No, not unless it's labeled oven-safe. Plastic handles start softening around 350°F (177°C), well below normal baking temperatures.
People run into this the moment a stovetop recipe says to finish a dish in the oven and the pan in front of them has a black or red plastic grip. The pan itself might be fully metal and fine at high heat, but the handle is a separate material with its own limits.
Manufacturers rate handles independently from the cooking surface, and that rating is usually stamped somewhere you have to hunt for: the underside of the pan, a sticker, or the original box.
Flip the pan over. Oven-safe cookware usually stamps a maximum temperature near the handle or on the base, something like "oven safe to 350°F" or "450°F." No stamp and no manual usually means the manufacturer never tested the handle for oven use, so treat that as a no rather than assuming it will be fine.
Most cookware handles use nylon, phenolic resin, or a rubberized coating. Nylon starts to soften around 350°F (177°C) and can warp, bubble, or discolor well before the metal pan itself is stressed at all. Phenolic resin handles, the dark, hard plastic often seen on older cast iron and some professional-style skillets, hold up better, often to 350-450°F, but they're the exception, not the rule. Once plastic starts breaking down you get smoke, an acrid smell, and sometimes melted plastic dripping onto the oven floor or the heating element itself.
A cast iron or stainless pan can easily handle 500°F or more, but that number means nothing for the handle bolted onto it. Manufacturers test and rate the two separately, and the handle is almost always the weaker link. Even labeled oven-safe handles usually carry a lower ceiling than the metal body, so check both numbers, not just one. Broiling adds another layer of risk: broiler elements run hotter and sit closer to the food than a standard bake setting, so a handle that survives 375°F baking might not survive a few minutes under direct broiler heat.
Even a handle rated for oven use can degrade faster with frequent high-heat trips. Small amounts of warping or discoloration accumulate over months of use, and that can loosen the screws or rivets holding the handle to the pan. Check periodically that the handle is still firmly attached, especially if you use the pan in the oven often.
If the handle isn't rated, or you can't find the rating, transfer the food to a baking dish, cast iron skillet, or any pan with an all-metal handle before it goes in. It takes thirty seconds and avoids ruining both the pan and dinner.
Treat a plastic handle as a question mark until you've confirmed the rating in writing. When there's no label, move the food to an all-metal pan instead of guessing.
Most nylon or rubberized handles are rated up to about 350°F (177°C), though some phenolic handles reach 450°F. The exact number is printed on the pan or in the manual, so never assume.
It can. Many plastic and rubber handles start softening or warping well before 400°F (204°C) unless specifically rated for that heat, so check the label before broiling or roasting with the pan uncovered.
Only if it's designed to detach, like some removable-handle skillet sets. Prying off a fixed handle can crack the pan or leave sharp mounting hardware exposed.
No. Silicone handles typically tolerate higher heat, often 400-500°F, but a silicone coating isn't the same as solid silicone, so check the specific rating rather than assuming it's heat-proof.