By Remez Sasson
A few days ago I have prepared my own recipe of pasta sauce, and when I finished cooking it, removed it from the electric cooker and I put a lid on it, to keep it warm, because I had to go and bring my wife from the train station.
I went to change clothes, and then, just before leaving, I wanted to open the lid, but couldn’t, because the lid fit the pan so perfectly, not allowing the steam to escape, which prevented the lid from being opened.
After returning home a little time later, I went to the kitchen, and to my surprise I saw an unusual spectacle. The lid, which is made of steel, was completely distorted and was sucked into the pan. The middle of the lid reached far down into the pan, and the sides were a little higher. When I tried to open the lid it was stuck and couldn’t be removed.
This was very strange. Even with a hammer it is difficult to bend the lid, because it is made of steel, but here the heat and the steam inside the pan bent the lid and pulled it down into the pan, and into the pasta sauce.
We couldn’t open the lid to take the sauce and pour it on the pasta. We tried to use force, to put a knife between the lid and the pan. We put ice on the lid, and then put the pan in the refrigerator, but nothing helped. Then, my son took strong knife and made holes into the lid, and only then it was possible to open it.
Later, I was told that I had to heat the pan again, which would have made it possible to open it, and not try to cool it, as I did.
The lid can be still be used, but it is completely distorted. I keep it now as a proof that heat, steam and pasta sauce are stronger than steel, and as evidence of the powers of natural laws.
Remez Sasson is an author and blogger. He is the founder of SuccessConsciousness.com, a website and blog about self improvement and spiritual growth.
Remez Sasson is the author of several life transforming books, containing a wealth of information, advice and guidance.
So how did it taste? I am currently teaching my son how to do some basic cooking before he goes to college at the end of the summer. I wonder if that is a preview of what he will expect. There must be a life lesson here.
Not actually the steam, but the air inside the pan being at a larger volume during the higher temperature and then creating a vacuum into the pan as it cooled down. Lids however are better with tiny airholes at one end, not with that perfect fit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum
Thanks for a nice blog!
Sherri, The sauce was very good, and it was still warm when we were able to remove the lid.
Thank you for the explanation, Petu.