burnt, half-doughy pancakes? If so, you’re likely dealing with warped cooking pans!

But how did they end up that way, and how can you prevent it from happening again in the future? I’ll be answering those very questions in today’s blog post! :-)

hot pans

The Problem: Your Cooking Pans Are Warped

Apart from woks and other curved cooking pans, most brand new cooking pans have a flat bottom surface. This allows the pan to sit evenly on top of a stove burner, which promotes even heat distribution and even cooking.

However, many cooking pans eventually get warped out of shape. And instead of a pan that sits evenly on your stovetop, you wind up with a pan that wobbles around, tipping unhelpfully while you attempt to cook in it.

Assuming the pan was never dropped, crushed, or damaged in any way, you may feel a bit mystified as to how your pan ended up this way! And as surprising as it might sound, it likely has a lot to do with the way you clean it!

hot pans

The Solution: Never Rinse A Hot Pan!

Warping often occurs when a hot pan meets cold water, usually when someone takes their pan straight from the stove to the sink and rinses it off. Metal expands when it is heated up (not enough for us to notice, but enough to make a difference), and it shrinks slowly and uniformly back down as it cools off.

hot pans

But when that hot pan meets cold water, the metal may experience “thermal shock,” shrinking so rapidly it ends up warped out of shape. This is why you should never rinse a hot pan, and instead let it cool to room temperature before rinsing it off.

hot pans

But warping isn’t the only issue that rinsing a hot pan can cause. It can also affect the way the pan conducts heat, creating hot and cold spots that will make it much harder to cook anything evenly.

hot pans

And while I understand the desire to clean up quickly after dinner, the damage to your pan is just not worth it! Patience is a virtue, especially when a little patience can save your cooking pans. :-)

More Useful Kitchen & Cooking Tips

Do you have any tips for protecting your cooking pans?

Read This Next


Jill Nystul Photo

Jill Nystul (aka Jillee)

Jill Nystul is an accomplished writer and author who founded the blog One Good Thing by Jillee in 2011. With over 30 years of experience in homemaking, she has become a trusted resource for contemporary homemakers by offering practical solutions to everyday household challenges.I share creative homemaking and lifestyle solutions that make your life easier and more enjoyable!

About Jillee

Jill Nystul

Jill’s 30 years of homemaking experience, make her the trusted source for practical household solutions.

About Jillee

MORE IDEAS FROM

Food & Recipes