440469 Wed Sep 12 03:36:11 -0700 2007 31 29 Not About Food 0 2933397 In the cooking class I teach, we've been going over safety in the kitchen. When we got to what to do if you have a grease fire, one of the students said, "throw milk on it!" Before I could admonish him, he claimed to learn this fact from another teacher who had been teaching this remedy for years...I'm of the belief that, next to water, it's the dummest thing you could toss on a grease fire, but maybe I'm wrong...After 20 minutes of searching the web, I haven't found a clear answer..Can someone please give me the straight dope? Wed Sep 12 03:36:11 -0700 2007 18608 sixelagogo 1 2933423 I agree with you. It would be just as bad as using water and will spread the flames just as much. Sounds like another one of those silly or dangerous kitchen myths. You have to suffocate a grease fire by covering it with some non-flammable like a pot lid or a special fire extinguishing non-flammable blanket, or dumping baking soda or salt on it, or using a Class B fire extinguisher. Although there is some disagreement on fire extinguishers for grease fires because they can sometimes spread the fire. I saw that happen once and it took awhile for the extinguisher to put the fire out. Wed Sep 12 04:31:09 -0700 2007 2933397 10732 JMF 2 3058587 didn't i hear somewhere that throwing flour on it makes it explode? milk is just as bad as water. a useful link for fire safety for all hounds: (and I was correct, NO FLOUR!) http://www.co.stafford.va.us/News/2006/October/National_Fire_Prevention_Week_Theme_Reminds_Citizens_to_Follow_Safety_Guidelines_When_Cooking.shtml http://www.brunswickme.org/fire/Smoke%20Links/smoke_37.html But his site gives bad info (says to use flour!: http://www.drainsandplumbing.com/greasefires.html some extinguishers are made for kitchen fires. was the fire extinguisher you saw, jmf, a special one that would supposedly deal with grease fires? if so, that is worrisome. Tue Oct 23 05:37:08 -0700 2007 2933423 105717 alkapal 3 4603065 >>> didn't i hear somewhere that throwing flour on it makes it explode? <<< Yup! That is essentially what happens. Ever see a picture of the aftermath of a grain silo explosion? Bombs have doe less damage. Thu Apr 16 19:43:11 -0700 2009 3058587 226942 al b. darned 2 4099082 I used a "personal" Class B fire extinguisher on a grease fire one night a couple decades ago. It did the job but it was like holding a blunderbuss; the two-second blast was enough to blow the cast iron pot off the stove and send extinguishing powder throughout every corner of my apartment. Clean-up was a drag but I know it would've been a lot worse without it. I have two under my sink (currently) that I keep charged for such emergencies. Sun Oct 12 08:46:23 -0700 2008 2933423 11175 The Ranger 1 2934338 I'm not a scientist and I don't play one on the internet but what is the big difference btwn water and milk? Milk is made up primarily of water, protein, fat and lactose. Water being nearly 90% of the total. What component would put out a grease fire? Wed Sep 12 09:41:03 -0700 2007 2933397 10195 KTinNYC 2 2936984 I have no idea and think the same..which is why I'm totally disturbed that a fellow teacher would be teaching this "safety" tip. Thu Sep 13 03:58:04 -0700 2007 2934338 18608 sixelagogo 1 2939158 As they used to teach us in grade school, fire needs three items: fuel, oxygen, and temperature. theoretically, if you put enough water/milk on it, it will go out eventually, because water will cool down fuel so that it no longer burns. Thus, it would be extinguished. However, unless you have a tremendous constant deluge (i.e. an entire kitchen fitted with a sprinkler system), the water will almost certainly cause the fire to spread, which would expose it to more fuel. The temperature would not go down significantly, so the fire spreads. Thu Sep 13 14:41:18 -0700 2007 2933397 17644 raytamsgv 1 2942733 maybe he meant powdered milk. Enough of that would work. ;-) -E Fri Sep 14 15:20:12 -0700 2007 2933397 22193 evans 2 3059081 I would think powdered milk would be only slightly less flammable than flour. Tue Oct 23 08:32:21 -0700 2007 2942733 10784 Scrapironchef 3 4701833 Powdered milk is much more flammable than flour because of the fat content. It is a better fuel than starch Wed May 20 15:42:13 -0700 2009 3059081 134615 Selective food1e 2 3059118 powdered milk makes pretty sparks when it burns I think its pretty combustable. Sprinkled almost empty package into the fire as a kid , it sparked . Betting its the fat. Tue Oct 23 08:42:23 -0700 2007 2942733 78681 coastie 3 4097854 its