Beware hot frying pans

[Littlepeahead]

You can buy detectors that have a snooze button so if it's hard to place it where the toaster or shower won't set it off you can just tap the button and it resets after 20 minutes.

My old lodger managed to set fire to the grill pan, break the toilet and knock the doorbell casing off the wall, break 8 wine glasses and knock a vase of water down the back the TV all in a period of 2 weeks. She was the most accident prone clumsy woman I'd ever met but I only found that out after she'd moved in!

[anna]

Smoke alarms are one thing people are right, get them and fit them but, in the case you are talking about it wouldnt have helped.

Get a fire blanket for the kitchen.

When I had to do fire training one of the things they taught us, was that a wet tea towel covering a pan fire isnt really big enough. You need the size of the fire blanket to be able to wrap around your own hands and, shield your body when you cover the flames, so that you dont end up with horrid burns to your hands.

Originally Posted by anna

Smoke alarms are one thing people are right, get them and fit them but, in the case you are talking about it wouldnt have helped.

Get a fire blanket for the kitchen.

When I had to do fire training one of the things they taught us, was that a wet tea towel covering a pan fire isnt really big enough. You need the size of the fire blanket to be able to wrap around your own hands and, shield your body when you cover the flames, so that you dont end up with horrid burns to your hands.

Fire blankets are good but the majority of people who haven't had training don't know how to use them and end up with more injuries. The stats can be quitr frightening.
All our housing stock are getting hard wired alarms just now and the number of residents that are complaining is horrendous. They always think it won't affect them
Smoke alarms and then get out and stay out that what the boys in blue are paid for

[Viney]

Originally Posted by anna

Smoke alarms are one thing people are right, get them and fit them but, in the case you are talking about it wouldnt have helped.

Get a fire blanket for the kitchen.

When I had to do fire training one of the things they taught us, was that a wet tea towel covering a pan fire isnt really big enough. You need the size of the fire blanket to be able to wrap around your own hands and, shield your body when you cover the flames, so that you dont end up with horrid burns to your hands.

Better idea, dont let the wife cook! Get take out. Somone else kitchen and fire alarms

[johnnyrod]

Originally Posted by gruntygiggles

Ed, tell Anne to use veg or groundnut oil next time....can take much higher temps. Olive oil will always just burn if the temp is too high.

True but it was probably because olive oil is generally unrefined (because that's why you buy it) so might have a bit more moisture in it. By the sounds of it flashing as fast as that, it would be boiling water blasting oil droplets out of the pan that got things going. If you really wanna know!

Glad you're both okay!

Ed - you could always invite us up for the weekend so Mike can do a fire safety check for you
Mind you, now he's an investigator he does spend more time setting fire to things than putting things out.

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by johnnyrod

True but it was probably because olive oil is generally unrefined (because that's why you buy it) so might have a bit more moisture in it. By the sounds of it flashing as fast as that, it would be boiling water blasting oil droplets out of the pan that got things going. If you really wanna know!

Glad you're both okay!

For that to happen, there would need to be water in oil and there isn't, but I see what you are saying.

What would have happened (i think) is essentially the temperature of the pan would have acted like a flame to petrol. All oils have a smoking point. A point at which a temperature is reached where it will soon catch fire and this is due to the compounds in the oil that can burn. The more refined an oil, generally speaking, the less there is to burn.

So, with an unrefined or partly unrefined olive oil (depending on the grade), hitting a pan that has been sitting on a very high heat...higher than that oils smoking point, it will literally just ignite.

I have a whole section on it in one of my books somewhere, but not necessarily needed here....lol. It's just a thread.

But this is why I always oil the food not the pan when I need to cook at very high temps. The cool temperature of the food, combined with the relatively tiny amount of oil disperses the heat sufficiently on hitting the pan that the temperature is not enough and the fuel (oil) is not ennough to cause a fire.

Browning meats is another story....lol.

[johnnyrod]

Refined oil has to be dried afterwards, if not then it contains around 0.3% water dissolved in it. They might dry the oil from the presses but it's not usual. It's only a suggestion as to the cause. I'm guessing that if the pan is hot and the (olive) oil in it hasn't already started to smoke, it's not hot enough to make fresh oil flash as badly as this.