I just killed my salad spinner!!!
I did it again...
I was doing a bunch of things in my kitchen and when the oven was on, I know I can't put any plastic on my stove. But my bulky salad spinner happened to be drying there.
It melted.
Do you do stupid things like this or am I just too careless?
I am so sad for my salad spinner (tears)..
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23 Comments:
i stupidly rested the basket part of the salad spinner on top of the over the sink water heater in my kitchen in paris. quel horreur when it melted and destroyed the water heater, and quel horreur encore when i got the repair bill.
cybercita at 11:10PM on 07/18/09
Oh, heavens, yes! My most common one is to turn on the oven for "just a moment" to let it become a nice warm proof box for my rolls and I forget and let it get hotter than I want with the rolls already in there starting to bake.
I chipped the end off of a nice 10" Wusthof chef's knife trying to get a chunk of too frozen meat off a larger cut of meat. Duh!!!
Now granted, I was only 7 years old, but I put a plastic container of leftover tuna noodle casserole on the stove to reheat and after removing the melty, stinkin' mess, went at the burner with an S.O.S. pad to scrub off the melted plastic that was adhered to the burner before my parents discovered my dumb mistake. Tuna casserole phobia now--for more than the usual reasons.
dhorst at 11:26PM on 07/18/09
I ruined my rubber spatula by setting it on the stove and somehow knocking it into the flame. It was truly on fire!
However, my biggest problem is rearranging the freezer and forgetting about the food I set on top of the fridge.
Oh, one time I attempted to microwave some popcorn and hit an extra 5, so it was set to cook for 20:55. I went down to fold some laundry and ran up when the smoke detector rang out. It had cooked over 6 minutes. I thought I ruined the microwave, but vinegar took out the stains and smell.
yankeesgal at 12:12AM on 07/19/09
I always over-preheat my pans and when I add olive oil it becomes a smoky, burnt mess
foodieteen at 12:56AM on 07/19/09
Did you know that if you cook simple syrup too long, it not only burns, it also catches fire? That's the only time I've seen flames come shooting out of a pot, and it was impressive.
I'm almost 60 and have 50 years of experience cooking personally and professionally. I've cooked it all, and you'd think I'd learn, but noooo. . .every year or so I find another clever way to break something. I've melted, shattered, bent and burned hundreds of dollars worth of plastic, glass and metal containers, utensils, appliances and food. I've burned split pea soup, broke a bowl of hot jello trying to get it to cool quicker in the freezer, burned a perfect electric-burner spiral into the cutting board I grew up with, broke a glass thermometer into a pot of tempered chocolate back before instant-read thermometers were invented, burned the potholder I was wearing, gouged Formica countertops, burned through the cord of an electric mixer while making seven-minute frosting.
It's not stupidity. It's because when you're in the kitchen, your mind is so cluttered. It's hard to focus on the three or more things you're doing simultaneously. And if it is stupidity, I win!
betteirene at 1:18AM on 07/19/09
Indeed. You win, betteirene! LOL!
yankeesgal at 1:31AM on 07/19/09
I've also experienced a spatula snafu. My dad cut the end off my mom's favorite silicone spatula with a chef's knife. I don't even know how managed that. My mom was upset about it, with good reason. It was a nice spatula. Since I'm such a thoughtful daughter, I bought her a new spatula of the same style in her favorite color, pink. We have hidden it from my dad, although I think he saw me using it to stir risotto last week. Uh oh.
sandn8r9 at 1:37AM on 07/19/09
My mother was given one of those fancy silicone cooking mats, and managed to cut it almost in half while opening the package. I managed to melt about half of a rubber spatula into caramel I was making. I used to have a paper towel holder on the wall near the toaster...the thirty-year-old toaster. My ex put some pop-tarts in and left the room. The pop-tarts ignited, my ex starts screaming...and reaching for a burning, plugged-in toaster. I managed to convince her this was not a good idea, and knocked the toaster and the now-ablaze paper towels into the sink with a wooden spoon.
I set fire to oven mitts by leaving them on a still-hot stove (not buying that brand again!).
Our stove has a broiler function. I always forget to line the tray with foil, like toasted cheese a lot, and never remember to take the tray out of the oven before heating it up. Result: a kitchen (and an oven) that reeks of burned cheese.
Years ago, when micros were still uncommon, my father and I tried to make hot chocolate sauce in one. We didn't stir it, and put it in on high for about five minutes. We needed a new microwave. The smell of totally burnt chocolate? I'd prefer microwaved hair.
I am now required by family covenant to triple-check a recipe, to be sure whether it's baking soda or baking powder. Too many metallic scones...
NotAmerican at 8:15AM on 07/19/09
When I was a teenager, I read that warm mayo was an awesome deep conditioner for my hair. So I put about a cup of mayo in a glass container and set it on the stovetop to warm it up. The glass cracked almost immediately, the mayo oozed all over the heating element, and the smell made everyone nauseaus. Really stomach turning hideously disgusting smell. blechhhh.
wookie at 12:33PM on 07/19/09
I have these metal burner covers... twice I have turned on the burners without oncovering them. The glowing red on top of the cover gave my mistake away.
