Griswold Skillet - Cracked

[Pat H]

Why would a skillet crack across the bottom (loud crack/noise) when using the skillet to fry a burger?

 

[Ken Davis]

Maybe it was heated to abruptly.

 

[Doug D.]

One scenario includes a large skillet on a small burner heated too rapidly. A small area of the pan gets hotter faster than the rest, and the differential causes a stress. I avoid this by heating my pans on low heat first before raising the temp to a higher cooking temp, or by heating it in the oven.

 

[Pat H]

Thanks for the informative responses.....trying to learn all the nuances of cast iron...

Any other reasons the skillet would crack?

 

[Doug D.]

Rinsing a hot-off-the-burner skillet with tap water, or submerging a hot pan in a sink full of dishwater. Anything that induces what's called thermal shock, an abrupt large temperature change hot to cold, or cold to hot. These things will usually warp a pan first, cracking occurring in the extreme case.