I'm never making homemade french fries ever again!!

[ChrisH]

Some kitchen safety advice.

The most common type of fire is caused by deep fat frying. 4,000 people are injured in these kinds of fires each year.

Think about what you're doing when you're deep frying. You're heating several pints of oil to extremely high temperatures. The oil can not only cause terrible burns, but it can go up in flames . In fact, it's an ideal fuel for a fire, and difficult to put out.

A few tips:

Never fill the pan more than one third full.
Dry food before putting it in (water can make the oil explode).
Test the temperature with a small piece of bread or potato. If it crisps quickly, the oil is hot enough.
If the oil starts to smoke don't put the food in. Turn off the heat and leave it to cool.
Don't ever leave the pan unattended.
If there are flames, never throw water over the pan. It will explode. See dealing with a fire in the kitchen.

The safest way to deep fry is to use a thermostat-controlled electric deep fat fryer. Its thermostat stops it from ever overheating

COOKING SAFETY: Dealing with a Fire in the Kitchen

The first rule is get out if you're not sure you can handle the fire. If it's spread from its starting point then it's almost certainly already too big.

But if a pan catches fire:
Don't move it (it could give you terrible burns).

Turn off the heat if it's safe to do so - but never lean over the pan to the controls.
Never throw water over it.

Run a cloth under the tap, wring it out carefully, and cover the flaming pan.

If you have a fire blanket, put it over the pan.

Don't use a fire extinguisher on a pan filled with oil.

Leave the pan to cool completely.

If you can't deal with the fire, close the door on the way out and call 999.

If it's an electrical fire:
Pull the plug out or switch off the power at the fusebox. This may stop the fire immediately.

Smother the fire with a fire blanket, or use a dry powder or carbon dioxide extinguisher.

Never use water on it.

Remember!
If in any doubt, get out. Things and buildings can be replaced but people can't.

All from:http://www.firekills.gov.uk/cooking/01.htm


p.s. I have cooking chips (french fries) for many, many years and have not had a problem - not yet anyway!

[caseysmom]

I had my barbeque catch on fire before, I threw flour on to put it out...guess that was a mistake, it made it worse. I sense spoke with a fireman about it (a shameless excuse to talk to one) anyway he said to use baking soda, flour is a combustible. I now keep a huge costco size container of baking soda around for when I barbeque.

It was pretty scary I had flames coming out the sides that were about a foot high

[Laura's Babies]

In my training to be certified, we had to learn about cooking in oil although we never used it is the cafeteria I worked at but I learned a LOT of important stuff about grease that I did not know.

It is a tricky thing if you do not know for SURE what you are doing but perfectly safe if you educate yourself on it. We have a deep fryer on the boat that I use a lot and I preach at the guys that NO ONE is to use it except for ME! Just like king2005 that started this thread, you have seen it done 100 times so you are sure you know how to do it.... seeing it done and KNOWING how it is done two different things... so I forbid them to use that deep fryer. The end result of one deckhand that only thinks he knows what he is doing could kill us all. It is the young one that scare me the most, they are the ones that know everything but only enough to get someone hurt.

My advice is if you have never had proper instructions on deep frying, DON'T TRY it... it could kill you.

[ChrisH]

.....
p.s. I have cooking chips (french fries) for many, many years and have not had a problem - not yet anyway!

Okay, payback time.
Cooking chips today and what happened? I had the oil too hot causing it to boil over.. what a mess! Thankfully no fire or any injury.
I think someone up there just decided to teach me a little lesson for being so smug!

[Husky_mom]

I just LOOOOVEEEE franch fries, and i HATE getting oil burns
but I can´t say i won´t make them again, because i WILL STILL MAKE THEM I LOVE FRENCH FRIES NO MATTER WHAT.

[carole]

Please please everyone handle cooking oil with extreme care, for those who missed my thread about my niece's burns to her foot, from just a small amount of cooking oil, I am going to post the pictures again to let you be fully aware of just how bad this can be, warning they are not for the light stomached, I only wish to do so, as I am really worried one of my PT friends will get hurt, one has to be extremely careful.

My advice is to limit how often you use cooking oil and turn to low fat options like cooking spray, far less chance of an accident happening.

[king2005]

I finally got my Deep Frier back. I've been having french fries for 3 days now hehehe.. I even had fun with it & put in a Pizza Pop. It was yummy, but I wont be doing it again (too unhealthy hehe).. I even went & bought a new bag of potatos & made more fries for dinner hehehe.

I'm so HAPPY now that I can safely make fries. The deep Frier is a special safety one. Its extra deep & had a snapped on lid with a filter (hasn't been one in there for years, its a discontinued modle, so they are sold out).

Now I just have to filter the oil cause some of the potato skins have fallen off & burnt in the oil. SO it looks kinda gross in there, but smells good

[K9karen]

I always had a problem what to do with the oil afterwards. I think I used to refrigerate it but it was too yukky to reuse.I'd rather have McDonalds do the work!

[G535]

If I must eat fried food I'd rather buy it already cooked, burns are horrible and I also have my cat to think about.