Kitchen Safety
Kitchen Safety
Kitchen Safety
Don’ts
Here's how to stay safe in the kitchen.
Practice these kitchen
safety rules to help you
and your family avoid cuts,
burns and a bout of food
poisoning
1. Do learn how to use knives.
A dull knife is more likely to slip and cut you than a sharp
one. Keeping your knives sharpened is one of the easiest
ways to keep them safe. A simple fix is to use a knife
sharpener to maintain a keen-edged blade. Also choose the
best knife for the task at hand. In other words, using a
meat cleaver to slice strawberries isn’t the best idea.
2. Don’t use the same cutting board for raw meat, fruits and vegetables.
We all want to avoid washing extra dishes, but this is one area in which you
shouldn’t take shortcuts. Using the same cutting board for meats, fruits and
vegetables is a surefire way to risk getting salmonella. To avoid cross-
contamination, the USDA advises you use two cutting boards: one for raw meat,
poultry and seafood, and another for fresh fruits and vegetables and bread. If you
must use the same board, it’s safest to chop fruits and vegetables first, wash your
cutting board thoroughly with soap and hot water, and then prep your meats. Here’s
everything you need to know about cutting board care
3. Do wash your hands.
Learn how to deal with different types of fires such as grease and
electric fires. Never put them out with water. Instead, extinguish
them using baking soda or a pan cover. A fire inside your oven is
best put out with an extinguisher, and a microwave fire can be
extinguished just by turning off the appliance and keeping the door
closed. Check out these tips from American Red Cross to prevent
fires in the kitchen.
6. Don’t wear floppy sleeves.
There’s actually a lot of science behind this tip. Glass expands when it gets
warm and shrinks when it cools down, which causes stress, resulting in a
combustion of glass. That’s why you need to be careful when putting
Pyrex in the oven.
Be careful with glass pot lids, too. The best place to set a glass lid is on a
trivet, cutting board or potholder. Avoid setting it on a stovetop, especially
a glass one
9. Do lift and stir away from you.
When you use the right utensils, nonstick pans are safe to cook with.
However, metal utensils can flake or chip the nonstick coating. This can,
in turn, mix toxic compounds called PFAs into your food. A better
solution: use wooden or plastic spoons.
This type of pan isn’t designed to last forever. Know when to replace a
nonstick pan.
Now that you know the basics, it's time to cook