We stumbled on a great bunch of kitchen safety tips Leanne Ely who goes by the moniker the Dinner Diva. Take these to heart and read more at SavingDinner.com. Of course, to be extra safe, install the Guardian III G300B which puts out range top fires in seconds.
Be aware of flammables. Stop putting those oven mitts and kitchen towels anywhere near the stove top. You might think you are safe because you don’t leave flammables next to your element, but remember what happened to my friend, when a spark caused a tea towel to catch fire . . . a tea towel that was hanging off the oven door (where many of us often place these things!). Curtains, appliance cords and anything else that can melt or catch fire should have a safe amount of distance between it and the stove.
Dress appropriately. Loose fitting clothing can catch fire. When you’re cooking—especially over propane burners—,keep baggy shirts tucked in or tied back with a well-fitting apron. Avoid wearing long, flowing sleeves when you’re at the stove, too.
Don’t leave the kitchen. If you have something cooking in the kitchen, stay in the room. If you absolutely have to step out of the kitchen while you’re cooking, take the pots and pans off the heat or turn off the boiler. Unattended pots and pans is the most common cause of kitchen fires.
Know your smoke points. Become familiar with the smoking points of the fats and oils you use for cooking. Oils with low smoke points brought to high temperatures can catch fire.
Dispose of grease responsibly. That means not throwing hot grease in the garbage can—it can cause something in the trash can to ignite. Wait until the grease cools and then dispose of it.
Clean grease spills. If you spill grease during cooking and it falls into the drip pan under your stove’s cooking element, turn off the heat and wait for the burner to cool down; then, clean up the spill. Otherwise, the next time you go to cook something, you’ll probably forget about the grease being there and it could easily ignite.
Use appropriate cooking utensils. If you’re cooking something in a deep layer of oil, be sure to use long-handled tongs to allow you to safely put food in and take food out without causing grease to splash out over the sides. In fact, deep fat cooking should only be done in a deep fryer.
Watch for smoke. When your cooking oil starts smoking, that means it’s close to catching fire and you need to carefully remove the pan from the heat source.
In case the worst case scenario happens, be sure to have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen where it’s in easy reach. Never, ever put water on a grease fire because it can make the fire spread.
