On Fri, 19 Nov 2010 06:08:39 -0500, "Ed Pawlowski"
> wrote:

>>> Heck, I have a friend whose cast-iron pan failed on him recently.
>>> Nothing wrong with its quality, nor was he overheating it or anything...
>>> it simply spontaneously fractured.
>>
>> Holy COW!
>
>CI can break if stressed. It may have been from something that happened
>last use of five before that. Dropping, thermak shock are the most common
>problems.

Over the years, I've had two pieces -- one new Le Creuset, one old
Griswold -- break in shipping to me. In both cases, the handle and an
attached V-shaped piece of the pan body broke off.

-- Larry