Help! TIFU. Sealed a pan.

I was cooking dinner. The chicken was done, my wife was not home yet so I slapped a lid over it. It wasn't the right lid, A little smaller. Long story short I let it cool and hermetically sealed this lid to the pan. They are not the same size, but both very well machined to the same round. Now being the idiot engineer I am I thought, OK, heat the pan to expand the pan and moisture and cool the lid so it doesn't expand. I put the pan on the stove and pile ice cubes on the lid. I see bubbles in the melted ice and realize that the steam is escaping but no air is getting in. I considered literally drilling through the lid to equalize pressure but it's 3/8 inch cast aluminum, my drill is really no match. The lid is about 10" diameter so I could be looking at 700-800 lbs of pressure here. Any innovative thoughts? tl;dr I need to remove a lid from a pan. submitted by /u/chasonreddit [link] [comments]

Apr 3, 2025 - 03:09

I was cooking dinner. The chicken was done, my wife was not home yet so I slapped a lid over it. It wasn't the right lid, A little smaller. Long story short I let it cool and hermetically sealed this lid to the pan. They are not the same size, but both very well machined to the same round.

Now being the idiot engineer I am I thought, OK, heat the pan to expand the pan and moisture and cool the lid so it doesn't expand. I put the pan on the stove and pile ice cubes on the lid. I see bubbles in the melted ice and realize that the steam is escaping but no air is getting in. I considered literally drilling through the lid to equalize pressure but it's 3/8 inch cast aluminum, my drill is really no match. The lid is about 10" diameter so I could be looking at 700-800 lbs of pressure here.

Any innovative thoughts?

tl;dr I need to remove a lid from a pan.

submitted by /u/chasonreddit
[link] [comments]