We're here today to talk about cooking safety.
So one of the first things when you get ready
is to think about the state that you're in.
You need to be alert and aware if you're going to be cooking in your kitchen.
And that can be.
I was up way too late wrapping presents.
I'm really tired.
I really shouldn't be cooking.
Maybe you've had a cold and you had to take Benadryl
or any other medication that makes you drowsy.
You should be really aware of that and not be cooking.
So we want to look at our cooking area and make sure that there aren't
any combustibles to close.
One of those would be these paper towels or too close to this burner.
If they fall over, they could end up catching fire.
So for me, I would want to put these paper towels away.
I want to make sure my pot holders aren't too close,
and so I don't want them on any cooking surfaces.
I'm going to look at the general area.
I also want while I'm cooking any pots and pans.
We don't want the handles hanging over the stove.
It's easy to catch them if you have a robe with
big sleeves or short or just walking by.
It's really easy to knock this handle,
knock the pan off, knock the oil out.
So always keep your handles pointed in.
The other thing is, we want to keep this area around as a kid free zone.
So kids are going to be really curious about what's happening.
Make sure you have another responsible adult that keeps the kids
at least three feet away from the cooking area.
So while we're cooking, especially if we're cooking with hot oil,
you want to have a lid nearby, have it ready.
And if you do get a grease fire in this pan, never, ever throw water on it.
If we throw water onto a grease fire, it's going to cause it to flare up.
Get up into your cabinets.
It's going to splash out onto your countertops
and it can create a big fire, so never throw water on it.
The best thing to do for a grease fire is to grab your lid
and come at it from the side and slide it over your pan.
Now you have a tight fitting seal and all fires need oxygen to burn.
And when you put this lid on it, you're
depriving that fire of oxygen and it will go out pretty soon.
In the oven you don't have to stand by your pan constantly.
You can leave the room, but you do want to monitor it.
So don't leave the house,
if you have the turkey cooking and run to the store to get one more thing.
Call somebody else and have them stop by the store and bring that.
If you look through your oven door here while things are cooking
and you do see flames inside, do not open this oven door.
Again, fires need oxygen.
If you open the oven door, you're going to introduce more oxygen
and create a bigger fire, so keep the oven door shut.
Turn the oven off and let that fire go out.
Eventually it will, being deprived of oxygen, and just monitor that.
If it gets bigger than call the fire department.
The same thing goes for your microwave.
If you look through this and you see flames inside the microwave.
Don't open the microwave door again.
You're introducing more oxygen and you're going to create a bigger fire.
Keep the door shut.
Turn the microwave off and unplug it.
And again, after a few minutes, that will go out because it's deprived of oxygen.