Ask John: Cooking Safety

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the number one and two days of the year for cooking fires

Allie Johnson (@ByAllieJohnson)Home

Cook your holiday feast without incident (save for maybe a disappointingly dry turkey or lumps in the gravy) and you can add one more item to your gratitude list as you sit down around the table: You didn’t set the house on fire.

Thanksgiving is the number one day for home cooking fires in the United States, followed by Christmas, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). On Thanksgiving Day in 2013, 1,550 cooking fires broke out.

Here, John Drengenberg, consumer safety director at UL, answers your holiday cooking safety questions.

To submit a question to John, email editorial@safebee.com with “Ask John” in the subject line.

Dear John: How can I avoid a cooking fire on Thanksgiving or Christmas?

Cooking is a leading cause of home fires — in fact, there are more than 50,000 fires in ovens and ranges every year — and many happen because of unattended cooking. You don’t have to sit there and watch your Christmas cookies bake. But if you do leave the kitchen for a moment — maybe you’re cooking dinner and your guests arrive — take an oven mitt or hot pad with you to remind you to go back into the kitchen. Greet your guests, get them seated, and say: “I’m going to go check on dinner.” They won’t mind because they want to eat. That’s why they came over.

Also keep excess food wrapping like bread wrappers and Styrofoam meat trays away from the gas flame or electric burner on your stove. And don’t cook wearing loose-fitting clothes that could dangle over the stove.

Related: Quiz: Test Your Holiday Safety Smarts

Dear John: How do cooking fires usually happen, and what should I do if a fire does break out in my kitchen?

Continued at:  http://www.safebee.com/home/fire-oven-not-house-holiday