To stop home fires that could lead to expensive insurance claims or accidents for homeowners, check out these tips for cooking safety, researched by home cleaning services Bethlehem, PA:
Watch what you heat.When you are frying, grilling or broiling food, stay in the kitchen.
Check it occasionally if you are simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food. Stay at home when preparing food, and use a timer as a reminder.
Holding stuff away from a heat source that can catch fire.
Keep oven mitts away from your stovetop, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels, and curtains.
Keep the oven, burners, and stovetop clean. Clean the spilled food and grease from the stovetop and the burners.
When cooking, wear brief, close-fitting, or tightly rolled sleeves. If it comes in contact with a gas flame or electric burner, loose clothing can dangle on stove burners and catch fire.
Keep kids and pets away from the kitchen area.
Have at least three feet of "kid-free zone" around the stove and places where hot food or drink is cooked or taken away.
When you are cooking, drinking a hot beverage, or carrying hot foods or liquids, never keep an infant.
To prevent them from knocking items on the stove, keep pets away from cooking surfaces and surrounding counter tops. According to the American Burn Association, young children suffer from between 9%-20% of cooking-related burns when removing hot food/liquids from microwave ovens.
Prevent fires in home kitchens.
To prevent burns from spattering grease, heat cooking oil slowly.
When you are done using it, make sure to turn the stove or oven off.
To heat your house, never use the stove or oven.
Before you go to bed or leave the house, double-check the kitchen. Be sure to power off all appliances.
Be Ready for a Fire.
Keep a nearby fire extinguisher. Never use water to extinguish a fire with grease. Water and grease are a hazardous mixture that can cause splattering of hot grease.
Turn off the stove or burner while you are cooking and a fire starts and put a lid on the pan to stop it.
Make sure it fits with your smoke detector. A functioning smoke detector decreases the risk of being trapped in a fire dramatically.
Prepare and practice an escape plan twice a year. Have a popular meeting place to gather everyone. Make sure that at least two (2) escape routes from their bedrooms are known to everyone in your family.