Cooking #2

[havelock]

Today I performed a very intricate experiment concerning the smoke point of olive oil when sauteing. It involved adding the oil to a hot pan, having it immediately catch fire, trying to get a pot lid out to smother the flame while moving the pot out from under the increasingly black microwave, giving up and taking it outside to burn off, and then

Comments

[supermelanie]

If I ever see you and valorian together in a kitchen, I'm running the other direction.

[havelock]

Hey now. There were no casualties. And I didn't even ruin dinner (just a cheap-ass 12" pan).

And besides, so far there's only a 50% chance I'll set something on fire when I'm cooking, and I like those odds.

[olestros]

Was your fire red/orange or blue? I ask because I was once present when blue fire leaped from atop a far-too-alcoholic-cherries jubilee and danced across my mom's kitchen floor. It was very pretty... tasted good, too (the cherries jubilee, not the fire). Anyway, that just goes to show that not all kitchen accidents have to be negative experiences. And yes, you should buy a fire extinguisher.

[havelock]

Red. Actually more orange. Olive Oil really does have a low smoke point, so the fire didn't burn too hot. I had an entire pan full of it and was still able to hold the pan by the handle until the very end without getting burned.

Apparently the thing to have for oil/grease fires is baking soda to smother the flames. My years of lighting shit on fire in scouts helped me be calm during this whole thing, but not calm enough to reach into the fridge, get the baking soda, and pour some on the flaming pan in my other hand.

Incidentally, Off (the bug repellent) burns a lovely shade of blue and tends to bubble and undulate quite pleasantly while doing so.