Don't try this at home, a/k/a I can't Believe I did that!

Every so often we all do something incredibly stupid.  Apparently, it was my turn!  Whole chickens were on sale at the local grocery store for just $3.95 each (not per pound), and they weren't even expired or nearing their expiration date!  (I won't buy chicken past it's date at this particular store because one time when we did, the pad underneath that soaks up all the raw juices had mold on it -- YUCK!)  I wanted to make a chicken pot pie for dinner, so this was perfect.  I try to save my canned chicken for weeknights, or when we're in a time crunch, so I didn't want to use that.  They had three chickens left, so I bought all three, figuring I would roast them all at once and could use one for the pot pie and de-bone and shred the two others and freeze it.   

I decided to use the beer can chicken roasters that we have as one holds two chickens and one holds one chicken so I could cook all three at once.  I oiled them up with olive oil and then put some magic spices on them (each chicken a little different flavor profile) and put them in the oven to roast.   About 20 minutes into cooking, smoke was coming out the top of the oven, so I turned the fan on and checked on the chickens.  Well, silly me, I forgot to put any water in the bottom of the pans (you can see where this is going, can't you?!).  

The pan that held two chickens was metal, so no big deal, I poured hot tap water into that pan.  I was about to pour some into the other pan, which was a glass 13x9 pan.  I stopped, realizing that I'd shatter the pan if I did that, so I put my 4 cup measuring cup in the microwave and boiled the water.   When it was done, I started to pour it into the pan and you guessed it, it when KABLOOM!!!!   Oh, CRAP!  CRAP, CRAP!!!!    

I just stood there for a couple seconds, because I couldn't believe that actually happened!  I mean, I BOILED the freakin' water!!  

Cleaning the oven was NOT what I had planned on doing on a Sunday afternoon, but, you know the saying about the best laid plans!   

After taking the chickens out and cleaning up some of the glass that made it onto the floor, I ended up with this this lovely little pile of glass in the bottom of the oven.  

When I looked into the vents on the left side of the stove, I saw that there was glass in there, as well.  My instruction book didn't have any information in it about taking the bottom off, as I'm sure they don't want people messing around with the heating element, or whatever it's called down there, as this is a gas oven.  BUT, as I was cleaning, I saw that there were two little screws in the back that seemed to be the only thing holding that pan on there.  So, off with them!   Of course, I had to remove the door, first, so we could get back there.  Good thing there's instructions for removing the door in the manual!    Greg's removing those two screws for me here.  

I'm glad I saw the glass in there, because it was not just a little bit!  YIKES!   So, I got that all cleaned up, put the bottom pan back on and screwed it in and put the door back on and thought I was all done.  Until I looked in the sink, and realized I forgot to put a gasket back on.  UGH!  

So, back off with the door.  Scrubbed the gasket and put it on and put the door back on again, and it was all done.   It took about two hours to go from exploding pan to all cleaned up!   And yes, I still need to clean my oven, which I will do after this weekend!  

For those that are wondering, the pan was like the safety glass on your vehicle, and it was pretty much all in bigger chunks that were rounded, rather than any actual shards of glass.  When it exploded, it didn't actually "blow up" it rather just all "dropped," so after very carefully taking a lot of time inspecting the chicken, yes, we are living dangerously as we decided we were too cheap (OK, maybe too stupid), to throw away $12 worth of chicken!  So, if I suddenly post from the hospital with internal bleeding, you know why!  LOL  I know, I know, it's not funny, but hey, after everything we've been through with Greg's health, it would be rather ironic that we end up in the hospital because of MY cooking!  

So, a word to the wise.  Even BOILING water will cause a pan to shatter when it's hot!  Learn from my stupid mistake.  And don't worry, I won't use this chicken for any church or other potlucks!  Ha, Ha, Ha!  

Hope everyone had a great Sunday!  Oh, and my pot pie turned out excellent!  

Julie