I broke my stove (like, REALLY broke it)
If I could start this post off with an emoji, it would be a sheepish one.
When I do dumb things like this, I often feel like I don't want to blog about it, because...embarrassing!
(Remember when I melted my hot water kettle by putting it on the stove??)
But I usually realize my hesitance is a pretty good sign that I should write about it.
So.
Here we are.
While cooking dinner one night about a month ago, I took the lid off my skillet to set it down on the stove top.
I stirred my noodles and then tried to pick the lid up.
But it was S T U C K to the stove top.
Suction has some serious power!
I knew if I cooled the lid off a bit, the suction would break. So, I put a cool washcloth on the lid to gently bring the temperature down, and...nothing happened.
I knew putting, say, ice cubes onto the pot lid might warp hurt the lid, so I grabbed a little gel cooling pack, figuring that might be gentle.
I barely had touched the pot lid with the gel pack and there was a tremendous POP.
I thought that I had surely ruined my lid, which would be a little sad because it's All-Clad.
But, uh...I picked up the lid and found this underneath:
This is way worse than ruining a pan lid!
I have serious regrets about this life choice of mine. I should have just waited for the lid to cool down on its own. Where was my patience??
I seriously cannot believe I broke my stovetop. I think I said that probably 57 times that night, and here I am, still saying it.
Multiple times that evening, I thought, "I should have just gotten takeout instead of cooking! There is no takeout as expensive as a stovetop!"
So, how much for a new stovetop?
I called my appliance guy to see how much he could get a stovetop for, and sadly, even his wholesale price for the glass top was $270, plus tax plus whatever he'd have charged to install it.
This Kenmore stove/oven is not an expensive one, since we bought it 14 years ago when money was super tight.
Basic was what we could manage.
(Four young kids, house to fix up, warehouse salary = a small appliance budget)
Anyway, putting this much money into a fairly old/basic appliance wasn't feeling super sensible to us.
Time for a new oven/stove
We landed on a stove that generally goes for about $1000 + sales tax.
However, we were able to find an appliance place somewhat near us that had the stainless steel/black color combo on clearance for $675 + taxes.
Unfortunately, stoves all over are on backorder right now (Factories are running slower? People are cooking at home and suddenly deciding to replace their stoves? Maybe a combo? I don't know.)
We ordered the new appliance several weeks ago, and at the time, the guy said he hoped to have it in during the month of August.
So, any day now!
How I'm cooking for now
Luckily, the really bad glass cracks are contained on the right side of the stove. Those two right burners are completely unusable, but the left two burners are still fine.
And since it's not like I'm cooking for a big holiday party these days, losing half of my burners is no big deal. I'm trucking along just fine.
It also helps that the oven is unharmed, so I can keep baking any time I want. Whew.
I've just been keeping the All-Clad pan lid sitting on the broken parts so that we don't accidentally cut ourselves.
And the lid also keeps me from having to look at the stove carnage every time I walk into the kitchen. I really don't need to be reminded that often. 😉
Fix or replace?
As things stand, we are spending $730.
If we'd fixed our old stove, we'd have spent probably at least $400 (part + tax + installation).
A $400 repair on a stove that we probably only paid $500 for 14 years ago just did not make sense to us.
Would it be less money out of pocket right now? For sure (a $330 difference).
But it doesn't feel very smart to spend almost the purchase price of the appliance on a repair.
Now, if we were talking about my very old washing machine? I would pay for almost any repair on that because the newer washing machines just do not clean as well as my old machine.
Stoves and ovens aren't quite like that, though; this new one will work just as well (probably better!) than my old one, and this one has convection, which I have never had before.
Also relevant: we had the money for a new appliance in our home improvement budget. If we didn't have money to pay for the new one, that would have tipped the scales in favor of repair.
So.
That is the end of my embarrassing tale.
And I'll be sure to show you my shiny new stove when it arrives!
Do you have an, "I can't believe I broke this!" story too?
Make me feel better and share, mmkay?
P.S. In the aftermath of my stove-breaking mistake, I employed at least ⅗ of the tips in this article about how to make yourself miserable after a money mistake.
(I wrote that post because I am a certified expert in this arena. 😉 )
Oh nooooo! NOT THE STOVE!
You know I sympathize with not having a fully functioning stove.
I can't think of anything off-hand that I've broken with such a dire consequence, but maybe I've just repressed the memory. 🙂
I broke the microwave by using power instead of just the timer when the microwave was empty. It makes you feel so stupid, but we are just human. It could happen to anyone.
I have convection where we now live, and I was a bit scared of it, but it is great. It cooks more throughly and faster. Just read the instructions, and it will tell you how much to shorten the cook time.
Congratulations on the new appliance. You cook so much you can certainly justify a new oven and stove. (My husband bought me a little stand-alone timer. to)
OUCH! I am glad it is only the stove that needs replacing! And thanks for the tip on how to release stuck lids on a smooth top stove.
We have a similar stove going on 20 years old and I have a love affair with it - a GE Spectra solid cooktop stove - as it has faithfully cooked a lot of meals. Every now and then I think, 'What will I replace this with when it dies?" So, I will be interested in your new purchase from an insider perspective on convection ovens as perhaps will others in this community will be also.
As for frugality, I anticipate your new stove will be far more energy efficient than the old one and that will translate into electricity savings both for cooking and cooling.
Yes, whatever you do, do NOT put something cold on the lid! Ha. Wait it out. Be more patient than me!
I'll let you know what I think of my new one whenever it arrives. Hopefully soon!
We still have our coil stove from the 80s. When people can come in the house again, we plan on remodeling our kitchen. At first we wanted to convert to a gas stove, but then I read articles on how they can cause indoor pollution. So we looked at glass-topped stoves and there are so many things you can't or shouldn't do with them, we decided we will get another coil stove. My husband does most of the cooking and he's not very gentle with things, so I'm not sure if he wouldn't also break a glass top.
I adore my gas stove and oven. It is from 1995 and still kicking. I've replaced the lighter on the oven and stove, but otherwise it is doing great. I love being able to see the flame and adjust it to where I want. And I love how the heat is instantaneous. Natural gas is a clean burn (I'm chemistry professor at a local college and we do experiments on this every year). It doesn't have dangerous biproducts like other fossil fuels. The only thing it produces is water vapor and carbon dioxide if it burns properly. I used to have a glass top and I hated cleaning it. I was always spilling stuff and burning stuff and terrified that I would break it. It is also sooooooo slow to react when you adjust the temperature.
Oh boy. I am mainly a plate & glass bowl breaker especially with granite counters. 4 in the last month or so.
Congrats on the stove you will LOVE the convection part.
Not nearly as expensive, but I did put water in a glass casserole dish that was in the oven once. BOOM! It was explosive and messy. Lesson learned forever (I hope).
I destroyed my multi, because I forgot a blade inside it. I thought I was just trying to slash the food, but the truth is, I was trying to slash the blade and the food, so... there you have it
Oooh, I understand the feeling. Our last rental, we had a glass-top cookstove, and at the time I was still using a stovetop tea kettle to boil water for tea. Well, I put my kettle on, and ran downstairs to do something (probably nothing important) and I didn't hear the kettle whistling, and it boiled dry...which I discovered later, and did you know that letting a copper-bottom kettle boil dry on a glass top stove leaves a horrible, horrible residue on said stove? I spent nearly two hours scraping and cleaning it. I was frantic because I was sure I had ruined the stove and we'd have to replace it. Luckily I saved it. And then I promptly went on to Amazon and purchased an electric kettle, so that would never happen again.
I hope your stove comes in soon! We've all done stuff like this, I think!
I did the same thing only my tea kettle was painted porcelain and melted holes into the glass. 🙁
Ugh, what a day you had. I've had my share of "what was I thinking" moments. The worst one was when I scrubbed the coating off of my brand new picture window. It had just been installed to replace my old one and there was residue from the stickers on the window. My mom had recently told me about a technique from a professional window cleaner in which he used kitchen scrubbies to get the gunk off. For future reference, never do that. I'm sure it's fine on old windows but new ones have a coating on them to reduce glare. I find that being lazy about washing my windows is an effective technique to camouflage it ...
