My butler/pan situation was most likely a stuck/frozen stove (not faulty as in "call the repairman" faulty) - I eventually found a pan in it which I could not remove. I had to delete the whole stove in "moveobjects on" and replace it. I expect the butler kept trying to bake/cook and would encounter a stove in use, set down the pan, and try all over again. What confuses me is why all this went on autonomously for so long - I know the Sims have outside lives when not in play, but I was under the impression the household pretty much went into stasis (except for when the active Sim visited).