desh | (no subject)

(no subject)

Attempted to saute something for self for Shabbat dinner. Started impressive pyrotechnic display before getting to the "something" part of "saute something". Nearly burned apartment down. Woke all neighbors and dead with smoke detector for over five minutes. Am now microwaving an Amy's meal for Shabbat dinner to eat by myself. Hate kitchens, cooking, and food more than ever.

Still not sure what went wrong.

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*hugs*

setting things on fire in the kitchen is pretty cool. at least for me it is, in the moment, and significantly afterwards, although maybe not immediately afterwards.

It sounds like your oil got too hot. Happens to the best of us.

I didn't freak out too badly at the moment (which possibly led me to put out the fire in a way that was arguably unsafe, though not freaking out was otherwise a good thing). But aside from that, there was nothing about this that felt at all "cool" to me, during or afterwards or now.

I should point out that I've never liked fire very much.

I should also point out that I'm not going back into that kitchen for awhile.

Also, apparently the flash point for extra virgin olive oil is about 430°F, and the temperature for total ignition is even higher than the flash point. Did it seriously get that hot? Holy crap! I'm only eating cold foods from now on.

yeah, I'm a pyro :)

1. safe ways to put out a grease fire are pouring baking soda over it or putting a lid over the pot. or remove anything flammable from the vicinity and wait till it burns out. just ask anyone Ive ever lived with, i've started a lot of fires.

2. when you evenutally want hot food again, save your olive oil for your salad and use an oil that takes high heat better, and keep your burner on low. even i can't start a fire that way, and i have been told that i can burn ANYTHING in a kitchen.

3. summer is a good time from cold foods. save fuel! and it is always a good time for Amy's :)

When I get there to stay, we can cook together for Shabbat if you want. Sounds frustrating. See you soon!

I think I did that before I had a handle on olive oil and smoke points. Before I was comfortable in the kitchen, opening really hot ovens, pots of water, and saute pans really freaked me out. Still, when Charley deep fries I can't be anywhere near it. So if you ever convince yourself to go in a kitchen again, why not use low heat? It may take a little longer, but you will protect your sanity. And even with all the cooking I do, I still get nervous dumping potatoes into boiling water because I'm afraid to get splashed. But really, compared to fire and a pot or an oven with open flames, working in a kitchen has gotten much safer in the last 80 years. And because people need to eat every day, several times, I still think it's worth getting comfortable in there. Because that's a big part of your life and the life of your body to avoid and be nervous about. Want to come have Shabbat dinner here this week?

The main reason I didn't use low heat is because I just don't know what I'm doing. The recipe said medium-high, so I used medium-high. I have no idea what any of the variables in a kitchen actually mean. If I'd lowered the heat, for all I knew something completely different would've gone wrong. I need foolproof recipes to get comfortable with, and only once I'm really comfortable with them can I learn anything from them. This has happened before with 2 or 3 recipes, but none of them involve stoves.

I'm just going to eat out a lot. I do anyway.

I can't leave Philly this Shabbat, but thanks!

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