Huh, not sure why this ended up as a comment to a comment. Maybe I need to go to bed soon .
@Bobi, 2022 here and I just did this myself. I did not want to see a $500 price for the replacement top either.
Ohhh man. So sorry to hear that this happened to you too!
Well... When I first bought a Vitamix, I was showing it off to my sister. I was so excited and we were rummaging around my kitchen to find something to do with it. We decided on a smoothie. Well we made a spoonie instead! We were talking and somehow left a spoon in there. Oh the noise! The blade warped or crunched or something! Luckily with the warranty I was able to get a new one. I feel your pain!"
A couple years ago, I did not fully grasp how 2-lane roundabouts work... And I drove into the side of a pickup. And the car was not drivable. One month after we decided to go down to one car. One silver lining (?) was that the police were all busy with a potential active shooter threat, so they said they couldn't come and we could file a report later if we wanted, so I didn't also get a ticket. (Threat turned out ok, no injuries.)
So, we got to pay:
* Car insurance deductible
* Rental car for 1.5 weeks
* Ongoing increased car insurance premiums
* General embarrassment
But no one was injured!
*sigh*
Carla, I can sympathize. I know how they work but I hate roundabouts! I've noticed plenty of other people who don't quite understand them and the signage is usually inadequate.
Double lane roundabouts are the worst. Single lane versions are so much easier!
This one's funny because there are tonnes of roundabouts in the UK but I don't understand how you can turn right on a red light in the US!
You can google the magic roundabout in Hemel Hempstead if you want to see a brutal roundabout There are I think 7 all connected so you go both clockwise and anti-clockwise depending on which bit you're on.
I think we all have those moments when we say,,,, "ah why did I do that!" I know I have had my share!
I totally agree with you, doesn't make much sense to put that much money into a 14 yo appliance!
Not long ago, my dryers heating element went, we had our guy come in and fix it.(and he will not fix if he thinks its not worth it!) I think it was around 100.00. Dryer wasn't that old. Wouldn't you know that we had a power outage, and blew it again not a month after! We just figured we are just going to replace! but how annoying!
When buying a appliance, the store we use usually has no financing for a time, depending on what you spend.) so we get it paid off before that time is up. I think we had 12 months on the dryer.
basically, we buy all our appliances this way.
I just finished paying off the new Fridge, ( old fridge made it almost 19yrs!)
At least no one was hurt!
Get a whole house power surge protector. In FL there are always power surges and the electric company will add them to where the electricity enters the house and protect all the appliances. It costs approx $10.00 a month, but worth it so you don’t have to replace your appliances.
My dryer has been on the fritz for about three months. I am able to hang clothes in the basement when it's cold and dodge the rain storms to hang them outside. The only caveat is that I have a dog, and air drying doesn't remove hair very well unless there's a breeze. I got the belt to fix it and tried, but then realized it needed a new takeup pulley and just haven't taken the time to work on it any more. The heating element works fine. I bought both the washer and dryer new in 1992 and they were a higher end product at the time. Yes, that's old, I am single, not hard on them and it's no small feat to get them in and out of the basement. However, just this past week, the washer also went on the fritz, and I have replaced the mother board three times, just over $100 each time, but replaced them myself the last two times so avoided labor charge. I guess I just need to bite the bullet and get new ones. That's my appliance story.
But the "I can't believe I did that" was backing my Jeep Cherokee into a side rod on a dumpster breaking out the back window. It just so happened that a side window was already broken by a rock thrown by my neighbor's mower, and I was waiting for the replacement for it.
On the bright side, you will *love* a convection oven! We switched to one a few years ago, and will never go back. So efficient to cook three pans worth of food at a time, instead of just one. And things cook faster, and brown nicely... I can’t say enough good things!
Ok, I’m trying to understand the dynamics behind this. I put my lid on the glass stovetop all the time without issue. As things cool, then the vacuum usually forms. Was the burner hot when you placed a lid on it?
No; the lid was hot, but I put the lid on the cool side of the stove.
Right after we got our glass top stove, I was using a tea kettle to add moisture to our very dry house (it was February) and I ran upset and forgot the kettle. It dried out and melted itself to the stove. For about 10 years, I had to stare at my stupidity every day! The burner still worked so no need for repair or replacement. A few years ago we finally upgraded to an LG. You didn't mention the brand, but I hope you're getting an LG. I love mine!
And thanks for sharing! We all make mistakes but some of us flog ourselves more than others so it's always good to know we have company.
Honestly, I'm going to have to ask Mr. FG what the brand is. I forget! Ha.
My daughter just broke the oven glass by spilling water she was going to pour into a pan in the bottom of the oven. I have a pretty new stove so it was worth replacing and the technician did it in our backyard! He also cleaned between the glass which was really an improvement. I wish I had had him do the other oven! In other appliance news, I’ve been waiting months for an upright freezer.
Wait, what? The glass broke from having water poured on it? I must be missing something here.
So glad you could get yours repaired.
The glass of the oven window, I think. Too drastic a change in temperature there, too...
It was boiling water from the electric kettle, although the door was already hot because the oven was preheated. I feel I have tripped water on the door many times, I don’t know if it was because it was a fair bit of water but it was a crack like a gunshot.
Dripped, not tripped fortunately:-)
I tried to pour leftover chili out of a crockpot into a bowl to put in the fridge. The crock liner was hot and heavy...I dropped it. Sending broken shards and chili everywhere. I should have waited for my husband to help or spooned it out. I definitely learned my lesson. I haven't gotten a crockpot I've liked since. 🙁
The other thing that is on backorder are freezers! I have a small chest freezer in the garage. For fun 2-3 months ago I wanted to look at upright freezers, easier to get in/out of. None to be found! A co-worker's mother had her freezer just go out. She couldn't find one but finally found a Lowe's that had just gotten a shipment in, they weren't even in the inventory yet.
I was looking for a week for a smaller chest freezer.. NONE locally, and no one even taking orders for future.I kept looking online: Home Depot,Lowes,Best Buy,Costco.For 2 days in a row.. no one had any.On THIRD DAY of looking again, Costco.com had some. I ordered and it was delivered just a week later! YAY.. a stroke of luck! Keep searching.
Yeah, I've had a few of those gems. Probably the most recent one was when I broke my crockpot. I was transferring something hot, I think it might have been chili, I don't really recall, from a pot on the stove to the crockpot because I didn't have time to finish cooking it on the stove. I thought it would do fine but nope, very quickly I heard POP and the crockpot and the food were a lost cause. I'm just happy I was still at home when that happened because if I had already left that could have turned into a disaster.
Ugh! Ours broke last year when something fell out of a shelf onto it. Same discussion too - repair was $500+ labor but the stove was a free hand me down. New stove (gas) was on sale not significantly more.
New stove for the win, but it hurt! Lol.
Good luck with the new one! And never replace the washer - the repair man says he’ll never replace his, each time he comes to fix mine
Ha, that is EXACTLY what my repairman says to me about my washing machine. And I think appliance repair people know what they're talking about!
I once got lost down the rabbit hole of Pinterest. I was searching for "kitchen organization". I found a neat trick where you hang your skillets on a dowl with S-hooks.. The only place I had for a dowl of any length was over my stove.
GREAT!!
I set out, got the needed supplies, installed it and stood back and admired my work.
This worked lovely.
Then I moved from lightweight non stick Tfal type skillets to cast iron.
They looked so pretty, all gleaming from a fresh seasoning, hanging in order by size.
I was even prouder.
Then I went to hang one up, and somehow missed the eye in the handle and the cast iron landed on my glass top stove.
When people say "You can't use cast iron on glass top stoves", I think..."If you only knew."
My stove damage was also concentrated to one side, though the cracks spider webbed all over the surface. I didn't feel safe using it, so our meals for quite a while where from every other appliance in the kitchen.
I was able to source another glass top from a local thrift store and sell my broken one.
Before I had the new, new to me stove installed, I moved the dowl from above, and found a nestle system for my cast iron.
In a bottom kitchen cabinet.
