Take these steps to prevent grease fires in your kitchen.
Cooking fires are some of the most common types of house fires. Grease fires are particularly worrisome because they can flare up very suddenly. Grease fires typically begin when cooking oil overheats and ignites. While this sounds scary, there are steps that you can take to prevent grease fires from breaking out. Here are some of the precautions that you should take.
Never Leave Your Kitchen Unattended
When you are heating up oil to cook or deep fry, then you should never leave the pan unattended. You should watch to make sure that the oil isn’t starting to smoke. If you want to go the extra mile, then you should use a thermometer to monitor your oil as it heats. If the oil temperature goes too high, you should reduce your flame or carefully remove the pan from the stove altogether.
Select the Right Oil for the Job
Certain types of cooking oil handle high heats better than others. For instance, refined peanut, corn, sunflower, and canola oils have higher smoke points and, therefore, can be heated to higher temperatures before smoke and fire break out. If you need to sear or deep fry foods, then using these durable oils will reduce your chances of grease fires. If you are using butter, flax oil, coconut oil, or unrefined oils, then you need to watch things more closely because these types of oils have lower smoking points.
Be Careful When Cooking
Finally, when you are adding food to hot oil, you need to do so gently and carefully to avoid oil splatter. When oil splatters, there’s a chance that it can ignite after coming into contact with your cooking flame or coil. Additionally, you should avoid adding water or damp foods to hot oil as the water will react with the oil and cause a giant splatter or even an explosion.
These are some of the things that you can do to prevent grease fires in your kitchen. Want another way to protect your home? Then make sure you have the right homeowners insurance protections in place. For assistance with all your home coverage needs, contact the experts at Scautub Agency in Scotia, New York today.