How to Safely Prepare Your Holiday Meal

Holidays are wonderful when we share a meal with our friends and family. It can be a quiet peaceful time, filled with joy, but according to the National Fire Protection Association, Thanksgiving is also the number one day for fire danger. Most of these fires are a result of the use of candles and also home-cooking gone wrong, destroying hundreds of homes every year. Luckily, this kind of disaster is easily preventable.

Here are some basic safety tips:

• Check smoke alarms, and install the new ones if needed.
• Remove fire hazards: no unattended candles, no kitchen towels, and mittens near the stove.
• Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, and if frying a turkey outside, bring one out there!
• Avoid toxic gas build-up to prevent poisoning. If you are using a natural gas or propane stove, be careful of a carbon monoxide (CO) build-up inside your home.

Shopping for a turkey: Raw turkeys are tricky to cook, but if you follow the rules, it should turn out fine. First and foremost, when shopping for a turkey, put the bird in your shopping cart as far from other products as possible.

When transporting it to your kitchen, use a separate bag for the turkey to avoid cross-contamination. Keep it in the fridge in the lower levels, far from other food items. De-frosting rule of thumb: 24 hrs per 5 pounds of frozen meat.

The most important tip: Take extra precaution with turkey deep fryers.

Deep Frying Safety Tips:

Turkey and oil is a dangerous combination: use extra care when cooking it in a deep fryer.

Tip #1: Avoid oil spillover, don’t overfill the pot Tip #2: Turn off flame completely when lowering the turkey into oil Tip #3: Fry outside, away from houses, cars, and other flammable objects Tip #4: Properly thaw the turkey in the fridge before frying Tip #5: Keep a fire extinguisher nearby Tip #6: Cook the turkey thoroughly to a minimum internal temperature of 165 °F as measured by a food thermometer

After the Thanksgiving Dinner: Put turkey leftovers and other prepared food back to the fridge within 2 hours.

Hopefully, these easy-to-follow rules will help you keep your family safe and will allow you to remember the Thanksgiving dinner not as a disaster, but as a warm family get-together, where everyone feels loved and secure.

If you have questions or need help finding the right protective equipment, please feel free to call us at 800-829-9580, or visit us online at pksafety.com.