You aren't alone sweetie. We all do some things that make us say " Why in the World did I do that"??
I cracked the edge of my glass stovetop opening a bottle of wine. I pulled the cork out and the bottom of the bottle got the glass just right. Ugh, luckily it was usable for several years after.
Here's a +: Your story made me thankful for my 25 yo coil top stove (like Mary Ann below) that is original to our townhome. I often look @ it & wish it was newer, now I'm grateful for the old style.
The only thing I did similarly is like Jody S. below when I ran water on a glass lid that had been in the oven. Now I use foil with that casserole dish. 🙁
I am so sorry this happened! It is so much worse when it is our own fault. They new stove may be more energy efficient too so overall hopefully you can c those savings too. BTW, completely agree with you about the washing machine, we still have one like yours too and I told my husband we are keeping it no matter what.
Oh dear, poor you.
What a rotten new expense to be hit with, but I must say that your account, with your photographs is really interesting and instructive. I had no idea that such a thing could happen. I have always cooked on gas and currently have an iron grid range top.
Ah, yes, my glasstop stop also cracked. Not sure what caused it, as I was cooking at the time--just a smaller pot of potatoes and I heard a POP and that was that. I ordered the glasstop unit and my son and I learned how to replace it. (It was pretty easy--just connections to connect, if I recall.) I still hate it though. I'd much prefer natural gas, but the kitchen doesn't have it, and I can't justify the cost to run it AND buy a new stove when I have one that works fine.
Hi -
I don't have a "I can't believe I broke this" story, but I do have my amusing tale of the time my oven caught fire. I posted this in a spices group on FB a few years ago:
"I'd like to learn the proper way to make corned beef. A couple years ago, I used Penzey's corned beef spices and I made it in the oven. It was pretty tasty, but I will NEVER use the oven again due to the following drama that happened the day after I made the corned beef:
I hadn't cleaned the oven yet, so I decided to turn on the oven to get it warm as an aid for easier cleaning. I left the kitchen and went to my master bath to play around with a purple eyeshadow set freebie that I had received in the mail. (I don't wear purple eyeshadow but I thought, "Why not? I'm at home, not going anywhere, might as well bring back memories of playing around with make-up as a teenager even though [at the time], I was 49-years-old.)
Anyway, I'm applying make-up while blasting loud, lively ballet music--which is why I didn't initially hear the fire alarm go off! I ran into the kitchen and lo and behold! The *&^% oven is on fire! I called 911 and was advised to turn off the oven and that firemen were on their way.
And what firemen!! Two firetrucks, a firemen supervisor car, and a bevy of fit and handsome firemen showed up shortly thereafter, running up all three flights of stairs to get to my condo unit.
The fire was already out, but they advised me not to turn on the oven while it's dirty and recommended that I move the cabinet in my front entryway since it was a fire hazard.
Of course I'm smiling and nodding at the handsome firemen--and then it occurred to me--I'm wearing a RIDICULOUS amount of purple eyeshadow and was mortified!
But all's well that ends well---
Anyhoo--what's the proper way to make corned beef?"
OMG, that's terrible! I knew they could break if you dropped something heavy on them, but I never thought about suction. I'm going to be a lot more careful from now on! So thank you for sharing this, even though I'm very sorry it happened to you.
I’ve cracked the radiators on two of our three cars (owned one at a time, just to clarify!) by thinking I had clearance when I obviously didn’t. The repairs hurt my pride but were relatively inexpensive as car repairs go, as we only drive old beaters. “Paid for” is our favorite make and model. 😉 Our “new” ride is still thirty years old and a true “Granny only drove it on Sundays” find. I’m VERY careful about clearance, but I know there will come a day....
I randomly felt moved to do the math the other day, and we’ve spent a little over $500 per year, over twelve years, on vehicles. (Upfront costs plus repairs for all three, divided by years—I didn’t count given things like oil changes, tune ups, or insurance). That makes me feel better about my radiator Achilles’ heel!
Not nearly as exciting as your tale, but perhaps more dramatic— last week I was feeling so virtuous one night when with little to work with in the fridge, I was in the final steps of preparing an awesome dinner of peanut noodles and stir fried veggies, when as I was reaching down to scoop up my chopped scallions, my glass cutting board literally exploded into a thousand pieces! I am embarrassed to report that it was because I was using it on the stovetop and it had gotten too hot. I feel super fortunate that I escaped with only a cut on my foot. There was so much glass everywhere and of course all my chopped veggies were ruined. To make matters worse, this was my favorite oversized glass cutting board that I got for free from my neighbor’s yard sale. We ended up getting takeout and it took me hours to recover from the trauma!
I totally understand the trauma!
Is your washing machine a KitchenAid? It looks like it might be the same one that we inherited when we bought our house. I was so sad when it broke and the cost to repair was the same as the cost of a new machine (after paying a couple hundred to fix it the year before). We ended up replacing it with a Maytag, which cleans well, but won't last as long as the old machines did.
Yup, it's a Kitchen Aid and it is seriously the best washing machine. I've tried several of my relatives' newer washing machines and none of them do as good of a job on really dirty stuff as my old machine does.
It's ugly, yes, but my goodness, it works well.
I love my 30 year old Kenmore washer and dryer from Sears. Will possibly have a funeral for them when they go. I don't know if something that basic and reliable and not computerized is even made now.
I just had to replace my free-to-me 1986 Maytag stackable. It was given to me 17 years ago and ran great until last year. We did the little repairs we could, but once they got major we repaced it in July. Learning how to use the front loaders we got. Just not the same:(
I have a great suction story. When I was about 12 yrs old we had a massive snow storm and it was almost impossible for cars to navigate the roads without being Stick somewhere in a snow drift. The snow storm had come quickly and I was at snow when it started. Long story short, a friend of mine who lived further away ended up staying over because his house was too far away. We walked the 2 miles through heavy snow to reach my house.
I gave my friend a dry set of clothes and he went into the bathroom while I changed in the bedroom. I changed and walked out in the hall way to see my mother and friend quizzically looks at the rubber end of a plunger. I guess that while he was in the bathroom he got bored and suctioned the plunger to the wall. When he realized it was on there good and tight he gave it a good pull! There was a perfect plunger sized circle ⭕ hole in the wall. Hard to explain that away.
Oh no! What an embarrassing thing to do in someone else's house. Your poor friend!
My FIL bought a blender on black Friday that also had a mail in rebate. His stove top is on an island. He put the box on the stove to cut out the upc code to mail in with the rebate. He left the box on the island, left the house to mail the letter, and talked to a neighbor for about an hour. When he was cutting out the code, he accidentally hit a stove button and turned on the stove. While he was gone, the stove caught the box on fire. The fire cracked the granite on the island and ruined the stove. The only reason he didn't burn down the house is because he has 12 ft ceilings, but the fire did scorched the ceiling. Overall....there was over $25K of smoke damage throughout his house. All this.....to save $20 on a blender.
Let me just say say, I’ve been living a long time and this is feeling of “ how could I be so dumb” happens regularly throughout life. You’ve younger ones: adjust NOW, start saying “ there I go being human again” and move on. You could even have a being human savings account. It also makes you a better parent. Saying to kids, who make lots of mistakes, there you go being human again.
I love this perspective and will start using this with myself and my son. Thanks for your wisdom, Connie!
I know that feeling well. My dumb thing was just a few days ago. I loaded up the bottom drawer of our freezer with 4 gallon jugs of water to freeze in case the power went out from the tropical storm. It was too much weight on one side and when we went to open the freezer drawer, we couldn't. I think the weight caused it to go off kilter. Eventually we were able to muscle it open and remove the extra weight. I'm worried the rails may be damaged, so I will be extra careful about not overloading it now.
Thank you for showing us your humanity. We've all had experiences that leave us feeling sheepish. May that new appliance bring you years of happy use.
Carol expressed it beautifully. I feel as does Carol. It is comforting knowing I am not the only one who regrets some courses of actions.
Oh no! But oh yes, I have stories, too.
