Power for Progress: Kitchen safety reminders for the holiday season

Recipe for kitchen safety
This week, GRDA shares a few tips that can help you stay while you stay busy cooking those holiday meals.

Power for Progress…

A weekly column from the Grand River Dam Authority

Kitchen safety reminders for the holiday season

The holidays are right around the corner which means that the kitchen may very well be the center of the home’s activities for many of us over the next several weeks. If you plan to do an extra amount of cooking or baking to help celebrate the season, you should be aware of some electric safety tips that will come in handy in the kitchen. GRDA is sharing these tips from the Electric Safety Foundation International (esfi.org).

• First, kitchen safety starts with properly working smoke alarms. In fact, there should be properly working smoke alarms throughout the house (in bedrooms, outside of sleeping areas, on every level of the home). For the very best protection, the alarms should be interconnected so that if one sounds, they all sound. Now is a good time to check them all, before you gear up for heavy holiday cooking.
• Next, make sure your oven and stovetop areas are clean and free of grease and dust. Also, make sure the exhaust hood and duct over the stove are cleaned regularly (if you have not done that lately, pre-Thanksgiving would be a great time). Finally, make sure to vacuum the refrigerator coils every three months to prevent potentially dangerous dust build up.
• Remember, a kitchen timer can be an important part of your holiday cooking equipment. If you are busy entertaining guests, it could be easy to forget that the stove is on. So, to help ensure that your Thanksgiving dish does not become a fire hazard, make good use of a kitchen timer.
• Finally, relax and enjoy the day. Being proactive about kitchen and electrical safety can give you peace of mind and allow you to get the most from your holiday celebration.

All your friends at GRDA wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving 2023!

GRDA is Oklahoma’s largest public power electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. Each day, GRDA strives to be an “Oklahoma agency of excellence” by focusing on the 5 E’s: electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, employees, and efficiency.