5 things you should really never do with your oven

Imagine this: you’re happily cooking, music on, stirring pans, vegetables in the oven, and suddenly you smell something… flames shoot out of the oven! A valuable lesson you don’t want to learn only after your kitchen has gone up in flames. So, these are the things you must never put in the oven!

1. Greaseproof paper

There’s a big difference between baking paper and greaseproof paper, and you’ll notice that difference when you put them in the oven. Greaseproof paper simply catches fire in a hot oven. So always use baking paper and, just to be sure, check the packaging: is it oven-safe?

2. Oil on the bottom of the oven

Spilled a few drops? Oh well, I’ll deal with that later… No! Your oven gets very hot and, if you’re unlucky, the oil may catch fire. Wipe it up immediately with a piece of kitchen paper.

3. Crumbs falling next to the baking dish

You put a bread roll on the rack in the oven and then some cheese melts onto the bottom. Or some crumbs from your croissant fall through the rack onto the bottom. Wipe those up immediately too, because they’ll create a smoky, charcoal-like situation.

4. Oil too close beneath the grill

The roasted vegetables are almost ready, but they could still use a lovely crispy edge. So you drizzle some oil over them, turn up the oven temperature and slide the food onto the highest rack, right beneath the grill. Wrong! The oil can catch fire. Flames, fire alarm, embarrassing situation—and dangerous too.

5. It’s still set to combination microwave mode

Hands up if you’ve never accidentally microwaved a pizza or a bapao. No one? Thought so. So pay close attention to the oven setting when, for example, you slide your dish of lasagna inside.

Just call the fire department

Still got a fire or a lot of smoke? Turn off the oven and keep the door closed. Remember chemistry and physics in secondary school? Exactly: no oxygen reaching the fire means it will go out. Once everything is more or less back to normal, you can open the windows and the oven too, so the smoke can escape. Are flames shooting out of the oven? Don’t try to be a hero—just call the fire department.

Also read:

• Never put this in the microwave!
• What happens if you eat mold?
• 8 myths about alcohol (stop believing them)