Holiday Kitchen Safety Tips

12/4/2017 (Permalink)

December is a time when family and friends gather together to celebrate the glorious time of year.   During this time of year, we are more likely to spend a lot of our time in the kitchen cooking a gourmet family feast or baking delicious cookies.  However, it is extremely important to keep safety at the top of your mind.  If you are not properly prepared in the kitchen, it may lead to be a recipe for disaster.  Kitchen fires around Christmas time is the second most frequently reported accidents right behind Thanksgiving.  To help have a safe and joyous holiday season, follow these tips to help keep your home safe.

• Stay in the kitchen while the food is cooking, Most kitchen fires occur because food is left unattended. 
• Keep the cooking range free of clutter.  Even though you may have dishes to prepare, do not overload a cook top with too many pots and pans.  Trying to cook all your dishes at once could cause grease to accidentally spill onto a range top and cause a fire. 
• Always keep a potholder, oven mitt and lid handy while cooking. If a small fire starts in a pan on the stove, put on a flame-resistant oven mitt and smother the flames by carefully sliding the lid over the pan.  Turn off the burner.  Don't remove the lid until the food has cooled. 
• When removing lids on hot pans, tilt them away from you to protect your face and hands from steam.  If there is an oven fire, turn off the heat and keep the door closed to prevent flames from burning your or your clothes.
• Do not wear loose fitting clothing when cooking. Long open sleeves could ignite and catch fire from a gas flame or a hot burner. 
• Keep smoke alarms connected while cooking.  Make sure smoke alarms are installed and working. 
• Unplug small appliances that aren't in use.  Not only will you save the energy, but you will also avoid potential dangers if they were to be turned on accidentally. 
• Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen in case of emergency and know how to use it.  Make sure the fire extinguisher is UL listed and rated for grease and electrical fires. 

Disasters are never planned.  But SERVPRO of Northeast San Antonio is always prepared and here to help.  When disaster strikes, give our trained professionals a call (210) 653-4651!