actually because its such a fine particle. In fact, if you ever want to have fun camping, bring the biggest container of that fake, non-dairy creamer you can find and throw handfuls of it into the fire! A nice fire ball will be produced. Just about anything that has been refined into an extremely fine powder is combustable(think grain silo explosions). I would think powdered milk would work if you dump it on quickly. If it gets to atomized, it will burn/explode! as far as liquid milk, well thats just tasty, white water.......just as bad of an idea as water. Sat Oct 11 11:40:06 -0700 2008 3059118 39457 nkeane 4 4696491 i like the campfire fireball idea --as long as it is not in drought season. Tue May 19 05:34:42 -0700 2009 4097854 105717 alkapal 1 3059103 I should think the Fire Chief, or indeed any Fire Fighter in your town, would be the person to ask for proper information. The Internet is fraught with misinformation. Tue Oct 23 08:38:09 -0700 2007 2933397 75332 Gio 1 3059138 NEVER a liquid. Post reccomending correct fire extinguisher are correct. Smothering is teh way to go - a small fire might be contained with a pot lid. A handy ingredient in most homes a kitchens is baking soda. A form of this is in many fire extinguishers. Dumping a lot of it on the fire will smother it. I have had sucess with that several times. I keep a laundry sized container in the kitchen at all times because who wants to pull the fire system if you don't need to? Tue Oct 23 08:47:00 -0700 2007 2933397 78681 coastie 1 3060682 Ok, now I'm wondering if I'm totally giving bad info...I told the kids to smother a grease fire with anything dense and NOT liquid...Flour, sugar, anything...why the heck would flour explode if you dumped 5 lbs. of it on a fire? For that matter, why would baking powder explode, as I've read in several sites, and not baking soda...isn't baking powder really baking soda with a little cream-o-tartar in it to make it react twice? Tue Oct 23 15:19:04 -0700 2007 2933397 18608 sixelagogo 2 3060748 It's a matter of the amount of material and the time required to put the material on the fire. For example, water can quench any grease fire, but as I mentioned earlier, you need to put a whole lot of water at the same time onto the fire. If you don't, the heat of the fire will vaporize it before the water has a chance to lower the temperature of the fuel. Also, you have to make sure that the water doesn't spread the fire to come into contact with more fuel. If you put just a bit on, it won't cool down the fuel to stop the fire, but it may spread the grease to come into contact with more fuel (e.g. more grease, towels, etc). The same holds true of flour. If you dump 100 pounds all at the same time, it might work, but you'd need to drop it as a solid block. Otherwise, the bits and pieces will ignite as you are dropping the flour, which is simply adding fuel and heat to the fire. A 2x4 can extinguish a small fire, but imagine what would happen if you dropped the same quantity of scattered newspapers of onto the fire. The reason why sand/dirt works pretty well at extinguishing fires is that they don't generally ignite at the temperature of most fires. By shoveling enough sand/dirt, you deprive the fire of oxygen, which extinguishes the fire even though the sand/dirt will be hot. Tue Oct 23 15:39:43 -0700 2007 3060682 17644 raytamsgv 3 3061584 oil and water don't mix. When u throw a liquid on a grease fire it causes the hot grease to jump. That same spitting process that happens when you fry happens on a massive scale causing the fire to spread. Some dry ingredients are more flamable than others - flour is essentially really dry plant material, generally quite burnablle - it might work it might smother the fire but if it doesn't its fuel. Tue Oct 23 21:14:10 -0700 2007 3060748 78681 coastie 2 3060846 A five pound bag of flour in monolithic form is not very flammable - however individual flour grains suspended in the air are just below gasoline danger-wise. Throwing flour on a fire will usually result in a cloud of flour and an even bigger fire. Salt and baking soda won't burn at temperatures usually found in kitchens and are a safe bet. Tue Oct 23 16:19:51 -0700 2007 3060682 10784 Scrapironchef 1 3060768 About the flour thing....yeah bad idea. My friend had a grease fire one and went to grab the baking soda she kept by the stove for such emergencies but her husband and brother had taken it to use to clean something, so she grabbed some Bisquick figuring oh its probably got baking soda in it.....made the fire worse. Tue Oct 23 15:45:21 -0700 2007 2933397 52987 