Safety tips
UL recommends the following cooking safety tips:
- Make sure smoke alarms are installed and working. Never disconnect a smoke alarm while cooking.
- Never leave food unattended while cooking.
- Keep children and pets away from the cooking area.
- Wear short, close fitting or tightly rolled sleeves when cooking. Loose clothing can dangle onto burners and catch fire.
- Use thick, dry, flame-resistant potholders when handling lids and pans.
- When removing pot and pan lids, tilt them away from you to protect your face and hands from steam.
- Turn the handles of pots and pans in, but away from hot burners.
- Never use the oven for storage. It's not a closet.
- Never use the oven to heat a room. It's made for food.
- Keep the cooking area clean and clear of anything that can burn.
- In the event of a range-top fire, turn off the burner, put on an oven mitt and smother the flames by carefully sliding a lid onto the pan. Leave the lid in place until the pot or pan is cooled.
- Never use water or flour to extinguish a grease fire and never carry the pan outside - you could spread flames throughout the house.
- Keep a multi-purpose fire extinguisher handy in the event of a grease fire. Baking soda is effective for extinguishing small food fires, but not grease fires.
- In case of an oven fire, immediately turn off the heat and keep the oven door closed.
- Call for help. If you can't extinguish the fire yourself, leave your home, call 9-1-1, and wait in a safe place until emergency personnel arrive.
