Fry pan, lid woes, ideas?

[dragnlaw]

DIL had an oops moment last night while making supper. She used a lid too small for the pan. When she went to remove it, she could not, it is stuck in there tight as can be.
Does anyone have any idea how to get the lid off. She doesn't care about the pan, and El Cheapo from Giant Tiger. But the lid is to another large pot that she really would like to keep. Undamaged.
It is green beans inside. And they are not burnt in there, at least not yet!.
HELP!

 

[Andy M.]

If There is still some water in it, hat it up to make steam. The pressure will loosen the lid.

Try to push down on one spot on the edge of the lid, forcing the opposite side up.

 

[larry_stewart]

If There is still some water in it, hat it up to make steam. The pressure will loosen the lid.

Try to push down on one spot on the edge of the lid, forcing the opposite side up.

Exact what Andy said.
Many years back, a neighbor had a similar issue..
We heated it up ( there was still liquid inside),which changed the internal pressure allowing us to remove the lid. Wasn't sure if we just got lucky or the thought process was correct, but it worked. I knew I'd be able to apply something from my physics class one day.

 

[taxlady]

I second Andy's suggestion. Have some ice cubes handy. If it is still sticking once the pot is hot, you could put the ice cubes on the lid to try to shrink it, the tiny bit that cold would shrink it.

I was going to suggest putting the pot in a basin of very hot water. It didn't occur to me that there might be enough liquid left in the pot to heat it on the stove. If you are worried that there isn't enough liquid in the pot, you could still try the basin of very hot water and maybe ice cubes on the lid.

 

[dragnlaw]

I did try to heat the bottom and keep the lid cool. Not too successful.

also, but it's strange, with all the moving and flipping around, I didn't notice any liquid inside. Obviously the beans are still there. I'll check again.

Not sure what my son and DIL tried last night. We'll see what happens next.

 

[Andy M.]

If all else fails, take the pot into the living room and turn it upside down over we the sofa. Guaranteed the lid will fall off.

 

[dragnlaw]

LOL, best idea yet Andy!

Son says he'll take it in the garage and have at it. I said we'll leave it in the sun til then and when the beans ferment maybe they'll just blow the lid off.

 

[Badjak]

I like the fermentation idea !


How about dish washer around the edge, stick/broom or something through the lid handle and brute force?


Or if you really don't care about the pot, then grab a small grinder and grind through the pot, saving the lid

 

[CharlieD]

LOL, best idea yet Andy!

Son says he'll take it in the garage and have at it. I said we'll leave it in the sun til then and when the beans ferment maybe they'll just blow the lid off.

I'm sure you probably tried that already, but never the less, try very thin knife to prop the lead up.

 

[dragnlaw]

I like the fermentation idea !


How about dish washer around the edge, stick/broom or something through the lid handle and brute force?*


Or if you really don't care about the pot, then grab a small grinder** and grind through the pot, saving the lid

I'm sure you probably tried that already, but never the less, try very thin knife ***to prop the lead up.

*think that's what my son has in mind.
** will probably come to that.
*** yeah, did try it, but the lid is down just far enough so as to only bend the knife. Plus it is so tight I couldn't get any of my knives to even think about getting between the edges.

Thanks guys.
(Truth to tell? I'm just so glad it wasn't me that popped that lid on there.)

 

[CharlieD]

(Truth to tell? I'm just so glad it wasn't me that popped that lid on there.)

 

[Badjak]

I hear you!


Just had a (maybe) clever idea
If the beans were brought to a boil and then left to cool down with the lid on very thight, you may have created a vacuum (not you, your wife).

So just drilling a little hole in the pan may release it and if the hole is high enough, you can still use the pot

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

The first thing I would try is heating the pan up until its good and hot, and then sticking it in an ice bath.

 

[Katie H]

Don't think a knife to pry the pieces apart would be very successful. A knife blade is too fragile to accomplish the desired result. You might want to try a thin blade flat screw driver. More torque.

 

[Andy M.]

What happened!!??

 

[dragnlaw]

After getting "the look" from his wife yesterday, my son went outside with the pan, gave it a whack on the side, and the lid popped off. easy peasy!

the beans looked and smelled just fine... hope the worms in the compost enjoy them.

thanks everyone for all the suggestions, another of life's little adventures.

and yes, the lid is perfect, came to no harm. The pan has just the tiniest indent on the edge, hardly noticeable.

 

[dcSaute]

I've been following along, as there are a number of potential 'causes'

the lack of any liquid left made me suspect the pan over-heated/expanded and allowed the lid to "settle and shrink fit"

first option - heat and ice cubes on lid is the out-of-the-box solution - which apparently failed, so as previously mentioned.... brute force, big hammer, big'um smack . . .

yeah, that worked!
happy happy!!!

 

[dragnlaw]

hmmm, expansion and heat for sure, but there was still liquid left.

It's like glasses that you stack and they stick. Simple cause was exact sizing of lid to shape of pan.

She's a happy camper with her lid back!