Did you know that 63% of all accidental house fires in 2013/14 started in the kitchen? And most of these fires were actually due to cooking appliances. When I first started to have a look at the statistics, I would have never thought that washing machines are the main cause of fires in our kitchens. Washing machines! Machines we have so little control over...
If we really think about our kitchens in more depth, though...how many of us have at least once left a pan unattended for a certain length of time? I know I have done it in the past. I can even remember leaving boiling water on the stove while I went across the street to the cafe to get some bread or even milk that I forgot to buy the day before. But aren’t these actions actually putting our lives at risk? We want to be a part of a society where things happen at the speed of light, and for this reason we are becoming lazy and self-indulgent. In short, we don’t like to waste time. And so we leave our pans unattended because we are constantly in a hurry: to get showered, dressed, to read the news on our smartphone, etc.
Chip pans are the worst kind to leave unattended because hot oil can catch fire very easily. In order to avoid accidents, I would recommend you used a thermostat-controlled deep-fat-fryer, which will make sure the fat doesn’t get too hot. You should also never throw water on a chip pan fire, or cook after drinking alcohol. When it comes to smoke alarms, we should get those tested weekly.
It may sound too much to do, but we should all adopt these practices for a safer cooking environment.
