Troubleshooting: How to Remove a Stuck Pan from a Pressure Cooker

[fkasmani]

ok, here's the problem.

I've got a pan stuck (horizontally) flat inside a pressure cooker and I just can't get it out. The outer circumference of the pan is exactly the same at the inner circumference of the pressure cooker and I have things under this pan which I was heating in the pressure cooker.
The pan is just about 1mm thick but it's real tough and can't even bend.

Here's 2 pics, one showing the pan stuck in the pressure and the other showing a similar pan.

I've tried to pluck out, hammer out, etc., the pan but it only made things worse.

 

[Filip Larsen]

If you somehow can heat the outer cooker while (if possible) keeping the pan cool you may be able to get enough slack to get the pan out. However, since the cooker is conic (sloping sides) you should probably heat it up-side-down or the pan will just get even more stuck.

 

[Doc Al]

Looks like you've got it jammed in there pretty good. I would try heating the pot, then pouring some cold water on the pan to create a bit of slack. Be ready to pry it out (use a hook, if you have room) if you are able to get some slack.

 

[fkasmani]

Thanks, Filip Larsen and Doc Al.

I tried heating the pressure while placing large amounts of ice on the pan and I managed to get a hook in between the 2 so I could try to pull the pan out (and prevent it from sinking in deeper) but no luck. In a very short while the ice started to melt.

 

[Xentrix]

If you're able to get water in the gap around the inner one then you could try filling that with some water and boiling it to try and create some pressure to help push up on the trapped one perhaps?

How did you get it stuck there by the way?

 

[flatmaster]

The pan looks pretty bent up, so I would try a destructive solution. Drill the pan and put a hook or anchor inside to pull it out.

 

[uart]

Try a suction cup. You can get them for pulling dents (in cars) and they will get lots of grip on a flat smootth surface like that one.

 

[cragar]

what about hitting the top of the pot on a bench , like trying to get the head of an axe
back on by hitting the handle on the ground , but in this case the opposite. it might not work and you might have to hit it pretty hard .

 

[Dadface]

There seems to be a gap between the sides of the pressure cooker and the pan.Pour water in so it goes through the gap and fills the space between cooker and pan.Now put the whole thing in the freezer so that the water freezes and hopefully pushes up the pan.

 

[fkasmani]

I like the idea of passing water through the gap, but if I were to freeze or boil, wouldn't the water expand and escape from the gap?

Xentrix, I was trying to heat some pudding in the pot so I covered it with this pan (like I always do), but this time I don't know how it got stuck - and I tried to get it out with fork and it seems that made it worse. The after much struggling, I realized I needed some physics to sort this problem. (guess I finally didn't get my pudding :(
Bachelors will always be bachelors ;)

 

[Xentrix]

It would depend how big the gap is, if it is comfortable for the steam to escape out through then it might not be of much use, I don't think freezing would work because of how the density of water works at near freezing temperatures, I think that water will flow straight back out of the hole before it actually freezes...

You could try custard powder or flower in there then on some heat... of course make sure nothing breakable is around for when the inner pan pops out

The only other option I can think of is as suggested to damage the inner pan with a drill or similar and hook it out.

 

[cragar]

maybe use some strong epoxy and glue a hook on it , and pull it off with a slide hammer ,
and then fasten the pot down , or make a T handle , It looks stainless steel so i guess you couldn't put an electromagnet on it , unless you had current running through it .

 

[Archosaur]

How many physicists does it take to get a pan out of a pressure cooker? :)

Ok, so, here's my idea.
What if you got a small dc motor and made it unbalanced, or just bought a vibrating motor from radio-shack etc. then you flip your cooker-pan-assembly upside down and taped your motor to it. Attaching any weight to the pan would be helpful (suction cups?).

Essentially, this setup relies on the fact that, with every oscillation of the motor, the pan is more likely to make a slight jump down than a slight jump up.

Of course, the chance of it jumping either direction could be so small that you're just stuck with a really obnoxious noise until the battery runs out...

Edit: On second thought, that thing's really in there something awful...

 

[JDługosz]

In any case, try Kerosene. There are sprays sold as "liquid wrench" and the like. It gets into all the tiny cracks.

 

[RandomGuy88]

I think this is my favorite thread of all time. I am not sure why, its just kind of funny seeing all of the solutions people are coming up with.

 

[flatmaster]

I might suggest you change your diet to raw vegetation and forget about this " cooking" fad.

 

[DaveC426913]

There seems to be a gap between the sides of the pressure cooker and the pan.Pour water in so it goes through the gap and fills the space between cooker and pan.Now put the whole thing in the freezer so that the water freezes and hopefully pushes up the pan.

I think this is by far the best idea - and most likely to succeed without explosions or steam-scalding.

btw, hola Dadface. I have not seen your name around PF in years. Have we just been missing each other?

 

[cragar]

A physicist and a mathematician are asked to get a stuck lid out of a pot so it can be used again ,
The physicist trys all these crazy ideas he can think of like using magnets and various other methods , the mathematician goes to the store and buys a new pot and lid , When asked why he did this , he says because this is a problem i have already solved .

 

[cragar]

Ok this one might be a little crazy , hook up dc current to the pot , we are trying to make a rail gun , have the electrodes on the side of the pot , and then make sure the current is flowing in the right direction to produce magnetic force to push the lid , this might be unpractical but interesting , and it might try to weld the lid to the pot ,

 

[fkasmani]

yo, Cragar, I don't want to 'weld' the lid to the pot.

Guys, I've tried horse-shoe magnets and even the dc-vibrator but no luck. I guess the pudding in there may have turned to super glue or something and that's causing such a jam.

