When a Georgia woman started her day by trying to make eggs before her midterm, she didn’t expect to end up in the emergency room. But she says that’s exactly what happened when her Cuisinart stainless steel pan suddenly exploded.
In a recent TikTok video that’s been viewed over 78,500 times, Annie (@anniesright) describes how it all happened.
“This morning I woke up and I was like, ‘I’m gonna get a jump start on some last-minute studying,’” she says. “I went to make myself an egg breakfast, eggs being brain food.”
She explains that she used her Cuisinart “stainless steel name-brand wedding gift pan” and heated it on an electric stove using the water-droplet test to check when it was hot enough. But the moment she tilted the pan, everything went wrong.
“I turn it to maybe like a 30 or 45-degree angle, and molten hot metal exploded on me,” she recalls. “It exploded out of my pan, all over my stove and all over the floor.”
Annie shows the aftermath in her video: metal chunks fused to her stovetop and splattered across her floor. “Got back from urgent care because molten metal dried on my finger and I had to pull it off,” she says. “Just so lucky that it didn’t get in my face or eyes.”
Annie tagged the official TikTok account for Cuisinart in the comments.
How Could This Have Happened?
After the video spread, another TikTok creator, professional welder Anne (@highergroundwelding), shared a detailed explanation of what might’ve happened.
She said it was likely not stainless steel that melted, but the aluminum layer inside the pan. “That’s aluminum,” Anne explained. “It’s not stainless steel because when stainless steel reaches temperatures that are hot enough to melt it, it turns black and crystalline.”
Many stainless steel pans, Anne explained, have an aluminum core between two stainless layers for more even heating. Cuisinart’s stainless steel pans also have this layer of aluminum, according to their Amazon listing.
“Aluminum makes it lighter and heats more evenly—but it also melts much faster,” the welder explains.
She guessed that Annie’s stove overheated the pan past its limit. “Your pan glowed red, that’s a great way to destroy your cookware,” she said. Tipping it at an angle likely concentrated heat on a single point, which caused the aluminum to liquefy and burst through the outer layer.
“Basically, the inside of your pan became popcorn,” she said. “Pressure built up until it burst. Throw the pan away and don’t do that again, especially not with high heat.”
Other experts also advise against leaving stainless steel cookware unattended or overheating it, especially on high-powered burners. Once the aluminum inside gets too hot, it can become unstable.
And just like Anne pointed out, the bright red glow in Annie’s video was a dead giveaway that the pan had been pushed far beyond safe cooking temperatures.
Commenters Weigh In With Theories and Advice
People in the comments also debated the cause. Some echoed Anne’s theory, while others pointed fingers at the stove, or the brand.
“I’d bet that’s a clad pan with an aluminum core,” one user wrote. “You melted the aluminum core. The instructions probably say not to heat it that high.”
Another added, “You heated it until it was glowing. Like, glowing red. I’ve never seen that in my life.”
Others suspected a hardware failure: “Your stove coil is damaged. Your pan made a short circuit in the coil and you basically made a welder. No normal stove can melt metal like that.”
@anniesright @Cuisinart ♬ original sound – annie
And some thought Annie should consider legal action. “Truly does feel like lawsuit material,” one viewer said.
Another added, “Send it for independent testing and see what metal it actually is. Also, sue them.”
The Mary Sue has reached out to Cuisinart via email and Annie via Instagram messages for comment.
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