You might have thought that the worst thing that could happen on a festive holiday like Thanksgiving would be that you would overeat. However, cooking that feast that the family will enjoy could present serious risks as well. In fact, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) warns that Thanksgiving Day is the most dangerous day of the year for home cooking fires, with 2-3 times as many house fires occurring on Thanksgiving compared to any other day of the year.

Deep Frying the Turkey Could Ruin Your Day

Perhaps the newest Thanksgiving trend is preparing the turkey in a deep fryer to get a delicious, tender, juicy and golden brown result that draws those “oohs” and “ahs” around the dinner table. If done with extreme caution, this cooking method can also greatly shorten the cooking time. However, far too many “cooks” take dangerous shortcuts, ignore the safety warnings and find themselves with serious property damage, injury and even death from the home fires that occur.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says that most turkey frying accidents occur while the oil is being heated, prior to even adding the turkey. This means we must be extra vigilant when heating the oil, and turn off the fryer immediately if any smoke appears. If the oil overheats, it can ignite.

This video shows what can happen when turkey deep-frying goes bad.

Planning to Try Turkey Deep Frying This Year?

If you’ll be deep-frying that Thanksgiving turkey this year, then be sure to do your homework in advance. To help you, we’ve included a Recipe for Deep-Fried Turkey to help with the preparation along with a video with step by step instructionsl

We’re also passing along a Cheat Sheet for you including the best Safety Tips from our good friend, Libby Green and Service Masters of Bel Air to help you stay safe.

Homeowners Insurance Tip

No one ever thinks they will suffer a home fire causing devastating property damage, injury or death to their loved ones – especially at a time when family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving. But, you need to be prepared, nonetheless. So if you have not reviewed your homeowners insurance policy recently, why not do it now. Just contact your insurance agent to be sure of your coverage.

Here at the William M. Sparks Insurance Agency, our experienced agents welcome your questions and would be glad to sit down with you to do an insurance policy review and let you know if you still have the best coverage at the best rates available to meet your needs.