I brew my own kombucha which is fermented sweet tea. When I first started, I didn't have a good brewing vessel, so I was using a cheap gallon glass jar. I always added cold water before I added the hot sweet tea to the jar, so that the glass wouldn't break. Except that time I forgot: broken glass stuck in sticky sweet tea, all over my counter and floor.
I have cabinets that go up to the 10' ceiling in my kitchen, and I'm short. I sometimes climb on my counters because fetching the 8' ladder inside is a pain. Don't worry, I clean the counters afterward. Anyway, I climbed up one day, took a step to one side and heard "crack." I have a 2-burner glass drop-in stove top in my counter, in addition to my stove, which I use for canning and when making big meals. Yep, I stepped on it and broke the glass top, but luckily it didn't shatter and cut me. This is the kind that has interchangeable cook tops -- it came with a grill unit, too -- so it was just a case of unplug and pull out the broken top, and plug in the new ($150) top.
When I was taking night classes, my husband was washing dishes for me, back when we didn't have a dishwasher. He didn't have room in the drying rack for the crock pot liner, so he sat it on a burner and turned the burner on low to help it dry fast. One shattered line later, he realized that wasn't a good idea.
And finally, although I've made jelly for decades, one time I mindlessly put the juice and sugar in too small of a pot, not even thinking about how jelly boils up to about three times its original size. I have a smoothtop stove -- I love them -- but have you ever cleaned about two quarts of burned on sugary jelly from one? And of course, I lost the whole batch of jelly to boot.
Well, if it makes you feel any better - I have done the very same thing - 2 times! The first time it was associated with a kettle top that I placed on the glass -- same experience as you had. The second time is actually more embarrassing. I believe I was stringing Christmas lights along the very top of the kitchen cupboards, and I was standing on the counter top, rather than using a ladder and my foot went onto the glass oven top a tiny bit -- then crack! I remember the replacement bill was in the $200 ballpark, which was about 15-20 years ago. So, I have done it twice - you would think I would have learned!!
I’m so sorry that happened.
Here’s my own stovetop tale of woe.
The stovetop at my old house was set in an island which was very narrow and the only convenient place to put down items taken out of the fridge. So the inevitable happened and a jar of mayo slipped out of my hand and cracked the edge of the glass stovetop. Many curses to the kitchen designer who thought that would be a great place for a stovetop, and didn’t just leave the island as a useable surface in a huge kitchen! And I should have know better and walked just a little farther down the kitchen. (Sorry no pics as my phone was basic back in 2008.) The damage wasn’t bad but we were moving overseas and renting out the house and couldn’t risk the tenants injuring themselves.
I searched for a replacement on the internet and was pretty lucky with the $$, and got a cut price deal on the installation as the electrician already had other work scheduled at our house.
Kristen,
You made me laugh! I tried to pick my best goof but as I've had many over the years, my newest was shattering a set of glass mixing bowls as I moved them to put something away. What a mess plus I really liked the bowls. Sawing through several extention cords with hedge trimmers is a favorite for me too.
I would have gone with the new stove as you did. Things happen.
Ugh....my biggest mistake was burning up a car engine. (This was actually a joint mistake so thankfully now blame) That is serious big bucks. Our car was pretty old at the time. We were saving to pay cash for our next car & had planned to drive the old car at least two more years.
I was going out with two girlfriends to celebrate my 50th birthday (old enough to know what to do!).
First mistake: As we drove away my husband heard an odd sound in the motor. He thought to himself that he really should get some belts changed before they break but let us go anyway because my friends & I were so looking forward to the day.
We got about 20 miles from my house when I saw smoke/steam coming from under the hood! I immediately looked at the heat gauge & it was beyond red...normally I glance at it as I'm driving but...you know, visiting with friends as I drove. So the hose did break & I did not notice the car overheating. Ugh.
Instead of a fun celebration, we sat on the side of the road waiting for my husband. He didn't want to pay for a tow so he carried gallons of water, drove the car a few miles, pulled over, added more water...waited for the engine to cool some, ect, ect. It took us hours to get the car home. We were able to drive it a few more months but we ended up having to buy a new car about 2 yrs before we were ready to buy one. Thankfully it all worked out.
And I've done the lid thing too....but thankfully I only broke a plate, not a stove top. Ever since then, when I set down a hot lid I make sure there's a spoon or something propping it up on one side to keep it from forming a seal.
So that's what's under that glass, have often wondered. Yup, we are just being human....
On the glass top here, the front burner would not turn OFF. Just stayed all red!
Finally got it off by going down thru the numbers, 7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
I looked at the fuse box in garage to see how to turn it off if it had come to that.
Then another burner did it!
Repair guy replaced the switches, that fixed it. It's a Kenmore.
VERY troublesome to my mind though.
Oh well.
I could not help but to finally send a comment.… I’m not the comet type of person, but this post hit home.
We spent almost $600 on water bills over the summer, the water was not good for the garden, and most of the plants were either eaten by deer, rabbits, or bugs. (Not to mention, that the grass was blotchy green and brown)...
What I ended up with was deformed plants, dying or dried up plants and wasted time!
I love gardening, but realize I could’ve bought a lot of raspberries, strawberries, and vegetables for the $600 paid.
I like your decision-making model. The only thing I would do differently is try facebook marketplace for a used stove. But if new ones are backordered, old ones are probably going super quick. Or maybe there are lots of used ones because everyone is buying new? May I also respectfully suggest that the replacement cost is the price you should compare to the price of the repair, not the price you paid?
In this week's edition of "I can't believe I broke this" . . .
Monday afternoon when my husband came home with our youngest two from daycare I came downstairs to greet them and start supper. I put my phone on the top of the fridge as we often do to keep curious little hands off of it. I find if I put it anywhere lower than six feet in the air in any room it will end up in a toddler's hands, which is a terrible thing for a phone you don't want thrown down on the ceramic tile or placed in the trashcan or tossed in the sink. At some point the fridge kicked on and knocked the phone off. I celebrated the fact that somehow the glass didn't break only to realized later that it wouldn't take a charge. My husband took it to the repair guy down the street who is still working on it 24 hours later and using words like "mother board." This will be either an expensive repair or new phone. I mean, it won't be a new phone, because I can't make an argument that I need a $1,000 phone in my life. We shall see how it unfolds.
I feel your pain! Our glass stovetop mysteriously cracked the one time we left a relative in charge of our kids for the night. Fine. Three burners were fine and how often does one need all four? All fine and dandy until a few years later when the crack made its way across a second burner. Like you, we found replacing just the stovetop to be almost as much as buying a new stove. Fortunately, an acquaintance told us about a Best Buy outlet store not too far from us. We bought a new stove AND a new refrigerator (another story!) and saved a few hundred dollars over buying at the regular store. We were able to charge the purchase, pay it off right away, and get lots of bonus points from our CC. And this is why it’s good to set aside a little extra when you can, people, since one never knows when everything in their house will start breaking!
This is why I refuse to go with a glass cooktop.
Have you considered an induction burner to hold you over until the new stove is put in? Some of them aren't expensive and are great to have for some patio cooking.
Great move in a tough situation! Proud of you all and what a great husband ou have. That is also why everyone should have an emergency fund.
On an episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8, Kate set a wet lid down on her glass stovetop and it also broke. I had no idea it could do that until I saw that episode. So I always make sure to either set it on the countertop or half on the stove, half on the countertop so it's not just sitting on the glass stovetop. Scary!
oh yuck! I say give yourself some grace, and enjoy the new stove!! (As I write that, I know I'd have just as hard time as you are with the whole thing.)
I lay my lids down like that all the time! Who knew this could happen from suction?? Your post has prevented my stove damage.
It is pretty cool to see what's inside of the stove, sorry that's at your expense.
Ours was a careless fire (no one was hurt). We had family visiting and we were packing the car for the departure in a few hours. It was cold out and I though “hey tea would be nice”. So I turned on what I thought was the front burner under the water kettle. It wasn’t! But to make things worse I had left the plastic splatter guard from the microwave on the back burner (which I did turn on). I of course wandered out of the kitchen for a few minutes. And then the smoke alarm and yelling child brought me running. The stove top was on fire and running up the front of the over stove microwave. One fire extinguisher experience later and a lot of self deprivation and we had to get both appliances replaced. Luckily we had the money in our house repair fund.
