The Most Flammable Items In Your Kitchen

A kitchen can be quite a dangerous place. Many of the ingredients and tolls you use on a daily basis can be very hazardous if not handled properly. In fact, kitchen fires are the leading cause of residential fires and related injuries. So what’s the culprit? You might be surprised at the most flammable ingredients and tools that are lurking in your kitchen. Learn how to protect yourself, your property, and your family from kitchen fires.

Common Flammable Ingredients

Flour, sugar, oils, cooking alcohols, milk, and creamer all serve as base ingredients for several different dishes. Each ingredient is flammable in a different way and needs to be handled properly.

Flour

Powdered goods like flourconsist of fine particles that can easily burn if added to a hot pan without anything else in it. If flour spills into direct flame, it can ignite. Due to flour being a carbohydrate, flour is even more explosive when it is mixed with the air. d to mix with the air. When exposed to a spark or flame, the mix of flour and oxygen can cause explosions. In
fact, flour dust caused a Minnesota mill to explode in 1878. Similar explosions are reported every year.

Sugar

Sugar is a carbohydrate much like flour, and it’s flammable for the exact same scientific reasons. When sugar gets hot enough, it can ignite. When cooking
sugar, keep close watch on it. If you’re cooking sugar by itself, pay special attention because it can ignite when it is not mixed with other ingredients. A great example of flammable sugar that we are all common with is marshmallows.

Oil

Cooking oils are highly flammable and can be hazardous if not used properly. Oils very on smoke and flash point and it’s key to know the difference between each one. A flashpoint is the temperature at which an oil creates flammable vapors that when exposed to heat can cause a fire. For most cooking oils, the flashpoint is 600° F.

A smoke point is when an oil becomes too hot and starts to smoke. In this case, you should immediately remove the oil from the heated surface. Peanut oil, safflower oil, and soybean oil all have a smoke point of 450°F. Other smoke points include 445°F for grapeseed oil, 435°F for canola oil, 390°F for sunflower oil, and 410°F for corn oil, olive oil, and sesame seed oil.

Marsala Wine Or Sherry

All alcohol-based cooking sauces like marsala or sherry are flammable because of the small amounts of alcohol they contain. They can have flammable vapors as well, so it is good to be cautious when using these around flame. Bottles should never be left near the store because if they get hot enough, the entire bottle could explode.

Non-Dairy Milk And Creamer

Non-dairy milk and creamer are often used as a substitute in dishes where milk and creamer are required. These ingredients often come in powder form and as such they have the same ignition properties as flour and sugar. Non-dairy creamer also contains sodium aluminosilicate which can burn when exposed to heat or fire.

Flammable Seasonings And Garnishes

Common seasonings such as garlic or cinnamon and garnishes such as orange shavings can catch fire under the right conditions.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon contains cinnamaldehyde and eugenol. Aside from giving cinnamon its unique flavor and odor, these compounds are also flammable. Much like flour, cinnamon can cause an explosion if too much of it gets into the air and ignites.

Garlic

Garlic contains a lot of oil, so it burns very quickly when exposed to heat or fire. This quick-burning effect can cause cooking oil to splash out of the pan and ignite on the burner. When cooking garlic, keep your heat low and cook it slowly to reduce the chance of splatter.

Orange Shavings

Orange shavings are a handy garnish. However, when squeezed they produce limonene, a flammable substance found in the rinds of oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruits.

View the rest of this article on the Strike First Blog here: http://www.strikefirstusa.com/2016/06/flammable-items-kitchen/