The handle on a cast iron pan is a crucial bit of UI. But once that pan gets hot, the handle is a liability.

In the 1980s, French cookware brand Cristel realized that handles are only useful some of the time. Mainly, when you need to move the cookware, or jiggle the pan. The rest of the time they're either a liability or in the way. So company boss Paul Dodane spent a year and a half refining a design for a removable handle.

This had multiple advantages:

One, when not in use, you could pop the handles off of your cookware and nest them for storage, saving a ton of space.

Two, you could place a pot or pan in the oven (or refrigerator) and remove the handle, allowing them to fit more easily.

Three, you could then pop the handle back on—no oven mitt or potholder required—to remove the cookware from the oven.

Four, you could place the cookware directly onto a trivet and pop the handle off, allowing the cookware to become the serving dish for the table.

And five, removing the handle made it easier to fit the cookware into the sink or dishwasher come clean-up time.

Cristel's system was a hit. Today the company offers multiple lines of cookware and around 30 different handles, long, short, stainless steel, wood-clad, plastic-clad, silicone-clad in multiple colors.

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