LARaven 1 3060915 Living around grain elevators, there are periodic stories about grain dust explosions, where a tiny static spark from mechanical equipment can instantly turn a cloud of harmless flour dust into a rather effective explosive. I would imagine aerosolized flour would be likewise flammable. When I worked in fast food, I was introduced to the foam extinguisher system that was installed above the cooking area, but was told NOT to pull it in case of a fire if it was just the fryer burning, due to the incredible mess it would leave. We kept the fryer covers at the ready, and were told to just drop them on the fryer if it caught fire, and it would put it right out, as they fit virtually air-tight. And in most fire training I've had since then, grease and most flammables of significant volume I've been told smother if you can or Class B extinguisher, which should deprive the fire of oxygen without dispersing the flammable material. Tue Oct 23 16:39:17 -0700 2007 2933397 91302 podunkboy 1 3061464 Put a lid on it! Tue Oct 23 20:11:37 -0700 2007 2933397 22801 bkhuna 1 3061868 From the Stafford County VIrginia Fire and Rescue Department: http://www.co.stafford.va.us/News/2006/October/National_Fire_Prevention_Week_Theme_Reminds_Citizens_to_Follow_Safety_Guidelines_When_Cooking.shtml Wed Oct 24 03:34:13 -0700 2007 2933397 105717 alkapal 1 3061881 so what about baking powder vs. soda? I keep digging up that baking powder will explode as well, but not soda..... and no, nobody's dusting the greasfire with flour...we're talking a dump directly on the source of the fire...for that matter, what about cornmeal? sugar? I think i may need to test out these theories outside oneday. yes, the lid/upsidedown pan is always the first choice, but if the fire spreads, you need more options.. Wed Oct 24 03:49:30 -0700 2007 2933397 18608 sixelagogo 2 3063586 if you don't have a fire extinguisher handy your only other option is to call 911 and get the hell out of there while you can. Wed Oct 24 12:21:50 -0700 2007 3061881 57890 KaimukiMan 2 4701842 Flour, sugar and cornmeal are all explosive when aerosolised . Sugar not as much, because it is a larger grain and it would just burn the finer the powder the more explosive. That is why coal dust, and coffee creamer are so explosive. Wed May 20 15:48:01 -0700 2009 3061881 134615 Selective food1e 1 4097245 I've been working at a big upscale steakhouse in Nyc for many years and of course, the broilers burn very hot. There have been fires that develope in the broilers and the ovens from grease that spills to the bottom. Usually the broiler man (who is very experienced) will let it burn out, without doing anything. Sometimes he will throw salt on it. Ive seen it get pretty bad, and he was yelling for someone to get him milk. Ive seen him do it many times and it always worked. I asked him about it, and he told me its the best thing to use, and then went on to tell me, never use water, which i already knew. I can only say that it works and seen it first hand many times. If you are unsure, use it as a last hand resort if necessary. If my oven was on fire, im goin for the milk!! Sat Oct 11 02:07:18 -0700 2008 2933397 231906 skibrew210 2 4098784 On a BROILER fire, milk works because it bubbles and foams and dilutes the grease. However, don't forget that the amount of grease in a broiler is a lot different than the amount used in a deep fryer or frying pan. If the grease spatters a bit in the broiler when you toss milk on it, no problem because it's surrounded by lots of metal. Salt works because it 'soaks up' the grease but doesn't 'wick' it, so the fire runs out of fuel. However if you throw milk in a frying-pan grease fire, you'll get a steam explosion, vaporized oil and a rather large fireball, same as water. Sun Oct 12 00:48:22 -0700 2008 4097245 103787 ThreeGigs 1 4602105 Check out this video. Also, you can always call your local Fire Dept. and I'm sure they will tell you all the facts about how to put out a grease fire. Thu Apr 16 13:13:35 -0700 2009 2933397 283261 Tina A. 2 4696493 tina, you meant to post a link to some video? Tue May 19 05:36:12 -0700 2009 4602105 105717 alkapal 3 4702753 I've put out hundreds of grease fires with baking Soda. Swing broiler drip pans easily catch fire so a grease fire in a professional kitchen is not an uncommon event. In many commercial kitchens you will find boxes of baking soda near the broiler. It does not take a lot of it to extinguish a fire. Just as effective and a lot less mess to clean up than a fire extinguisher. Thu May 21 02:55:06 -0700 2009 4696493 253154 Fritter