One time I was driving to work very early in the morning and was waiting at a train crossing. Well, I think I was either too close to the gate or got impatient and wanted to back up and turn down a side street, but nevertheless, I backed up without looking and ran into a fire hydrant. I hit the hydrant in such a way that it broke a tail light and dented the top of my rear bumper. I was able to replace the tail light pretty easily, but had to look at the ugly dent on my bumper for several years. My husband still teases me about this to this day! However, a few years later we sustained hail damage to the car and insurance covered the cost of the repair, which also happened to include the rear bumper!
It is so understandable that you would keep saying, "I can't believe I did that." Hindsight is always 20/20...or at least pretty close. The problem is, there is never a way to know that something like that would happen. Give yourself grace. No one was injured and now you get to enjoy the new convection feature! Patience is one of those things we are often forced to learn. I certainly have no shortage of opportunities to practice it.
I didn't break anything so much as set a few things on fire...
I was tired (kids at the time were 1, 2 (with a trach), and 3), and set a pot of water on the glass top stove to boil while they were taking a nap. I sat down to read and heard some crackling coming from the kitchen, which I assumed to be the water on the burner sizzling off. After maybe 10-15 minutes, I looked over and flames were licking the bottom of the microwave just above the stove. Just then our smoke detector went off, waking up the kids. I distinctly remember thinking, "Oh crap. Oh crap. Ohhh crap!" and giving myself 30 seconds to put it out before running to get the kids out to safety. The pot of water was cold, as I had turned on the wrong burner. A bamboo cutting board on the counter was hanging over the hot burner just enough that it caught, and that, along with a bamboo utensil, dishtowel, and hotpad were burning. I dumped the cold pot of water on the fire, and made a massive amount of smoke. So I called the fire department to come blow the smoke out. The kids loved that part.
For the next day or so my 2 yr. old was coughing up brown mucus, despite being at the other end of the house with the door closed. A few days after the incident we were at the doctor's office, and I asked him to check our son to make sure he was okay, explaining there may have been a fire in the kitchen. And he laughed, and told me about the first time his wife had to call the fire department. That was the best part of the whole story. Instead of feeling judged for not being a good mom to my very fragile child, I felt reassured that we all have our days.
I don't think I can top your sad story but it might help to know you're not the only one who makes costly mistakes. I was simmering a chicken carcass to make broth. I forgot it was on the stove and left the house for a few hours. Needless to day the pot boiled dry. I think the bones may even have burst into flames judging from the damage. I had an over the stove microwave. When the pot boiled dry, the heat or flame melted the door of the microwave. When I saw what I had done I praised God that He had spared me from a house fire. If it was enough to melt the microwave it could easily caught the cabinets on fire.
I already had plans to remodel the kitchen in the coming year so I just lived with a melted microwave until the remodel. You can be sure I always check the stove before I leave the house these days. My old school Revereware pan went in the garbage.
I think this sweet little post just goes to show that, you know, bad things are going to happen, even to careful people, and instead of just hoping and wishing that they don’t, sometime something is going to happen, so don’t be surprised when it does. My, that was a long sentence.
My teen daughter just recently broke the screen on her laptop that she had just bought. She paid half and we parents paid half. After lots of self-condemnation (not parent condemnation) my husband helped her research how to replace the screen and find parts. To pay for the replacement, she is selling on EBay all our old tech stuff and breaking down old Mac computers for parts to sell also.
So, we just ate chalking it up to experience and letting it be the catalyst for learning how to sell on eBay and how to break old computers into sellable parts.
We were leaving on a week long camping trip and plugged in the pop-up to cool the small refrigerator. We didn't have many outlets in the garage to choose from. When we got home, the smell nearly killed us when we opened up the garage door. Somehow the extension cord we used had just slightly pulled the freezer door open, and after a whole week, everything was ruined. We had to throw away at least $400 worth of beef we had just received from the farmer. I vowed never to have an upright freezer again! As a side note, I have always hated the term "stupid tax" for mistakes like these. Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes they are expensive. Hopefully we can learn from them!
In our house we call them "learning taxes," for that very reason!
We've had plenty of these types of Oopsies over the years. Two that come to mind quickly are:
1. My husband swatted at a fly on a window and put his hand through the window. Coincidentally, we had an appointment with a window salesman that night. The windows were old (50+ years and single pane), so replacing it was going to happen regardless. We just made the decision a bit quicker.
2. While helping my mother move, I insisted that I go into her unfinished attic to remove the boxes since I has better balance/strength. Of course, I feel through the ceiling. While repairing drywall isn't particularly expensive, I really, REALLY hate messing with drywall. Thankfully, my mother thought it was funny.
We laugh now for sure.
I did that too- fell through the attic in my parent’s house into the garage where my brother was working on his car. He just looked up and said, “Well hello there...” and we both laughed so hard.
My story isn't about damaging equipment, but about damaging myself. In the year 2000, I decided one unlucky morning to try to chop an oversized bar of expensive French olive oil soap in half with my biggest kitchen knife. I ended up doing a serious slice part way through my left index finger. Thank goodness, DH (who had just left for work) came home because he forgot something, and found me staggering around the kitchen with my left arm raised to the ceiling and my finger spouting blood. He got a tourniquet on me and drove me down to the ER. I ended up needing hand surgery, which only partly restored functioning for the tendon I'd severed. I still can't fully bend that finger. But the surgery gave me enough of the finger back to type (which, given my line of work, was the only thing I really needed)--and, more importantly, gave me an enhanced appreciation of DH. I continue to remind myself, when I'm tempted to be impatient with him in his decline, that he did all that without a word of reproach.
Aww, this is such a sweet ending to your story; I love that you are able to use the good from the past to help you through your current difficulties with him.
Please don't feel embarrassed. I am very, very accident prone and have a similar glass cooktop, so I clicked over here right away to find out how you broke your glass cooktop so I wouldn't make the same mistake with mine! I don't think I've ever had a problem with lids sticking to my cooktop, but there's a first time for everything. 🙂
I was in a hurry to drop my kid off at school one day and backed out of the garage on autopilot - right into my husband’s car. He was home sick that day, and I forgot his car was there. I also backed out of the garage without closing the hatch on my minivan. Doh!
Oh I did that once too..backed out of garage into my husband's car! His car was heavy, no damage.My smaller sports car had quite a bit.Those were the days. We’re retired now, down to one car, a sturdy SUV.
I've never had a lid do that on my glass stove. So...uhhh....you may be special..
As for my own misadventures in the kitchen...
I haven't had too many. The best one was when I was a kid about 10 years old. I was a lachkey kid and home alone. I went to make popcorn in the microwave and somehow set it on fire. Flaming popcorn...smoking micro. But I had gone thru safety training!! And unloaded an entire fire extinguisher on that puppy!! Which is a lot....and a HUGE mess.
Oh Kristen, I’m so sorry that happened to you! I’m glad you’re going to be able to get a new stove. Sometimes we remodel/replace things when we don’t plan to, like years ago when I found my beagle puppy laying on her back chewing away on a cabinet door. We ended up getting new cabinets as well as new countertops, because the countertops were tile and couldn’t be saved. After the initial shock of having to replace those too, I was happy because the tile was ugly and horrible to clean. Also, we didn’t have our daughter at the time, and we were able to afford the remodel. I made sure to thank our puppy every time someone complemented our new kitchen. 🙂
I've had a set of big Tupoerware sugar and flour containers for ? 20 years . Left my one of the tops on the stove and it burned a huge hole in the "airtight" top. My husband knew how sad I was about it and Franken- glued it for me. When I see it now, it shows me how he shows his love.
I managed to burn down a significant part of our kitchen while making Christmas cookies. They had to be fried, I got hot and opened the window slightly, the wind came up and blew the kitchen curtain into the stove's gas flames...before I knew it, flames all over. My husband, bless his heart, was able to do most of the rebuilding, although we did have to replace the stove and the window frame.
