- Never throw water on a grease fire — it will cause it to splatter and spread.
- Turn off the heat as quickly as possible, but don't move the pan or you risk spilling oil.
- Cover the flames with a metal lid to deprive the fire of oxygen and use salt or baking soda as an extinguisher.
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When it comes to kitchen mishaps, a grease fire is not one to take lightly. These flare-ups are famously tough to put out, and they're also easy to start.
According to former chef and restaurateur and current recipe developer Sylvia Fountaine of Feasting at Home, who has dealt with plenty of grease fires throughout her career, grease fires commonly ignite because of "unattended cooking." If you're not keeping a close eye on your stovetop, cooking oil can become "far too hot" and ignite.
Your best bet for preventing grease fires is to "regularly monitor your hot grease with a thermometer," says Fountaine. The "smoke point" for oil, which is the temperature at it starts to run the risk of catching fire, varies depending on the oil. Vegetable oil has a smoke point of 450 degrees Fahrenheit, while animal fats (like bacon grease) have a smoke point of 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Once your grease hits the smoke point, it's time to lower the heat or to remove the pan from the hot burner altogether.
Grease fires can be scary and intimidating, but with these helpful tips, you can learn to extinguish them quickly and effectively.
How to safely extinguish a grease fire
1. Remove the heat
Fountaine says that the first step for putting out a grease fire is to eliminate the heat source. However, she warns that you should "never move the pot off of the burner. If the oil is burning, it's going to be bubbling aggressively and is likely to splash up at you, which can cause severe burns to your skin."
Instead, you should keep the pot where it is and turn the burner completely off. "Without heat, the fire will eventually resolve itself," Fountaine explains.
2. Cover the flame with a metal lid
If the fire happens inside a pot or pan, place a metal lid onto of the pot/pan as quickly as possible. This step will "starve the fire of oxygen and it will extinguish faster," Fountaine says.
If the pot or pan has a glass lid, don't try to smother the flame with it. Fountaine says that glass can't withstand the heat generated by a grease fire, so it won't effectively put out the flames, and the glass lid could also shatter.
If you don't have a metal lid for the pot or pan, or if the fire migrates to the stovetop itself, use a metal baking dish to smother the flames.
3. Add salt or baking soda
Especially if your grease fire is on the small side, baking soda or salt can be used as extinguishers. "Pour a large amount of baking soda or salt on the fire," says Fountaine.
What NOT to do when there's a grease fire
Don't walk away
Whatever you do, don't even think about leaving your stovetop while a grease fire is burning. "While you wait for the fire to burn out, stay with it to monitor it and ensure it doesn't grow out of control," says Fountaine.
Don't add water
Because water and oil repel each other, water cannot be used as an extinguisher for grease fires. In fact, adding water to the fire will likely cause the oil to splash farther out, which can spread the flames.
Don't add flour or sugar
Salt and baking soda might be smart DIY fire extinguishers, but that same rule doesn't apply to all baking ingredients. Flour and sugar both ignite quickly, so pouring them on a grease fire will make the flames larger and more unruly.
What if the fire won't go out?
If you try all of the steps above and the fire won't extinguish and/or starts to spread, then it's time to call the fire department and get yourself (and any other residents) out of the building. "Don't be a hero and try to manage an escalating fire yourself. Calling emergency services can mean the difference between life and death for anyone near the fire," Fountaine says.
Insider's takeaway
While grease fires are a scary sight in the kitchen, a few quick actions can keep this problem on the manageable side. Slip on some oven mitts, turn off the heat source, use a metal lid or sheet pan to cover the flames, and sprinkle the fire with salt or baking soda to put it out. If the fire spreads or refuses to die down, get out of the house and call 911 ASAP.