Cracks

G

Greg Gardner

Member
Recently picked up a 4th series #8 Erie skillet, and after getting it out of the lye bath, it looked good. Cooked in it last night and while cleaning it, noticed a crack that goes through both sides. Looks like a casting flaw on the inside where the crack begins at the bottom. I'll try to add photos later.

What's the thinking on what causes cracks? This one is so obvious that it's hard for me to think I wouldn't have noticed it when I was cleaning it up post-lye bath and then seasoning it. Of course it's possible that it was there and I missed it, but could the crack have happened just in this one cooking session? I heated the pan slowly over medium heat (gas stove) and then brought it up to high heat for a few minutes, then back to medium-low for maybe 10-15 minutes (making pot stickers).

I got a decent deal on the pan and am chalking this up to newbie learning experience (make sure you ask thorough questions before buying a pan you can't inspect in person), but it makes me curious as to what causes cracks - abusing the pan, or casting flaws that eventually give way?
 
4th series erie is the 'artistic' erie and was only made in sizes 5 and 9.

hard to say on the cracks question. I think most are from 'rough handling'... drops, banging against another pan, etc. although I have seen some in the bottom cooking surface that I believe are from expansion/contraction issues related to heating and cooling improperly or using on a wrong sized burner.
 
Ah right, this is a 5th series (inset heat ring). I think this crack was there and either I missed it or it became slightly expanded during cooking and hence more obvious.
 
I've 'found' some while cleaning (they were covered over by rust or crust). but I haven't yet 'found' one while seasoning... I did find one when I took a picture and posted it on imgur and then looked at the picture... I could see a line in the picture and double checked and sure enough there was a crack.. .that I had missed both while cleaning and seasoning.. but I suspect it was there the whole time.. but it was a very thin hairline and you had to see it in just the right light.
 
Hmmm.... I just passed up a nice old clean skillet at the flea market this afternoon from one of my favorite vendors that is there every week. He showed me a very almost indistinguishably hair line crack on the bottom cooking surface of the skillet and it followed relatively the same 3-4" hair line on the underside also. My issue was it had a distinct beautiful ring tone when I fingernail snapped it,I thought it isn't supposed to have any ring tone if cracked. he insisted it was a wall hanger ,could it just have been a casting line or something? Or would a small hairline cracked skillet still have a clear beautiful ring tone to it?
 
I've copy/pasted this paragraph from the "Damage & Defects" article under the Cast Iron Collection menu on this site:

"There is a saying that you can verify a pan is not cracked if it "rings like a bell when tapped with a wooden spoon". But the quality of the tone produced is often subjective, and not a guarantee. A build up of seasoning may muffle the ringing sound of a well-used but otherwise intact pan, and it may also obscure hairline cracks. A thicker, heavier pan may also have a more dull sound than that of a thinner, lighter pan."
 
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