Could leaving a modern iron on cause a fire?
If you have left the iron on the safety board of the ironing table (the place where you place the iron when you are ironing clothes) or if the iron is placed with the hotplate facing up then there is almost no chance it can cause a fire. If the iron is left on the board on some fabric tho there is a chance of a fire as the cloth might ignite before the safety cut off tirggers and the fire may spread.
Will leaving a light on continuously cause a fire?
If it was going to cause a fire it would have done so by now. It shouldn't take more than a hour or so for the lamp and surroundings to reach an equilibrium: heat in equals heat out. Once it gets there it could be a week, month or year without significant change. Things to take into consideration would be damp surfaces that could be dried within a few days by the bulb and become flammable. That's an old arsonist trick. Being confirmably out of town for few day is a good alibi to present to a jury. Or materials that could slowly oxidize becoming more flammable over a longer period of time. This happens on rare occasion with cotton, linen or silk lampshades over a few months to years of misusage (too small a shade for the lamp). Clothes put over the top for atmosphere. That has a time scale of a few hours. If this is a lamp that has been used regular for some time there is nothing to worry about. A raccoon playing with matches is a greater risk. .
What causes a pan to catch on fire whilst cooking?
This answer is based on my experience, so it may not be the theoretical answer.1. Never heat the oil to maximum.2. Never add water heavy ingredients if the oil is heated to the maximum.If either or both of the points are not followed, you can expect the pan to catch fire while you cook.How can one avoid the flaming?In the beginning when I learned to cook, the incidents of flaming in the pan were really common. In Indian cuisine there is phase of the cooking that is called 'tempering'.Tempering involves heating the oil to a right temperature and followed by adding one or more of the following : mustard, cumin seeds, chili, curry leaves, garlic etc. Among these ingredients the chili, garlic, curry leaves have high moisture content.So as a beginner, I used to keep the temperature at maximum and add these ingredients as soon s I washed them. The moisture content in the chopped up ingredients were high after the wash. I added these ingredients to the extremely hot oil and this almost always resulted in the flaming up.Though I loved to see the flames rise up. So I learned to not keep the heat at maximum, but rather keep it at medium high. I made sure to add the ingredients with high moisture content last . The tomatoes, which goes into the dish to make the base for the gravy, is added last after I cooked the onions. This makes sure that the water from the tomatoes don't end up flaming up, singing my eye brows in the process.Originally answered on: Vincen Mathai's answer to Every time I fry garlic with mustard seeds and add tomato on top a flame comes out of the pan (like in cooking shows). It is scary. How can I avoid this?
Can a pot on a stove cause a fire?
Yes. If you are boiling soup, If all the water evaporates the stuff inside gets dried and catches fire. Talking out of experience, if you smell something burning first check the kitchen, If it is from the kitchen cover the pot or pour baking soda on it.
What should I do if my pan is on fire?
Note: I am not a fireman, I am a chef. I am not stating this the safest way, only my opinion from what I've learned from years as a chef. Typically speaking, if the pan is "on big fire" then you probably have a combustible (most likely a fat/oil) in the pan that has either: overheated to the point that either combustion or any agitation has caused the flame (moving the pan, tilting the pan and flame comes in contact orca gas stove) or it has reacted to water or moisture that causes an immidiate flame. Either way you really have 2 solutions, and in your case it seems like you probably only have 1 solution. If the flame is immature and caused my combustion, you can cover the flame with an airtight lid, suffocating it. Be sure to shut off the heat immidiately and if it safe remove it from the heat, perhaps to a safer location like outside on concrete away from flamible objects.If the flame has grown into a bigger, more mature flame, caused by burning oil, quickly open any salt container (if not a hard plastic- cut the top with a serrated knife if needed/or possible) and dump salt directly into the flame as safely as possible. The salt will Onsorb the oil in the pan, lower the temperature of the heat/or fire and suffocate the grease fire. If the fire is a large pot of oil and combusts immidiately, do not try to be a fireman. Remove your family, friends and yourself from the situation AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE and call fire rescue. NEVER EVER EVER EVER ADD WATER TO A GREASE FIRE.
Is leaving a steel pot on the stove for too long dangerous?
I think others have addressed the points well here, but since it was A2A, I'll chime in also.That first sentence blew my mind. You left a pot on the stove on high for three hours?! So the water all boiled away and then it's just sitting there getting hotter and hotter. That's insane, bro! Super dangerous, not to mention the potential damage you can do to your cookware.I have no idea what series of events led up to that, but you really need to figure out what caused the lapse and avoid it in the future. I'm sure you know that. Here are some common issues that jump to mind.Cooking while sleepy. This is especially true when the cooking involves simmering, long slow cooking, etc. If you walk away from the stove and lay down on the couch while it finishes, you could easily fall asleep and screw up. This happened to me once, that was enough. I fell asleep cooking a pot of beans. No lid on it, I fell asleep, and the water just slowly cooked out. I woke up to a godawful smell of burnt beans. Ruined. People fall asleep doing all kinds of dangerous shit because they think they're fine, and pay the price. While driving, smoking in bed, and yes, while cooking.Cooking while drunk/stoned. See #1.Cooking while in a hurry, running around, etc. Maybe you put on a pot of water to boil up some spaghetti and tried doing some other chores in the meantime, who knows? You start a load of clothes, then you realize you need more soap. One thing leads to another, and you just forget to go run some errands. Bottom line: don't try to cook and do other things at the same time. Never a good idea.Be careful! You dodged a bullet, but learn from your mistakes, right?
How Can I Deep Fry Without Setting Apartment On Fire?
My sister tried making funnel cakes some years ago and set the kitchen on fire with a grease fire. Because of this, I haven't ever tried deep frying myself or frying with lots of oil. So - is she just a poor cook who turned the heat way too high and wasn't paying attention, or is it easy to cause havok when frying in oil? I have a recipe I want to make that requires frying some slices of pork in 2 cups of oil on the stove. I have a large enough pan to do it in, but I fear I too will suffer the same fate and start a fire. I've used oil, but always smaller amounts. I realize the main thing will be splattering. Whenever it starts to splatter everywhere, I turn the heat down so it doesn't splatter on me. If I follow this same plan when using 2 cups of oil (rather than a few tablespoons), will it be fire-free? Also, the recipe is a little unclear. It says add the slices separately so they do not stick together. Cook for one minute. Does this mean I cook each one for a minute and remove, or simply add them one by one, separated by one minute (but leaving others in)? They are thin slices, but one minute doesn't seem like much time to cook. Is deep frying really fast? After frying, I stir fry with vegetables but I think the main cooking for meat is in the oil.