Is it safe to use a stainless steel pot if I boiled water until it was dry and left it on the burner for a while?

It should be fine. If your roommate is really that worried, though, put one cup of water and one cup of vinegar into the pot, boil the mixture for about 15 minutes, then wash the pot thoroughly (optional: scrub with baking soda first). This is really quite unnecessary if there isn’t any residue, but it will get rid of anything you may have overlooked.

I was not asking for cleaning advice. Just on what possible reason there would be of why it would be “Broken”.

I realize that, which is why I said it should be fine. There’s no reason it would be broken, so the cleaning advice was offered as a way of mollifying your roommate (just in case he won’t accept the assurances of a random stranger from the internet).

@SavoirFaire But random strangers on the internet are so trustworthy!

Most steels are pretty resistant to that sort of treatment. It won’t crack the way, say aluminum will very easily, especially if you just let it air-cool instead of trying to quench it with water.

Take it from an internet stranger who happens to work in a foundry and deal with various metals at temperatures ranging from -110F to +2800F, most often steel items that are left for hours in ovens that are around 1750F (heat treated). Your burners are not that hot, and the steel wouldn’t be hurt if they were.

Safe to use. Safer to use once cool!

Don’t worry a thing about it. Perfectly safe.

Sounds like an old wives tale to me. The pot was probably heated to extremely high temperatures to make it, why would it be damaged and unusable now?

If it isn’t leaking, it isn’t broken.

The one possible cause for concern is that the bottom of the pan may have deformed so that it’s no longer flat. Stainless steel is a poor heat conductor, so heat builds up in concentrated spots, causing them to expand more than the surrounding areas. That can cause the metal to warp permanently.

That’s more a concern with electric stovetops, since even contact with the element is crucial. But in any case, it’s not a safety issue. It’ll just compromise the cooking efficiency of the pan

@Satchafunkilus- I’m curious… is your roommate asking you to replace the pot because of potential damage to its integrity, and you are seeking arguments to not replace it? Or is the issue truly about safety?

The manufacturer of the pan should have information on their web site about care and handling and safe temperature ranges.

I have an embarrassing number of stainless steel sauce pans that are discolored due to my having boiled the contents dry. The rainbow hues are initially unsettling but do not interfere with the pot’s integrity.

They cook just as well as they did, pre- accident.

You might be thinking of Teflon-coated cookware. If you heat them to 500F, they will release Fluorine gas (BAD). Stainless and aluminum don’t release anything when overheated. In fact, their protective oxide layers just get thicker.

I fell asleep while boiling water in a Teflon coated pan. The coating had turned blue and I had difficulty breathing for about a week. I was in a studio apartment and ten feet from the stove in a small space.

But for the pan in question it should be fine and objections from the roommate are probably to get you to buy them new stuff.

If the pan is extremely discolored and was owned by the roommate, maybe the OP should buy a new pan.