The Thanksgiving holiday is a time of giving thanks and celebrating with family and friends. Thanksgiving celebrations usually consist of lots of cooking and lots of time spent in the kitchen. The most common type of kitchen fire is caused from grease. It is important to practice safe cooking techniques to avoid cooking-related fires during this holiday season. Follow these steps to prepare your kitchen for the holidays and prevent sudden grease fires.
Keep your Stove Surface Clean
Before embarking on a day full of cooking, make sure your appliances are cleaned and ready. Wipe up any drip spills and burnt food. If you leave spills left on the burner, they can bubble up and burn you or start a fire.
Heat Food & Oil Together
Grease fires can start from oil splashing up out of the pan. To avoid this, don’t overheat your oil or cook the oil to hot temperatures before placing your food in the pan. What happens is, when the food is lowered down into the pan, the grease will splash out of the pan when it’s too hot. This can cause burns on your hands and arms or start fire to the nearby surroundings. To avoid this, put the food in the pan immediately after pouring the oil. Don’t worry, the oil will still heat up in order to cook your food. If the grease is bubbling up, reduce the heat and use safe cooking utensils to lower your food into the pan.
Don’t Walk Away from A Hot Burner
Many grease fires happen when hot cooking pans are left unattended. No matter how long the warmer takes to heat up, do not leave a hot pan unattended.
Watch for Smoke
A common sign of a soon-to-be grease fire is smoke. Grease will smoke heavily before it ignites. If you see smoke coming from your pan, turn down the heat or remove the pan from the burner immediately.
Use Lids or Covers on your Cookware
Luckily, most stores carry grease covers and most cookware comes with lids. If your recipe requires the food to be uncovered, you should definitely use a grease cover. The heat will still escape from the pan, but it prevents grease from splattering or splashing outside the pan.
Keep Flammable Substances Away
Sometimes a little grease splatter is unavoidable. The best option for your safety is to keep flammable objects, such as towels, cookbooks, and food packaging far enough away from the grease splatter radius. These combustible objects could ignite immediately if hot grease touches them.
Keep a Fire Extinguisher Nearby
Class ABC fire extinguishers are equipped to handle grease fires. Having one nearby that’s easily accessible will help to stop a small fire immediately. ABC fire extinguishers break the reaction of a gas fire by covering the entire burning surface in powder. It is important to read the directions on your fire extinguisher to make sure you know what type of fire the extinguishing agent is equipped to handle.
Emergency Fire Restoration
If a fire happens in your kitchen, you should immediately call 9-1-1 and notify the emergency responders of the fire. Following the fire, ServiceMaster by Rice can provide fire restoration and repair services for your property. Contact our specialists today and we will restore your property to its original pre-fire condition.