I also have put water to boil for a tea and evaporated it completly and almost burned the bottom of the pot... i just get caught up in stuff and forget the simplest things...
MadelynRodriguez at 5:55PM on 07/19/09
My late husband ( really an excellent cook later ) was making a big pot of navy beans with ham, fell asleep, and when I got home from waiting tables, the house was full of burnt bean smoke, the pan was dry, and in a panic I threw it out on the patio and tossed the first cloth I could reach on top of the flames. The cloth was a polyester work shirt of his (like mechanics wear?) and it immediately melted on top of the burnt beans in the pan. It completely bonded to the pan and sealed in the beans and smell. We worked for months to scrub that formerly nice pan clean...never did. And?...we had to reimburse his boss for the shirt and apologize to all the neighbors in that apartment building. (oh yeah, we shared the debacle with a whole community). I never have liked ham and beans since....
Cary at 6:11PM on 07/19/09
What's the appropriate period of mourning for a salad spinner before you can replace it?
beth1 at 6:20PM on 07/19/09
oh thanks guys, I feel a bit better now.
@beth1 I don't know, I don't pay $30 too easily. a replacement may have to wait a while.
hmw0029 at 6:47PM on 07/19/09
this is a super amusing thread!
i constantly forget to remove my ceramic butter holder from the stove
(it matches my spoon rest)
then i'll go to bake something and preheat the oven, only to come back to a lake of melted butter on my range.
seriously though, it happens far too often-ha.
gastronomeg at 9:24AM on 07/20/09
I've had my favorite pots for over 40 years and never did anything to damage them -- until now. Twice this past couple of months I was neglectful. First, I wanted to reduce a sweet syrup, but fell asleep while it was cooking, only to wake up with that burning smell. The pot has permanent black marks on the inside that is impossible to get rid of. I did a similar thing a couple of weeks later while toasting nuts. This time I put them on a metal tray in the oven, but forgot about them until that familar smell and smoke occurred. Needless to say they were burned beyond a crisp.
SavtaShayna at 4:38PM on 07/20/09
I set of pan (a heart shaped one) of brownies that I had lovingly made for my bf for Valentine's Day on the burner to cool and went to bed. Somehow the electric burner must have gotten knocked on - a few hours later I return to find the brownies shriveled up into a scorched mess and the pan ruined.
laurelie at 5:41PM on 07/20/09
wow, thanks everyone for sharing heartbreaking yet funny stories!! lots of fire hazard!
I asked oxo if I can get only the bowl part of the spinner and they sell&ship it for $10- whew.
hmw0029 at 9:17PM on 07/20/09
I have a not-very-good habit of being too lazy to get a hot pad or oven mitt when I need to touch a hot pan or iron skillet. Typically I'll just use a (dry!) dishtowel instead.
Can't tell you how many of them I've lit on fire.
egitnyc at 10:26PM on 07/20/09
My turn, my turn! OK. So. Do you know what happens to hard boiled eggs when you put them in the pot and completely forget about the; as in I went shopping for 3 hours? Well, they explode. But I mean EXPLODE and they take everything in the vicinty with 'em. I was picking up egg shrapnel for months, the pot was ruined, etc.
I'm a pretty good "canner" but last summer I thought I would try and impress a friend by canning some rhubarb, as it is her favorite thing. So I saw a recipe on Martha and made these beautiful jars with little gingham cloth covers and handmade labels and I was proud dammit! But, ya' see thing is, rhubarb is very thick and you have to make damn sure you get out all of the air bubbles before you process it. Sadly, I learned this much later and I didn't take out ANY of the air bubbles. I gave away the jars to friends and my one friend who was going back to LA put it in her suitcase ...yup. I"m happy to report that at least it was in a Fed Ex bag and didn't go all over but everyone who got a jar experienced a similar, yeasty smelling, frothing fate.
But that salad spinner, that was nuthin'!
Deb07 at 10:40PM on 07/20/09
While in college, I spent nearly every Sunday with my elderly great-grandmother. We'd go to church and then go back to Grandma's house where I'd create a nice Sunday dinner and help her around the house. One particular Sunday I decided to fry chicken. I put some oil in a deep skillet to heat and while I turned around to coat my chicken pieces, the oil somehow caught on fire! I turned off the burner and Grandma threw a kitchen rug over the skillet, suffocating the fire. The whole house filled with smoke and we ended up having to repaint the kitchen. I still feel horrible about it.
thehostess at 10:52PM on 07/20/09
I did the same thing with a heavy ceramic plate once. I was trying to heat something up and for some reason I turned on the burner under the plate. I almost had a heart attack when it exploded from the heat.
jboylan at 11:41PM on 07/20/09
Ok, some of the stories sound like MythBusters episodes!
hmw0029 at 9:36AM on 07/21/09
I put my bag of bread on top of the still-hot toaster oven. Melted that baby right onto it. Still has bits of plastic logo still on it--I can't get it off! It's brown and crusty now. This was like 2 years ago....I may need a new toaster oven...
inothernews at 10:08AM on 07/21/09