I broke the glass top of my stove in our last rental appartment too, stupidly by dropping a spice container on it (the spice container survived!). I was lucky because our home insurance took 100% of the repair cost (glass damage part of my insurance coverage). I am in Switzerland so not sure if you bave that in the US? It's mandatory for us
The previous owners of our house had planted three pine trees next to our driveway. Five years after we moved in, we were down to two.
When my husband told people that I'd run Tree #3 over with my car, I'd correct him: "No, I knocked the tree *sideways* with my car. I *ran it over* with your Jeep." I hit the same tree not once, but twice!
Thank goodness for the modern technology of backup cameras.
My husband bought a 150$ pot from Pampered Chef only because his mom was the representative selling it. I was against it (we didn't need it), so we almost fought about it and he ended up paying for it himself. About 2 weeks after it arrived, I dropped the glass lid while washing it and had to replace it, of course. The lid ended up costing ME 80$!! So much wasted money for a pot we barely use.....
Oh, I feel your pain. I normally compost everything, but apparently I lost my mind a few months ago.
After a failed fermentation project, I threw sauerkraut down the disposal and clogged the drain. No amount of chemical intervention, pipe snaking, homemade vinegar/baking soda explosives or voodoo-making magic was going to unclog that sucker. So I called the plumber. $250 later, life was wonderful. I suppose any good fermenter here would tell me to just leave the sauerkraut in the kitchen pipe for a few more months, and the resulting gas would probably explode/clear the pipe anyway, problem solved, but I kind of needed the kitchen sink (first world problems).
But wait, there's more. About 4 months later, I wasn't thinking (a frequent problem), and I did it again. Seriously, I did it AGAIN. $150 this time, frequent flyer discount, I guess. Oh man...….
This. This made me lol - thank you and I'm sorry!
Lol. My MIL decided to make 2 dozen deviled eggs for a Labor Day picnic at her house. She put all the egg shells down the garbage disposal. Naturally the disposal got clogged so my husband and his brother spent the day trying to fix it. They succeeded but it was quite entertaining as neither one is super handy. We still joke about it.
I have a lot of oops things I have done over the years. I try to grin and bear it and tell myself it was an accident, nobody lost their birthday.
1. I had burner covers on my electric stove. I put a pot holder on the back one and thought I uncovered and turned on the front one. Alas, no, I had turned on the back one and caught my potholder and the burner cover on fire. Thankfully I was standing right there so not a major catastrophe. Just a very smelly ordeal.
2. The very first week we were in our brand new remodeled kitchen, I had a big gulp sized cup of iced tea. As I was walking by the counter top stove, I tripped and my entire cup of tea and ice flew right into that cooktop. Not a drop on the floor. Sigh! I prayed about it and my neighbor was able to clean up all the gas jets. I was sure I was going to have to buy a new one. Thank you God for good neighbors and answers to prayer.
I once had metal burner covers on my stove, a long time ago---when I had my first kid. My parents were visiting, and the baby was very little, and I was frazzled--I meant to heat up a pot of water on the stove to warm a bottle, and I ended up setting one of the burner covers on fire by turning on the wrong burner! My mom just stood there and flapped her hands, saying "something's WRONG!" while my wonderful husband calmly grabbed some tongs and lifted up the flaming burner cover and put it in the sink and turned the water on it. Whew.
Since November, I've had to replace my washer, then my dryer, then my range. The washer and dryer were just over 10 years old, and we may have attempted repairs on them (we've rice lids of repairs ourselves in the past), but my husband was recovering from surgery, so we just bit the bullet and bought new ones. The range was 35 years old, and had three separate things go wrong, so, we figured we'd gotten our money's with out of it and bought a new one. The dishwasher was replaced a coupe of years ago (the old one was about 20 years old), so all we need now is a refrigerator - LOL!
But yes, the wait for appliances is CRAZY! It's not only the pandemic, because we had a problem getting the washing machine, well before the coronavirus was a thing, but I'm sure it has made availability even worse.
When we were moving out of our first apartment, I was busily dusting and cleaning, and knocked the giant glass globe out of the ceiling fan light.
Onto my head.
My husband came into the room and saw me standing there with stunned tears in my eyes. I said, "It's never done that before."
He is by nature always kind and supportive, but couldn't stop laughing at me. We use that phrase with various accidents even thirty years later. And as the globe didn't break on the carpet, the only harm was to my dignity.
I just re-read what I wrote. The globe bounced off my head. It didn't stick there.
It was heavy and it hurt.
Once I drove into a parking spot at a mall a little too far, and nudged into a small tree, which promptly and flexibly bent to the ground. In my surprise I said "That's not a very sturdy tree", which became a saying at our house (replace "tree" with whatever had broken.) I still haven't lived it down...
These are the kinds of phrases that are so fun in families!
I did not check that our fortress-like antique garage door was fully up and partially lifted up the shark fin radio antenna on top of my car by backing into the edge of the door. This seemingly minor booboo cost $600 to repair because it essentially left a hole in the roof of the car and required specialized body work to repair.
That it happened the same day I broke my glasses (in a separate incident) was just the icing on the cake. In 50 years of wearing glasses, I had last broken them at age 11 when playing softball.
I have set TWO microwave ovens on fire THE SAME EXACT WAY. DUH. I have to say it was 10 years apart from one fire to the next,still... I set what I THOUGHT was a timer, and I had a plastic food cover inside the micro first time..I had set THE OVEN TO COOK by mistake, walked away, then went out on my patio and got involved in a conversation.. oh,my.. glad I had a fire extinguisher right by the stove!!!
10 year later..same thing except I had learned NEVER LEAVE ANYTHING INSIDE THE MICRO. I set the TIMER (I thought!) but again, I set it to cook..and it melted the seal around the door and set a tiny fire and also melted some of the roof of the micro.
I am ordinarily a very competent person. I have come to truly not like microwaves very much.
I now NEVER EVER use the TIMER function on the micro.I DO HAVE TO SAY , my husband did, and it looks like on THIS microwave, if there is nothing inside the oven and you set it to cook,. IT WILL NOT TURN ON! A good thing. But I am not taking any chances!
but I always use the timer on the stovetop or my phone now.
Good luck with new stove! I have to wait two weeks for a new washer but somehow scored a small (7.0 cubic foot) freezer that is being delivered tomorrow!! Costco.com for both!!
That super sucks. I bet this is why stove materials advise no pans with convex bottoms on a glass-top stove. I always did wonder that.
About 10 years back, our youngest was born, and I was a mama to three boys under 5. He has autism, but back then I had no idea, so for the life of me I couldn't understand why he only stopped crying when in my arms. We had just moved up north, away from family and friends, and my husband had to commute for the first year, so I was basically on my own.
One day I took out my favorite pie dish from the oven, with one hand, of course, because my other arm was full of wriggling baby, and the dish fell on my toe and broke. The pain was excruciating... I froze for a second, and then a wave of rage and frustration washed over me. I slammed the (glass) oven door shut with my other foot, which promptly shattered. The door, not my foot...
So, when my husband got home, he found a broken pie dish, a broken oven door and a broken toe that all needed fixing. Mama was a bit broken, too, well, maybe just slightly cracked...
I've never told this story, thanks for the safe space to share it, and the inspirational boost...
Thank you for sharing your story, DeeDee.
I hope you have many many assistances in place if you ever are close to something like that happening again.
Thank you! It was such an embarrassing thing to have happened and I was so ashamed of myself that it never happened again. I mean, I do get angry in a normal way, but never felt that rage again. But it was a deep dark secret until now, thanks to Kristen and this community. It feels good to let it out, I'm grateful.
Your reactions sound very understandable given what what going on all around you that day!! You have no doubt learned a lot from those days!!!!
Aww. I think slamming an oven door sounds understandable in the situation!
You'd think, right? But that mistake cost a lot. So humbling. My grandma used to call mistakes "life's tuition".
Kristen, can I just say that your blog is so grounded and real and simple. Thank you for writing.
When we bought our house it had regular laminate countertops. One day I was trying to make sweet tea, and I poured the boiling water from the pot into the picture. Some of it spilled over onto the countertops and ran into the seam and buckled them up. So I ruined the countertop in that area. We ended up replacing them with granite countertops. My husband jokes that I did it on purpose to get granite countertops. 🙂 Expensive sweet tea....
