Don’t Get Fried this Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a quintessential American holiday, but it is not without some controversy.  Perhaps the biggest debate is to how best prepare a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.  Baking it in the oven is the traditional method, but many Thanksgiving chefs have recently taken to deep-frying their bird.

Whether you’re frying or baking, safety is key to ensuring you’re enjoying the holiday with family and friends and not doctors and nurses in the ER. According to the National Fire Protection Association there are three times more kitchen fires on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year.

Here are some tips to keep yourself and family safe in the kitchen.

• Stay in the kitchen when preparing hot food on the stove. If you leave the kitchen, even for a short period of time, turn off the stove.
• Use a timer if you are simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food and check it regularly. Always remain in the home while food is cooking.
• Be sure to get enough sleep and don’t take medicine or drugs that can make you sleepy. Also, don’t consume alcohol, which also makes you drowsy.
• Keep anything that can catch fire away from your stove top. This includes making sure your sleeves are out of the way when cooking.
• Have a “kid-free zone” of at least 3 feet around the stove and areas where hot food is prepared or carried. 
• Turn the handles of pots and pans on the stove inward to avoid accidents.
• Make sure your smoke alarms are working.

If you plan on frying your turkey here are some tips from Loyola’s Burn & Shock Trauma Institute:

• Look for the newer fryers with sealed lids to prevent oil spills
• Keep the fryer in full view while the burner is on
• Keep children and pets away from the cooking area
• Place the fryer in an open area away from all walls, fences or other structures
• Never use the fryer in, on or under a garage, breezeway, carport, porch, deck or any other structure that can catch fire
• Slowly raise and lower the turkey to reduce hot-oil splatter and to avoid burns
• Never cook in short sleeves, shorts or bare feet. Cover all bare skin when dunking or removing bird
• Protect your eyes with goggles or glasses
• Immediately turn off the fryer if the oil begins to smoke
• Make sure the turkey is completely thawed and be careful with marinades. Oil and water don’t mix and water can cause oil to spill over, creating a fire or even an explosion
• Don’t overfill the fryer with oil. Turkey fryers can ignite in seconds after oil hits the burner
• Keep a fire extinguisher appropriate for oil fires close at hand and be familiar with how to operate it
• Do not use a hose in an attempt to douse a turkey fryer fire
• If you do burn yourself, or someone else is burned, seek immediate medical attention

Dr. Kevin Polsley is an integral part of the Loyola University Health System’s primary care team. He specializes in adult internal medicine and pediatrics and enjoys seeing patients of all ages from infants to older adults at the Loyola Center for Health at Homer Glen. In addition, he is an assistant professor at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in the departments of internal medicine and pediatrics. When not seeing patients he enjoys time with his wife and preschool daughter, hiking and music.