Editing Cooking off (section)

{{short description|Premature explosion of ammunition}}
{{Distinguish|cook-off}}
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{{Notability|date=March 2024}}
{{refimprove|date=June 2008}}
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'''Cooking off''' (or '''thermally induced firing''') is unfired weapon [[ammunition]] [[explosion|exploding]] prematurely due to heat in the surrounding environment.<ref>{{OED|to cook off|id=40948}} (verb, search for "to cook off")</ref><ref>{{OED|cook-off|id=250763}} (noun, 2)</ref> The term is used both for detonation of ammunition not loaded into a weapon, and unintended firing of a loaded weapon due to heating.

A '''fast cook-off''' is a cook-off caused by fire. A '''slow cook-off''' is caused by a sustained thermal event less intense than fire.

A cooked-off round may cause a [[sympathetic detonation]] of adjacent rounds. [[Insensitive munitions]] are designed to be less vulnerable to accidental firing induced by external heat.