> Out of the frying pan into the fire seems to sum
> up human history, but one still wants to get out of the
> frying pan, no?
Frying pans, especially cast-iron ones, mediate, conduct, and distribute heat really well, ensuring a consistent, even cooking. The intensity of the flames is lessened, but also rationalized and equalized. Fire on the other hand chars the stuff really fast, but it exists in a more fragmented way. It can really burn in ways that frying pans can't, but it also contains gaps and, depending on the arrangement of the tinder, zones where it can't reach.