Follow holiday cooking safety tips in your apartment

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time, with friends and family and lots of food. Apartment living sometimes intensifies these experiences as you try to fit more people, more cooking and more decorations into smaller spaces. Here are a few tips to keep your apartment Thanksgiving a safe and happy time.

• Fire extinguisher: The majority of apartment fires start in kitchens. With something baking in the oven and three pots on the stove top, it’s easy to make a mistake. Every apartment should have a small multi-purpose fire extinguisher near the entrance to the kitchen. Now is a great time to check the gauge to make sure it’s charged. See that everyone in your family knows where it is and how to use it.

• Smoke alarm: If your famous holiday blackened Cajun turkey breast blackens a bit too much and sets off the smoke alarm, make sure that alarm is reset with a fresh battery once you get things under control. If a smoke alarm or fire extinguisher is missing or broken, notify the manager in writing immediately.

• Scalds and burns: Have you ever noticed how everybody ends up in the kitchen, especially when you’re trying to cook? Many apartment kitchens don’t have a lot of room, and guests — especially kids — are at risk of being burned by hot food and liquids. Try to keep a “kid-free zone” of 3 feet around your oven and stove.

• Avoid turkey fryers: The use of a deep fat turkey fryer can be dangerous anywhere, and it’s a bad idea inside an apartment. Trying to rig this up on your balcony or patio is a fire code violation, and probably prohibited in your lease agreement. If you really want to do this, ask the property manager if there’s a safe outdoor location on the property for you and your propane burner to attempt it.

• Use pressure cookers correctly: Pressure cookers are in vogue these days — great food in half the time. If you’re using yours for the first time, be sure to read the directions. Don’t over-fill it, and make sure you use the cooker’s pressure-release valve properly to release pressure before you open it.

Make sure you clean the release valve properly when you’re done — a wooden toothpick works great. Make sure it moves freely and isn’t stuck before you use it again.

• Separate heat sources and flammable things: There’s always a lot going on making Thanksgiving dinner, and apartment kitchens can get crowded. Separate anything that can catch fire — potholders, oven mitts, wooden spoons, paper or plastic bags, dishtowels, etc. Keep the oven and burners clean to prevent flare-ups.