Oh man, that sucks that you broke your stove. I hope your new one comes in soon. Our old stove had to be replaced about a year ago, it was around 15 years old and had several smaller issues with it that to fix all of them would have cost as much as a new stove. Luckily, we were able to get one the next day. I had considered a glass top stove since they were on sale at the time but worried I would break at some point so I went with the coil style at regular price so I wasn't stressing about how careful I had to be with it, especially with heavier items like a fully loaded canner.
So sorry about your stove!
A week or two ago I had my instant pot setting on the stove top and pushed it back to make room for something else and then went in the other room... came back 15-20 minutes later to billowing white smoke, apparently as I pushed it back it turned the burner on and melted the bottom of my instant pot, so sad about that but thankful it had only been smoke and no fire yet.
Hmmm, I'd be mighty tempted to look for a used upgrade on CL, FB or ND. That way for sure they're in stock!
I have two stories. My spice cabinet was to the left of my glass topped stove. I was reaching for something in the back and knocked over a small bottle of Tabasco. It didn't break the glass, because it landed on the porcelain lip around the edge of the stove and took a big chunk out of it, which means I had to look at the chip for years before it finally got fixed. It never looked the same, boo.
Next, we were cleaning out my MIL's house. Something sticky had spilled all over the bottom shelf. You know, the big sheet of tempered glass that goes on top of the vegetable drawers? I put it in the bathtub to soak. An hour or so later, I carefully washed it shiny clean, then lifted it out and oh, so gently went to set it atop the closed toilet seat lid. For whatever reason, it instantly shattered into a thousand little pieces. All over the bathroom. Ugh, what a mess to clean up. I replaced it with a custom cut sheetof plexiglass, which wasn't cheap, but that fridge is still in our garage, quietly humming away, seven years later.
That happened to me too. It just broke into a million pieces when I set it down. And I was living in an apartment, so I had to buy the actual manufacturer part to replace it.
I think buying a replacement instead of repairing definitely was the way to go in this case! Our stove is on the way out. It wasn't new when we purchased our house 16 years ago, and we've replaced the oven coils and lived with the irreparably broken door and unpredictable oven temps for a few years, but...I think it's time.
Several years ago, I accidentally melted the bottom of my beautiful new $60 slow cooker on one of my still-hot stove burners. I loved it so much that I quickly bought a replacement--AND DID THE EXACT SAME THING TO THE NEW SLOW COOKER a few weeks later. I've now had the next replacement for about 8 years without incident...and still have the other two crocks in case I break the crock on this cooker. And I know the second I get rid of those crocks... 😉
I LOLed at your “nothing to see here!”
It is literally what I thought when I put the lid back on the stove. Ha. I am pretending my stove is not cracked into a million pieces. 😉
Yes, I have a story! We bought a slide-in glass top stove when we remodeled our kitchen. I'm super OCD about keeping the top clean and scratch free. Unfortunately, I made a poor choice of storing pots and pans in the cabinets above the stove, and had one of those pans fall and hit the front corner of the stove making thousands of tiny shards along the edge making it extremely likely that someone would cut themselves. The crack extended across the corner of the stove, so the burner was operable. I secured the broken area with electrical tape, but after months of cleaning around it, the look was beginning to get on my nerves. I didn't need a completely new stove, as the oven was fine and the appliance wasn't that old. A new top, however, was around $600 with installation. We would have had to replace it anyway if we sold the house, and so we replaced the top. Needless to say, I don't store pots and pans above the store any longer. 🙂
Oh man, you have all my sympathies!
It IS really hard to clean around broken glass.
YIKES! I was new too cooking and decided to bake beautiful salmon fillets in glass Pyrex bakeware. It was a little dry so I added water. As I poured the water into the Pyrex, the glass shattered inside the oven. Fortunately, I closed the door just in time. It sounded like an explosion! I had no idea that cold water could shatter the hot glass. Oops! This was definitely a live and learn moment for both of us!
We all do things that we wish we could redo. Glad no one was hurt.
YES I have a story. My parents gifted me a gorgeous recycled glass pitcher, which was perfect for lemonade or sweet tea. The exact first time I tried using it, I assumed (incorrectly) that it was tempered glass. Needless to say, the hot liquid hit the pitcher and it cracked neatly enough to take the bottom clear off the sides. I was so embarassed and heartbroken.
This is a link to a pitcher that looks like mine. $45 (or whatever my parents paid) for a very sad, but interesting garden ornament. https://www.lafuente.com/Mexican-Decor/Hand-Blown-Glassware/13251/39357/
First, shattering the top of my glass top stove has always been a fear of mine. So far I’m safe, but I think about it every time a take down a casserole dish from the cabinet above it.
My big expensive “I can’t believe I broke it” story involves a rascally rabbit and a $1,200.00 bill to replace our built in sump pump system. One of our rabbits is an escape artist and was apparently chewing cords in the basement every time she escaped. And we can’t just fix the wires the whole thing needs replaced. In all fairness, a few of the parts needed replaced anyway but still...big big ouch!
Not my story, but my neighbor hung a wood cabinet over her upstairs toilet for extra storage. While she was on vacation, the cabinet fell off the wall and cracked the toilet bowl. The toilet stayed in the 'fill' mode for over a week. The bathroom was located over their kitchen so by the time they returned from vacation, they needed to replace the entire bathroom, kitchen and family room flooring/molding.
For Mother's Day last year my husband made me a table for our deck using this huge piece of really thick glass that he found when we moved into our house. Sometime during this quarantine, it was nice enough that we wanted to eat outside but apparently not warm enough to set a hot pizza stone on the table because it broke the glass in a nice circular shape. I couldn't believe I had broken that huge table he made me. Thankfully he was able to buy some glue to glue the glass back together and we can use the table again with a little scar on the glass to remind me of what not to do again.
This is a "I cant believe it turned out ok." I put hard boiled eggs on the stove to boil. The phone rings to tell me softball practice is over and your daughter is waiting. I run out to pick her up. When I come home the kitchen smells funny. The pot is red hot but not melted. So I turn off the burner and touch nothing. Then I look up and eggs have hit the ceiling and became projectiles all around the stove area. I was so lucky. A mess of a pot to clean. The stove didn't break. The dents in the ceiling weren't too bad and cleaned up. And most of all the house didn't catch fire.
I'm sorry about the stove but more sorry that you're beating yourself up. Are you by any chance an enneagram 1? (I am and I recognise that party)
My story is I microwaved some gem squash (I did stab them each with a knife - apparently not enough) because they burst, the microwave door opened and it wouldn't work again.
BUT
I went straight to the shops (we have 15-minute free parking), parked, went to choose a new microwave, bought it, paid, had the guy carry to my car, and drove out all within 15 minutes. So that's my superpower 🙂
I think I am a 2w1! The 2, I am positive about; I'm just a little fuzzy on the wing.
I'm glad you got your microwave more promptly than I got my stove. Ha. Still waiting...
Kristen, I am so sorry that your stovetop is ruined. We all have things like that happen. I burned up my microwave by not watching how many minutes were selected for a baked potato. I went to the garage to attend to laundry and came back in to see a fire in the fairly new microwave. Have you ever read the back of your paper towel package? Well, the back of the package states that HEB paper towels and other brands are not to be used inside a microwave!!!!! If that wasn't bad enough, a few days later, a potholder started on fire as it was to close to the stove -- still have scars on the countertop and lived with the stovetop yuk until I could replace it.
A few things:
1) I love the floor pattern in your "original stove" kitchen photo! Did you keep that floor?
2) I am so glad you posted about *how* you broke your glass top because there is a probable chance that Future Me would have done so, had I not seen this warning.
3) I've always wondered what the inside of the glass top stoves look like and now I know!
4) I busted the leg of the couch yesterday while changing the cover. Maybe you will feel comforted that you are not the only one who breaks things doing average activities.
Thank you for posting all that you do!
Haha, you are the first person to ever tell me that my old kitchen floor was good.
