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We all know that the kitchen is a wonderful place to create a delicious meal, try out a new recipe, or break bread with family after a long hard day. Despite all that, the kitchen can also be a place rife with safety hazards. When it comes to carrying out any sort of a task in the kitchen, safety should always come first. Potential kitchen hazards include accidentally cutting yourself with a sharp knife, scalding yourself with hot grease, starting an accidental fire, dropping a glass dish, and many others. In the article below we’ll walk you through nearly a dozen safety tips regarding things that you should never ever do in the kitchen. These safety tips can be especially useful if you aren’t particularly experienced in the kitchen. If you’re interested in renovating your current kitchen to make it a safer place to operate in then be sure to contact Brisbane Urban Kitchen Renovations.
10 Things You Should Never Do in the Kitchen For Your Safety
1. Do Not Attempt to Catch a Falling Knife –
Any professional chef or extremely experienced cook will tell you to never attempt to catch a falling knife. The golden rule is to simply let the knife fall on the floor. It is far better to be forced to quickly wash a fallen knife then it is to be rushed off to the hospital in order to get several stitches. Some kitchen knives can be exceptionally sharp and catching one as it falls could cut you severely. Beyond simple superficial wounds like cutting your skin, deeper cuts can actually sever a nerve, tendon, or major blood vessel. Always let the knife fall to the floor and avoid getting seriously cut.
2. Avoid Setting a Hot Glass Dish on a Wet Kitchen Surface –
If you didn’t already know, placing a scalding hot glass dish on any kind of wet surface can be a recipe for disaster. If you accidentally do this then there is a strong chance that the glass will break instantly. Is true in reverse, never ever place a hot pot or pan on a glass table or glass kitchen surface as it will also break the glass.
3. Wash Your Hands After Handling Spicy Foods –
If you have ever made the tragic mistake of rubbing your eyes after chopping up a hot chile, then you know first hand just how important it is to wash your hands directly afterward. Getting any type of chile juice or other spicy ingredients into your eyes can be exceptionally painful. Always thoroughly wash your hands with warm water and soap after working in the kitchen, regardless of what you are doing.
4. Maintain Awareness of Your Surroundings –
Any time you are cooking or preparing food in your kitchen you should also be paying attention to anyone that might be standing near you. It is not uncommon to accidentally cut someone with a knife or burn them with a scalding hot dish because you didn’t know they were standing behind you. Know who is in the kitchen with you at all times.
5. Avoid Placing Metal in a Microwave –
Never place any metal cooking utensils, metal pots, or metal pans into your microwave. This can cause a severe fire to start within the appliance that could lead to someone getting severely injured. Instead, use microwave-safe dishes and utensils only. The way that microwaves use heat particles to warm food prevents the machine from working with metal objects under any circumstances.
6. Keep Your Kitchen Floor Dry –
Any time you are working in the kitchen it is very easy to splash lots of water on to the floor. This can happen while washing the dishes, preparing food, or even unloading a dishwasher. Studies have shown that people falling in their kitchen are often severely injured, often breaking bones or suffering from a serious concussion. Always be sure to keep your kitchen floor totally dry.
7. Learn The Proper Way to Stop a Grease Fire –
As we have already mentioned, never ever pour water on grease that has caught fire. Instead, simply place a frying pan lid on it and then turn off the burner. You can also use a grease fire flame by covering it with baking flour, however, do not throw that flour so hard that it causes the scalding hot grease to splatter.
8. Avoid Using a Dull Knife –
Contrary to what you might think, far more people severely cut themselves using a dull knife rather than a super sharp knife. The reason for this is due to the fact that far more pressure needs to be applied to the dull knife in order to get it to cut. This added pressure on a dull knife can lead to slips of the hand or fingers which in turn can lead to you cutting yourself.
9. Never Ever Mix Hot Oil With Water –
The fastest way to severely burn yourself or start a grease fire is to add water to hot boiling oil. If you have ever done this by mistake, then you know exactly how tragic the accident can be. Adding water to hot oil will cause the oil to abruptly splatter everywhere. If you happen to be standing near the oil when this happens then you will likely be burned.
10. Use Dry Oven Mitts Only –
Contrary to what you might think, it is a terrible idea to use wet oven mitts. Even if you douse the mitts into ice water, the heat coming off of any hot oven dish will transfer through the water very quickly and you will end up getting severely burned. When using oven mitts always make sure that they are totally dry. The dry oven mitt fibers disperse the heat that they come into contact with, making the heat transfer reaction quite slow. This rule applies to handling anything hot including a hot frying pan, hot oven dish, hot cooking utensils, or anything that is hot enough to burn your skin.
I am Bhagwati Suthar, Founder of Jobiba & TezLife.com. I am a Blogger, Affiliate Marketer and a Digital Marketer from Udaipur, India. At JobibaBlog, We share articles about Blogging, Marketing & Advertising, Business and Tech Tips.
