This morning when I was cooking cream of rice cereal, the mixture bubbled up and splashed on my finger, resulting in a burn.
The remedy? Stir food you’re cooking with a long-handled spoon. I was using a large spoon, but it wasn’t long enough to keep my hand out of harm’s way.
A number of things can be done to prevent t burns in the kitchen, reports the article "Making the Kitchen Safe and Accessible: Preventing Burns and Falls" on the Washington State University Extension Web site. Tips for consumers include:
- Make certain the range is located so that curtains can’t fall onto the burner.
- Don’t hang towels on oven handles close to a burner.
- Turn pan handles away from other burners and the edge of the range when you cook.
- Don’t wear garments with long, loose sleeves when cooking. Roll back your sleeves or use a rubber band to keep sleeves from dropping down on hot surfaces or flames.
- Don’t store cooking utensils above the range, as you’ll have to reach over flames or hot burners to retrieve them.
- Keep hot pads and pan holders near the range.
- Use a safety hook to slide the baking rack out in order to retrieve hot foods so you don’t burn yourself.
- Operate the microwave only when food is in it.
- Unplug small appliances when not in use.
- Keep a fire extinguisher near the stove. Make sure you know how to use it and that it’s properly charged.
- Cover any exposed hot water pipes under the sink.
- Make sure the smoke alarms in your home work. To help remember to keep fresh batteries, mark replacement dates on your calendar yearly. Many people change batteries on the day daylight savings time begins each spring.
Remember, safety first when you’re cooking in the kitchen.