Nope, we ripped that linoleum up, sealed the subfloor (house had been smoked in) and put wood down. No regrets!
Glad my post was sort of inadvertently helpful. 🙂
Last October, I was sleeping. My young child wanted to surprise me by making cookies that he had made in cooking class. He thought he remembered the recipe. His adult (should have known better) brother, turned on the oven for him and then left the house. I woke up to my young child telling me the oven was on fire and he didn't know what to do...I leapt out of bed, doused the fire in salt and baking soda, putting it out.
However, alarms began baring on the oven, smoke filled the house, doors and windows were opened...and I have been living without an oven for over a year because I am both frugal and broke. The stove top still mostly worked. The oven was over 20 years old and repairs would cost much more than it was worth, even if I did it myself. I am currently looking at deals on scratch and dent and early Black Friday sale gas ranges...plan to install it myself. I hope to have one in time to cook Thanksgiving dinner for us. (My young child still feels really bad and says "it's my fault we don't have an oven." I tell him it was an accident, not his fault, and if anything, it's my fault that I don't have enough money to buy a new one. He now understand the importance of reading recipes, though! And big brother knows he's not allowed to turn on the oven unless there is an adult available to supervise.)
This literally just happened to me on Sunday. My stove is only 2 years old and I bought the warranty. Trying to find out if it's covered or not. To repair is over $400 and have to be ordered, and if I have to buy a new one in the store, it's over $700. Thanksgiving is next week! What am I gonna do?
Ohhhh, man! I'm so sorry this happened to you too.
Hi Frugal Girl,
I found this today while looking up availability on my cooktop. I did something really stupid to my cooktop. Less than a week before thanksgiving I decided to get on my knees to run LED Strip Lighting wiring under cabinets over my oven and my knee with the force of the weight of my 250 lb body broke the glass on to of the cooktop and it's really bad! The whole family is upset with me and I wish I would of just stayed on my stepladder. I often forget that I'm not a kid anymore and do stupid stuff like this. Oy Veh!
Ohhh, I know that regretful feeling. I felt REALLY stupid after I broke my cooktop.
I did something way worse- I set my range and microwave on fire. I used the gas burner to light a long match for a charcoal grill. I did not notice two empty cereal boxes falling onto the stove top. Ten seconds later the fire alarm is screaming FIRE! FIRE! and I turn around to watch the microwave plastic melting and dropping into the burning cardboard while the plastic on the stove suffered the same fate. I put out the fire just in time to avoid damage to anything but the appliances. I loathed the over the range microwave so hubby joked I was being a bit extreme setting the house on fire to get what I wanted!
I ended up installing a real range hood myself and buying myself an induction range because none of us really wanted a repeat performance. Took months to get it all done but mom setting the house on fire to get her dream kitchen will probably be a tale told for many years. I’m pretty frugal so I did each step of the process myself except for the electrician required.
Ohhh, no! I'm glad you've got it all fixed now, though.
The day after Christmas a heavy dog bone fell from a top cupboard. Sadly, directly above my you guessed it- glass stove top. Shattered. My 7 year old tried to offer up his Christmas money to help. Got a great deal on this GE range a year ago and now spending almost $500 to repair. Most places wanted $600+ and everything is backordered. Very expensive accident and yeah, I moved the dog bones.
Ohhhh, no! I'm so sorry to hear that this happened to you.
I hope the repair is quick so that you are back in business soon.
I just noticed mine is cracked and I must have set something down on it too hard but I don't have any idea what - coffee pot is the most likely culprit, but I know I didn't slam it down or even intentionally put it down hard. $275 for the replacement, BUT they don't make it anymore. Hopefully I can find one somewhere even if it's used, but intact.
2 burners look fine, but it looks terrible and will probably get worse - and is potentially dangerous, but I've seen a number of anecdotes from saying it should be fine - I might wear safety goggles even for the good burners though.
I'll probably end up having to buy a new one - it made it 17 years before this with only a barely noticeable chip on the edge.
I can relate to your frustration.
Well.. you might think it's going to make you feel better that other people did this, but when I read your article, I actually felt worse. LOL
Mostly because my error not only ruined my stove top, but it burnt the enamel off the bottom of my favorite new recent purchase - a beautiful blue Dutch Oven!
Like yours, my range is almost 14 years old. I guess I'm going to have to replace it, but it's going to have to wait until I get back from a trip, which means I have to warn the dogs that are not to use it. Mine is a very slight crack, but I seen in several places already that you should never ever use a broken glass cooktop! (Sorry, but they all had an exclamation point after that. LOL)
Anyway, once I thought it through, it made sense that it is a serious electrocution Hazard because if you have something boil over and it goes into the crack, that would be a very dangerous combination. Electrical, heat, broken glass, water... not something I'm willing to risk.
So looks like I'm gonna be without a cooktop for awhile. Major bummer!!
Oh man, that really stinks. I am so sorry that you have two ruined things instead of just one. Ugh.
I hope you can get yours replaced speedily after your trip!
My parents gave me their brand new stainless steel Samsung stove. They moved and didn't need it and I had and old black stove that just barely worked. They literally just installed it a week ago. Well my husband and son decided to make burgers last night which I hate doing on the stove to begin with. I told them to turn the burners down because they were burning the burgers (he's trying to teach my son) and when they were done with one of the burners I turned it off and removed the pan and there was a major Crack. Multiple cracks on the burner and then one Crack that goes all the way to the left, all the way to the front and one all the way to the back. So now I'm wanting to repair when I have no money but I also can't buy a new one. I could not be more bummed about this knowing how new this is...
Literally feel your pain! This JUST occurred in my household. What kind of repairman did you consider? Don't even know where to begin for finding a quote. Thanks!
I have a local guy that I call when I need appliance help; I'd read reviews for local appliance repair companies near you and call around to see if they can get a new stovetop for your model. If you give them the model number, they should be able to give you a price.
Much sympathy-this is a terrible feeling!
I loved your post..I also just broke my glass stove top and like you debating whether or not it's worth spending almost $500 to repair the glass. My stove is two years old but I don't see spending that much money when a few hundred dollars more I can buy a new oven. I don't know how my glass broke. I just happened to notice a long crack the other day? I hate glass stove tops and really thinking I am going to opt for a gas stove depending on the cost to install a gas line etc....I feel like glass stove tops were the worst idea ever. I can never get it looking spotless no matter how hard I try...I am going to buy the $25 glass repair they sell on amazon and call it a day..Right now it seems like a waste to replace the glass or buy a whole new oven..Everything else works fine..I live alone so I can survive with one less burner anyways..
So much sympathy to you!
Let us know how the glass repair kit works out. Mine was too broken for that, obviously. I really went hard when I broke it. Ha.
Guess how I found your article?! Last Thursday I let my enamel pot get too hot before I added olive and a $25 pot roast to sear. That pop, yep, but it also started a big fire, a fireball shot from stovetop to ceiling. That was very frightening! I also was badly burned. I have blisters on both hands, but there’s a 3inch area between my thumb and index finger that may need a skin graft. Ugh! Meanwhile, no savings, we’re having some major health problems and the savings are gone. Looks like we are borrowing against my husbands 401k for a replacement. What is it about trying times that seem to be a magnet for mishaps? I appreciate you sharing, glad I’m not the only one!
Ohhhh, man! That does sound terrifying.
I am so sorry that you had a similar experience.
Hey - I'm really late to comment on this but I was looking for dinner ideas thst didn't need a stove. I noticed that most of the problems with glasstop stoves are due to overheating somehow... I encourage you to consider the extra $$$ to buy an induction stovetop! The glass doesn't get heated exceptby the contact with the pan. Most induction stovetops have timers - quick to set if you have to leave the room and are easily distracted like me.
So why was I looking for recipes? my house insurance company has decided that my plug-in induction burner is just another hotplate and I'm not allowed to use a hotplate. Stupid people! And stupid me for not finding a different insurance provider!
Good luck to everyone on your stove journey!
don't worry! it's more the quality of the stove top than your actions! That was one of the lowest quality stove tops available and was known for cracking.