# What happens if you leave pan on lit burner? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836 "2003-03-16T20:54:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nisosbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@nisosbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisosbar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/1 "2003-03-16T20:54:01Z")
and there’s nothing in the pan? Does the enamel melt? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/2 "2003-03-16T20:56:07Z")
It depends on what the pan’s made of, and how hot the burner it’s on gets. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/3 "2003-03-16T21:16:16Z")
Aluminum pans can get severely warped. Cast-iron pans are nearly immune to this sort of abuse, _but_ you should let it cool in the air, rather than drenching it with cold water, since that could crack it. Teflon pans that suffer this treatment are best discarded, since the teflon coating can form toxic breakdown products. If the pan is enamel coated, the coating can crack, but it won’t melt unless your stove burners are REALLY hot. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/4 "2003-03-16T21:24:51Z")
I used to have a cat. Once I had a pan on the stove when I went to work. The cat jumped up on the stove, using the burner knob as a foothold and turning it on. The pan started smoking and set off the fire alarms, and the manager came in to “save the day”. I don’t remember what kind of pan it was, as it was a long time ago. (IIRC, it was a clean pan.) ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/5 "2003-03-16T21:26:42Z")
Well, I can tell you that if you leave a cheap teakettle on the stove and go to church, when you come home a few hours later, the bottom will have melted out completely and you will have a little ball of aluminum under the element. Very neat. I won’t tell you how I know this. I will only tell you that my father has at least two little balls of aluminum. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/6 "2003-03-16T21:40:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*Teflon pans that suffer this treatment are best discarded, since the teflon coating can form toxic breakdown products. \*\* Also, Teflon pans will emit fumes well before the pan is ruined (possibly as low as 285 degrees F). For people, this isn’t a problem. But if you have a pet bird and your teflon pan starts emitting fumes, there’s a greater-than-zero chance your pet bird will drop dead. Bird owners should be very careful using Teflon, and never let a coated pan, empty or otherwise, overheat. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/7 "2003-03-17T13:50:40Z")
- - - I now that it’s possible to melt lead in a steel pan on a gas stovetop. Probably not the healthiest thing to be doing, but I was young and only did it once. -On two different days. - Never melted any other metal on the stove. Steel pans left on a gas burner will usually oxidize to a bronze-brown on the hotspot, even if they are clean and uncoated. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/8 "2003-03-17T13:55:35Z")
[Sequential Thread Titles for the Kitchen-Challenged] What happens if you leave pan on lit burner? Best way to extinguish grease fire in oven? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![racekarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6bbea6/32.png) [@racekarl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racekarl)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/9 "2003-03-17T14:01:39Z")
My mom left an enamel coated cast iron pan on her electric cooktop for a few hours, and the enamel coating did melt, but only in the area touching the element. ---
**Author:** ![Latch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f475e1/32.png) [@Latch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latch)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/10 "2003-03-17T14:02:48Z")
Sorry to continue the hijack, but anyways… Wouldn’t leaving the oven door shut cut out the oxygen, stopping the fire? Then just keep the oven shut for a little while to make sure that it won’t flare back up in your face when you open it up. Just my guess… ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/11 "2003-03-17T14:05:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Latch \* > \*\*Sorry to continue the hijack, but anyways… > > Wouldn’t leaving the oven door shut cut out the oxygen, stopping the fire? Then just keep the oven shut for a little while to make sure that it won’t flare back up in your face when you open it up. Just my guess… \*\* No, ovens aren’t all that airtight. (and I think you got the wrong thread ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-leave-pan-on-lit-burner/161836/12 "2003-03-17T14:08:58Z")
> [@](#): > > my father has at least two little balls of aluminum Might be better if he had big brass ones. 😃