Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time
of big, hectic-but-happy gatherings. Of course, as “Black Friday”
morphs into “Gray Thursday,” the merchandising and advertising
people are trying their best to have families enjoy Thanksgiving
dinner at the mall food court while they do their shopping for the
upcoming “Main Event.” But, until that happens, Thanksgiving is
still about family, friends, and food. And when there's a lot of
cooking going on, there's an increased danger of disaster. And I
don't just mean a dry turkey.
Statistically, Thanksgiving Day
provides as much employment for firefighters as the following day
does for retail clerks. To pick a city at random, Birmingham, Alabama
averages thirty-eight cooking fires over the Thanksgiving holiday
weekend every year.
So the national fire safety folks have
once again issued their annual reminder. It begins, “For cooking
that the involves roasting, baking, simmering or boiling of food,
someone should always be home. Don’t leave your home while food is
cooking.”
You know, I'm one of those paranoid
idiots who won't leave the house while the washer or dryer are
running. I unplug my toaster when I'm not using it and I'm even a
little itchy about crock pots. If I thought it were practical, I
would probably just throw the main breaker when I walk out the door.
I can't imagine anybody actually leaving the house while the stove is
on. But it happens.
The next tip says, “Whenever you are
broiling, grilling or frying food, someone should stay in the
kitchen. Turn the stove off if you have to leave this type of cooking
unattended.”
See my comment in the previous
paragraph. An unattended broiler, grill, or fryer can go from
incinerating your food to incinerating your house in about two
seconds flat. And yet I've read horror stories about people wandering
off and taking a nap only to wake to the sounds of fire engines. Or
to not wake at all. Back in Birmingham, statistics there show that
ovens and fryers account for twenty percent of cooking fires and that
eighty-three percent of frying fires begin within the first fifteen
minutes of cooking.
Tip number three advises, “If a pot
on the stove catches on fire, put a lid on it and turn the burner
off, this should smother the fire. Leave the pan covered until it
cools off.”
Salt, baking soda, or a good old Type
ABC fire extinguisher like the one that sits one foot to the left of
my stove are also good for small cooking fires, but the lid method is
the quickest way to deprive a fire of the oxygen it needs. And don't
try to peek under the lid two seconds after you put it on. You would
be astonished by how quickly a fire can flare back up, costing you at
least your eyebrows, if not your whole kitchen. Stoves and ranges get
credit for sixty-seven percent of Birmingham's cooking fires.
The list continues, “If food in the
oven or microwave catches on fire, keep the door closed and turn the
appliance off if it is safe to do so. If you choose to fight the
fire, make sure that others are evacuating and calling 9-1-1 for
assistance.”
This one is probably an abundance of
caution, at least as far as evacuating and calling for help goes.
Most ovens and microwaves will contain a fire that starts within.
That whole lack of oxygen thing again. This presupposes, of course,
that you're not stupid enough to open the door and let the fire out
into the nice, oxygen-filled kitchen. That's when
you need to evacuate and call 9-1-1. A little grease fire you can
usually knock down yourself. When it's burning the curtains and
climbing the walls, you need help.
Next tip, “Keep electrical cords for
small appliances such as coffee makers, mixers, hot plates and
electric knives from dangling off of the counter so they do not get
pulled or tripped over, knocking the appliance to the floor.”
Okay. Your mixer, your coffee maker,
and your electric knife are not going to set the house on fire if you
knock them on the floor. The hot plate is iffy. A deep-fryer might,
which is why mine has a magnetic breakaway cord that will detach from
the body of the unit when subjected to the least little bit of
pressure. Still, this one is more of a general safety tip than a fire
prevention issue.
We are cautioned, “Keep pot handles
turned inward to avoid hitting them and knocking the pot to the
floor.”
Again, a fairly low fire risk, but a
pretty decent burn risk. Did I ever tell you about the time Aunt Rose
violated this tip? When we were five or six years old, my cousin was
about an inch taller than me. That inch made a big difference as we
tore full-speed through the kitchen one day. The top of my head
cleared the pot handle sticking out; his didn't. Fortunately, nobody
got hurt. Nobody got supper, either. It was an awful mess. And even
though the cast-iron handle made a small impression on my cousin's
head, the incident made a big impression on me. In the half-century
plus that has elapsed, I have never left
a pot handle sticking out.
The list goes on to say, “Keep items
that can burn such as towels, pot holders and wooden utensils away
from the stovetop.”
Other than grease fires, this is the
biggest cause of most kitchen conflagrations. It's so easy to
carelessly toss a dish towel just a l-e-e-e-tle to close the stovetop
and walk away to do something else. When you turn back around, your
kitchen's on fire.
It is further suggested, “To avoid
having your clothes catch on fire, don’t wear loose or flowing
clothing if you’ll be cooking. Remember if your clothes do catch on
fire you should stop, drop and roll, as this will smother the fire.”
Nothing brightens the holidays like
rolling on the floor in flames and then being transported to the
hospital with second and third-degree burns. But, gee, that new
blouse with the big, puffy long sleeves is just so festive and
pretty! In Birmingham, one out of every five fires resulting from
clothing igniting results in death. There's a reason cooks dress like
they do. Part of the reason is we really hate catching on fire. Oh,
losing some arm hair now and then is one thing, but going up like a
Roman candle is something else entirely. When it comes to such
matters, function beats fashion every time. Now, I'm not suggesting
you cook your Stovetop Stuffing geared up in a close-fitting
fireproof suit, but it might be a good idea to wear something
practical to cook the meal
and then change into something festive and pretty to serve and enjoy
it.
A few
other safety tips to consider: Clean food and grease off cooktops and
out of ovens before you get started. No sense in adding an additional
source of fuel in case of an accident.
Use a
timer – a good, LOUD one – to remind you that things are cooking
and when they should be attended to.
Establish
a three-foot “kid-free zone” around your stove. Ask Aunt Rose
about that one. Kids helping in the kitchen is one thing; kids
playing in the kitchen
is something else entirely. Same thing applies to pets. They really
shouldn't be in the kitchen to begin with, but especially not when
you're bustling around with hot pots and pans and full dishes and
platters. Tripping over the dog while transporting the turkey to the
table ruins Thanksgiving for everybody – except, perhaps, for the
dog. And the cat would likely object strenuously to being doused in
hot gravy.
Finally,
in addition to the aforementioned fire extinguisher, have working
smoke detectors throughout your house. And don't yank the batteries
when the alarm goes off as you're in the middle of preparing
something. The detector is only doing its job. Turn on a fan or move
the unit farther from the preparation area. Don't disable it. You
might not live to regret it.
Best
wishes for a happy – and safe – Thanksgiving
holiday.
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The View from My Kitchen
Benvenuti! I hope you enjoy il panorama dalla mia cucina Italiana -- "the view from my Italian kitchen,"-- where I indulge my passion for Italian food and cooking. From here, I share some thoughts and ideas on food, as well as recipes and restaurant reviews, notes on travel, a few garnishes from a lifetime in the entertainment industry, and an occasional rant on life in general..
You can help by becoming a follower. I'd really like to know who you are and what your thoughts are on what I'm doing. Every great leader needs followers and if I am ever to achieve my goal of becoming the next great leader of the Italian culinary world :-) I need followers!
Grazie mille!
You can help by becoming a follower. I'd really like to know who you are and what your thoughts are on what I'm doing. Every great leader needs followers and if I am ever to achieve my goal of becoming the next great leader of the Italian culinary world :-) I need followers!
Grazie mille!
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