Cooking Articles & Recipes

Fire Extinguisher

If the idea of using a fire alarm as a cooking timer is not a joke in your household kitchen, then maybe it's time to consider keeping a fire extinguisher next to the stove, like the author of this article did ...

I’m not known as a very good cook and I’ve been known to have had a few sparks in the kitchen now and again. My friends and family often share stories about my cooking adventures during the holidays and get-togethers. No one was surprised that my husband bought me a fire extinguisher as a Valentines Day gift before we got married.

We already had a fire extinguisher in our apartment, but it was our landlord’s property. My husband thought that I should have one of my very own. This is in part to a particular incident that gave him a big scare when we were first dating. I thought that my future husband would appreciate waking up from his nap to find a steak dinner waiting for him downstairs. I went shopping for the best steaks I could find and started working in the kitchen.

This seemed like a good idea at the time, but I was not very familiar with my husband’s apartment. I was not familiar with his stove in particular and I wasn’t aware of where he kept the fire extinguisher, either. I placed the grocery bags on the counter and turned on what I thought was the front burner on the electric stove. Electric stoves are very tricky because you can’t tell which burner you have turned on until it is way too late.

In a few minutes, the entire kitchen was filled with smoke. The fire alarm was beeping and I was throwing water on the burning grocery bag that was partially sitting on the back burner, which I had unwittingly turned on. The fire was easily put out without a fire extinguisher and I headed upstairs to make sure that my future husband wasn’t in a complete panic.

When I entered the bedroom, I found him sitting up in bed looking a little puzzled. “What are you cooking?” he asked. “Paper,” I replied as if he was silly for asking. He then reminded me that there was a fire extinguisher beside the sink if I needed it. I told him that the only assistance I required was for him to turn off the alarm.

I still have the fire extinguisher my husband bought for me. He included a note that reminded me that the fire alarm is not a timer. I shouldn’t use it to tell when my food is done cooking. It’s pretty funny that using the fire alarm as a timer is one of the old jokes my family used to tease me about my cooking. Sometimes things said in jest are really quite true.

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