The tradition of preparing big holiday feasts is literally as old as our country, but along with it comes the real risk of damage to your home. Each year calls to fire departments spike on Thanksgiving and Christmas, citing cooking mishaps as the biggest culprit.
Below are 10 tips for having a safe holiday cooking season:
- Don’t leave the kitchen for long periods of time. If you need to run out, make sure you can keep an eye on things by using Notion.
- The Consumer Product Safety commission says that turkey fryers are often the source of fires and burns in the home. The fix? Simply don’t have one, and if you must, get a professional to help use it.
- Kids can be a great extra hand for mashing potatoes, but don’t leave them alone in the kitchen for long — stove top knobs are often too irresistible to play with.
- On that note, make sure all pot handles are facing away from walkways. Those, too, are easy to grab and tip over.
- Avoid using extension cords at all times, and unplug appliances when finished. This helps save energy, too.
- Cooking is messy, so make sure you keep your floors clean and dry. After all, catching yourself mid-slip is much harder while holding a five-pound plate of stuffing.
- Tie up all loose clothing around the burners and wear an apron.
- If a fire that you can’t quickly and effectively put out has started, don’t be a hero — get everyone out of the house and call 911. Consider keeping an extinguisher in the kitchen, just in case.
- Minor burn? Run your hand under cold water until the pain has subsided. Do not place ice on it, that can make it worse.
- Save the alcohol for dinner and dessert; a woozy cook is an unsafe cook.
