Top 5 Do's And Don'ts In The Kitchen

When cooking with sharp knives and intense heat, accidents are bound to happen in the kitchen. Understanding the hazards can help you and your family avoid cuts, burns and a bout of food poisoning. Here is some kitchen safety do’s and don’ts to practice in your home.

Do's

1. Wear shoes.

Ever drop a knife? Imagine that going into your foot. Ouch! Wearing shoes while you cook is always recommended. Not only will the shoes protect you from a fallen sharp object, but they will also protect you from other kitchen mishaps such as broken glass and hot water or oil spills.

2. Learn how to extinguish a fire.

There are roughly 164,500 residential cooking fires in the United States each year. Cooking is the leading cause of fires and injuries that occur in our homes. Be sure to always have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen and know how to use it. It takes only seconds for a fire to get uncontrollable. Learn about different types of fires such as grease and electric fires. Never put them out with water. Instead, your best bet to extinguish them is to use baking soda or a pan cover. Suffocating the fire by removing air is the best way to put out most fires. A fire inside your oven is best put out with an extinguisher, and a microwave fire can be put out just by turning off the appliance and keeping the door closed.

3. Learn how to use knives.

A dull knife is more likely to slip and cut you than a sharp knife. 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, you should choose the appropriate knife for the task at hand. In other words, using a meat cleaver to slice strawberries isn’t the best idea.

4. Wear safe clothing.

Do not wear long, baggy sleeves in the kitchen. Can you imagine your sleeve catching fire on a gas stove? The outcome could be scary. In general, tops with fitted sleeves or no sleeves work best. Also, avoid wearing anything flammable or synthetic; when overheated, these fabrics can melt onto your skin.

5. Keep your fridge at the right temperature.

Your refrigerator temperature should be set at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, and your freezer temperature should be 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, according to the USDA. To make sure your fridge and freezer are set at the right temps, you can use an appliance thermometer to take a read.

Don'ts

1. Don't keep household cleaners in the pantry.

You don't want poisons or chemicals to be next to your food. Don't store non-perishable foods next to your household cleaning products or chemicals, the FDA recommends.

2. Don't put hot food in the freezer or fridge.

You meal prepped for the week. (High-five!) Before you put that piping hot food in the freezer, though, think twice. You want to cool it first, says Lariena Lee, R.D., and Chief Clinical Dietitian at Upper East Side Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in New York. Otherwise, you run the risk of causing a mini heat wave in the freezer, increasing the temperature of other foods, which could translate to bacterial growth, she says.

You'll also want to allow hot foods—such as stews, casseroles, and pasta—to cool on the counter or stovetop before placing them in the fridge. The FDA recommends cooling foods to 70 degrees Fahrenheit within the first two hours after cooking and 40 degrees Fahrenheit within four hours after that.

3. Don’t set a hot glass dish on a wet or cold surface.

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. The best place to set a glass lid is on top of a trivet, cutting board or potholder.

4. Don’t use metal utensils on nonstick, Teflon pans.

Cooking with metal utensils on Teflon or non-stick pans can cause flaking or chipping of the Teflon. This can, in turn, mix toxic compounds into your food. A better solution: Use wooden or plastic spoons. Always.

5. 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 get the whole family sick with salmonella poisoning. The FDA advises you use two separate cutting boards: one for raw meat, poultry and seafood, and another for fresh fruits and vegetables. If you must use the same board, its safest to prepare your fruits and vegetables first, wash your cutting board thoroughly with soap and hot water, and then prepare your meats.