Now the final try - as DadFace and DaveC426913 have suggested - filling the pot with water and freezing. Let's see after 24hrs (wondering if 24hrs is enough for such volumes of water) otherwise I'll have the lid grinded - in both ways, there's no pudding.
bye-bye pudding.

 

[Xentrix]

I think this is by far the best idea - and most likely to succeed without explosions or steam-scalding.

btw, hola Dadface. I have not seen your name around PF in years. Have we just been missing each other?

Dave, where's your sense of fun?!
We could have him film the explosion so we can all benefit

 

[DaveC426913]

Dave, where's your sense of fun?!
We could have him film the explosion so we can all benefit

Ah, but who would be around to upload it?

 

[Archosaur]

The pan has been deformed to the point where the seal between the cooker and pan is not remotely air-tight, but can you insert some type of balloon down in there and inflate it? A regular balloon won't work, but what about a http://www.opt-medical.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Sphygmomanometer_4819f68902d41.jpg" ? You have one of those nearby? No... I doubt the gap is big enough to slip one of those in.

Yea, I'm liking the ice idea. Since ice freezes top-down, I don't think you'll have an issue with water escaping through the gap.

 

[flatmaster]

Precisely measure the pan's momentum, but don't measure the momentum of the pressure cooker. Also, you should place a cat in the pot and see if it is dead or alive after the pan removal.

 

[cragar]

weld a hook to the top of the lid

 

[Dadface]

btw, hola Dadface. I have not seen your name around PF in years. Have we just been missing each other?

Hello Dave I've been pretty active on this forum mainly by following threads and giving an occasional contribution.

 

[sfsy1]

Hey, why not try using a plunger.

 

[DaveC426913]

I would just like to point out as an aside that the sound of stainless steel scraping on stainless steel gives me the jumping screaming wigglies. (Some restaurants serve their ice cream in stainless steel dishes with a stainless steel spoon and I have to return it and ask for a ceramic bowl.)

Just reading this thread is continually giving me the heebie jeebies.

 

[my_wan]

Dump some lighter fluid in the pressure cooker under the stuck pan. Use a model rocket igniter to ignite it from a distance. I've seen people do this to reset the bead on a tire that's been patched. Also heard about people being killed this way. Don't stand too close.

 

[sophiecentaur]

I have been able to loosen shafts when stuck inside a cylinder by using two hammers, hitting the cylinder at diametrically opposite sides of the cylinder (e.g. stuck bicycle pedal cranks). This will cause the outer cylinder to flex, minutely and briefly, into an elliptical shape. The distortion tends to break the adhesion between the inner and outer surfaces which were stuck together.
I have even used it successfully with a glass bowl stuck inside another glass bowl - hitting with two wooden rolling pins! The minute distortion was enough to release the jammed article. It was in a coffee shop / kitchen supplies shop and this flash of brilliance earned me a free cup of coffee!

 

[pallidin]

Throw it away and get a new one.
Sometimes, it's just cheaper to buy a new car than to fix the old one...

 

[sophiecentaur]

What a spoil sport! That's just not the right attitude my boy.
Cut the outer pan off and re-weld the two halves together. But don't just give up!

 

[pallidin]

What a spoil sport! That's just not the right attitude my boy.
Cut the outer pan off and re-weld the two halves together. But don't just give up!

Hahahha!

 

[DaveC426913]

Topologically, the lid is not inside the pot at all, it is merely adjacent to it.

So the failing is not with the pots, the failing is with your limited perception of them.

 

[sophiecentaur]

I wonder what topological cooking tastes like.

 

[fkasmani]

I wonder what topological cooking tastes like.

haha, maybe we could share the pudding once it's out

but I really don't want to give up on it that's why I've not yet taken it to have the lid grinded off - BTW, it's still in the freezer and the ice has not managed to pop the lid off.

 

[sophiecentaur]

Just try giving it that bash / hard tap with the two hammers (move all round the periphery, doing the same thing - there may be just one or two stuck points). I could almost guarantee a result - as long as you are careful not to distort things permanently!

And, topologically, most of the food never actually gets into your body - it just passes through the hole running through the middle.

 

[DaveC426913]

1. Place your arms around the pot's waist.
2. Make a fist with one hand and place your thumb toward the pot, just above its belly button.
3. Grab your fist with your other hand.
4. Deliver five upward squeeze-thrusts into the pot's abdomen.
5. Keep a firm grip on the pot, since it may lose consciousness and fall to the ground if the maneuver is not effective.

And hurry dammit! It's been ... 10 days already! There's no time to lose!

 

[fkasmani]

GUYS, THE FREEZING METHOD WORKED! (but only to a certain extent)

as was suggested, I filled the empty lower space with water and froze for many days and the ice actually expanded and pushed the pan a bit. OK, it didn't push the stuck lid out completely, but it was now possible to pass in a plier and WITH MUCH STRENGTH, pull the stuck pan out - Sophiecentaur, you're right - there were only 2 opposite points at which it was maximum stuck.

But it's finally out without having to use any destructive methods.

Thanks so much everyone for your help and suggestions.
BTW, the pudding looked good but was now all soggy and mushy because of the water I had filled in. And Dave, you'd better show me the "belly button" on the pot sometime.

Take care, guys and once again, Thanks so much.

 

[sophiecentaur]

Now enjoy your meal, Sir.

 

[Duncanstives]

This thread wins.

My initial impression was to use some brake parts cleaner and light it like someone already suggested but I probably would not have wanted to eat the pudding after that.

I think an electromagnet would have been the only method that would not have damaged the pudding in any way... They have solinoids in old electric typwriters and stuff that are suprisingly strong.

 

[fkasmani]

hey,, I'm not eating the pudding - I already threw it.

 

[sophiecentaur]

I just hate faddy eaters!