"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...

Heat test on "engineered" laminate flooring.

1. I took a metal pot and got some water vigorously boiling therein. I set
the pot on a 6x6-inch scrap of the target laminate and let it cool. No
visible change to the laminate.
2. Hmmm. I get a cast-iron skillet, put a layer of vegetable oil in it and
heated it up until the oil started to smoke. Turned off the gas and let
the thing sit for one minute. Then put the skillet on the scrap. Again, no
visible change to the laminate.
3. Okay, then. Next I get a pair of tongs and hold the laminate, good side
down, in the friggin' gas flame! At about ten seconds, the laminate starts
to char.

I conclude that, even if there's a trivet deficiency - and a distracted
cook - in the kitchen, I should probably be okay. e

Try to find trivets that 'stand off' from the surfaca at least a half inch
or so; that is to say that they have 'feet' to raise them from the surface
rather than some types I've seen that lay flat. My mother once used a
ceramic trivet like a piece of tile and the heat of a frying pan was
transferred to the Formica and scorched it pretty well.