Thanksgiving Cooking Safety

11/10/2020 (Permalink)

Each November, families across the country gather to celebrate Thanksgiving by preparing a delicious feast. Without practicing these very important cooking safety habits, this fun holiday can quickly cause a lot of damage and become very hazardous. The National Fire Protection Association has named cooking as the main cause for home fires and injuries with Thanksgiving Day as the highest. In the chaos of preparing such a large dinner, distractions can often cause accidents like these to occur. Keep the following safe habits in mind as you’re preparing Thanksgiving dinner this year.

In preparation for Thanksgiving Day, install a smoke detector in the kitchen or, if you already have one, be sure to use the test function to ensure it is still working properly and regularly replace batteries. You can also purchase a fire extinguisher to keep in the kitchen and, if you’ve owned the same fire extinguisher for many years, check to make sure that it is not expired. If you have kids in your household (or kids that will be at your home on the day of cooking) it is a good idea to explain to the children in advance that they are to stay out of the kitchen (or at least three feet away from the stove) to prevent any burn accidents. Communicating this in advance is always best since on Thanksgiving Day they will likely be excited, and distracted, by the company.

When it comes to cooking, be sure that you are not wearing any loose clothing or dangling sleeves that can easily catch fire. Also be sure that cooking food is never left unattended. It only takes a few minutes for a small kitchen fire to grow out of control. If you must step away, turn off the stove to prevent any accidents. Finally, if you plan on deep-drying your turkey dinner, be sure to do this outside and not in your garage. Deep-frying is often very messy and can easily catch nearby things in a garage on fire. 

SERVPRO of Santee & Lakeside is always here to help with fire & smoke damage, but this is often quite costly and inconvenient. Follow these safe cooking habits to prevent fire damage as much as possible