Keeping Your Kitchen Safe

Children may find it fun to help you in the kitchen. To keep it fun, you also need to keep it safe. Following are some tips on how to keep your children safe in the kitchen.

prevent burns
• Teach your children that the stove is hot. Even when it is turned off, children should not play with it.
• Remember to always turn off the stove or oven when done using it.
• Before cooking, roll up sleeves. Loose-fitting clothing can catch on fire. When touching or moving anything hot, wear oven mitts.
• Turn all handles on pots and pans inward so they are not hanging over the edge for little hands to grab.
• Cook hot soups and other foods on the back burners, if possible.
• Food cooked in a microwave can become extremely hot. Wear oven mitts and be careful moving food from the microwave to the counter and taking off the lid.
• Keep hot foods and dishes away from the edge of the countertop so small children can’t reach them.
• If clothing catches on fire, immediately do the following: stop, drop (to the ground), and roll (the flames out).

Temperature Rules for Safe Cooking

Make sure you cook and keep foods at the correct temperature to ensure food safety. Bacteria can grow in foods between 41 ºF and 135 ºF. To keep foods out of this danger zone, keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. Use a clean food thermometer and measure the internal temperature of cooked food to make sure meat, poultry, and egg dishes are cooked to the temperatures listed below. For more information on food safety, please visit www.isitdoneyet.gov.