We’ve said it before in our other cooking disaster posts, and we say it again, some people simply shouldn’t cook again. Imagine the kind of entertainment they’re giving to the world and the kind of expenses they are bringing upon their household is quite a lot. As in, imagine going out of the way to celebrate Thanksgiving only to buy a new oven for Christmas, because, you see, it’s all gone now! No more oven to bake a cake. Cooking disasters are a part of all of all lives. But we wouldn’t learn if we never tried. So, disaster or not, keep going in the safest way possible. Don’t take extreme risks and ensure you have someone experienced to show you around the kitchen.
But do take a look at these disasters people shared, so you already know what NOT to do.
1. “I poured water into a hot cast iron frying pan. The pan was my mother’s great-grandmother’s wedding gift. It was over 125 years old. The cold water broke the pan. My mom gave it to me because my sisters got fancy, expensive pans when they were married. I was the only one who wanted this family heirloom. My mom said, ‘I knew you would break the pan.’ She cried. It’s been years, and I still feel bad.”
2. “I decided to cook chickpeas in the Instant Pot with some baking soda, which usually helps to tenderize beans when cooking them from dried. I learned that you really can’t do that. The baking soda turned my Instant Pot into a bean fountain, and we ended up with bean goo on the ceiling.”
3. “I was pouring the deglazed turkey drippings through a sieve into a bowl when my dog ran through the kitchen, bumped me, and I lost grip of the pan. The pan fell into the bowl, tipped everything over, and poured about a liter of almost-boiling liquid down my front and all over the kitchen floor. I was wearing an apron and shoes, so the burns weren’t too bad, but I was missing my turkey gravy big time, though.”
4. “I added way too much butter to my roasting pan while cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving. All of a sudden, I looked over and my oven became a fireplace. Thanksgiving dinner was not great — and I had to buy a new oven.”
5. “I poured cold water into a hot knock-off Pyrex roasting dish. The difference in temperatures caused my dish to literally explode. There was a chicken blast zone, and how I didn’t end up with glass in my legs, I still have no idea.”
