Wikipedia

Chip pan

This article is about the cooking apparatus. For the machine shop equipment, see chip pan (machine shop).

A chip pan is a deep-sided cooking pan used for deep-frying. Chip pans are named for their traditional use in frying chips (called "French fries" in the United States).

A cast iron chip pan with an aluminium basket being used to fry french fries.

Today, they are made from either aluminium or stainless steel, although in the past were commonly made from cast iron. A basket is placed inside the pan, to lower the chips into the hot cooking oil, and to raise them once cooked.

Chip pans are commonly used in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, although are slowly being rendered obsolete by deep fryers.[1]

Manufacture

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Chip pans are commonly manufactured through a spinning process, as the metal used is malleable. The lid is typically stamped out by a die in a heavy press.[2]

Safety and health

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Repeated heating of oil is believed to greatly increase the free radicals in the oil, leading to a higher risk of heart disease.[3]

Injuries, particularly to children, caused by the hot oil from a chip pan falling on them are a common cause of hospital admission in the UK.[4][5]

Fire hazards

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Chip pans are the most common cause of house fires in the United Kingdom, with around 12,000 chip pan fires every year, 1100 of them considered serious, resulting in over 4600 injuries, and 50 deaths per year. British Fire Brigades frequently issue warnings and advice, urging households to switch to a safer means of cooking chips, and advising that, unless it can be easily contained, the fire be left to the emergency services.[6][7] Several fire brigades have offered a "chip pan amnesty", trading old chip pans for a deep fryer.[8]

Chip pans account for one-fifth of all domestic fires in the Republic of Ireland.[9] After two men died in a 2016 fire in Cork City, a coroner recommended the sale of chip pans be banned and old chip pans be disposed of.[10] Another coroner noted the danger of people heavily inebriated by alcohol putting on a chip pan and falling asleep.[11] In 2015, at a halting site in Carrickmines, eleven people were killed in a chip pan fire, the worst fire in Ireland for 34 years.

Prevention

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Measures to prevent chip fires include:[12][13][14][15]

  • Not using chip pans (making oven chips, microwave chips, or frying in a thermostat-controlled electric deep fryer).
  • Not using chip pans when feeling unwell, or after having taken alcohol or other drugs.
  • Not filling the pan more than 1/3 full; frying food in small amounts.
  • Not leaving the pan unattended, even if the phone or doorbell rings.
  • Turning the handle to the side so as not to accidentally knock it (but not over another hot ring).
  • If the oil or fat starts to smoke, not adding food, turning off the heat immediately, and waiting for it to cool down.
  • Drying food before adding it to the oil, including removing any ice.
  • Adding a small piece of food to test the temperature; if it crisps quickly, the oil is already hot enough.

Some local fire services will supply free deep fryers.[14] Electric deep fryers feature thermostat-controlled internal heating elements that prevent the oil being heated to the point of ignition.

Dealing with a chip pan fire

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A correct mitigation approach includes:[12][13][16]

  • Not moving the pan.
  • Turning off the heat, if it can be done safely. Leaning over the fire to reach the controls is unsafe.
  • Putting out the fire only if it can be done safely.
    • The best way to accomplish this is to place a lid on the pan.
    • If not possible a class F extinguisher can be used, however care must be taken not to spread the fire outside of the pan. Other extinguisher classes have to be avoided.
    • Adding water must be avoided at all costs, as it leads to violent fire spread.
  • If the fire cannot be put out, getting everyone out of the room, closing the door, getting everyone out of the house, and then calling the fire department.
Ineffective methods
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A demonstration of a chip pan fire (125mL, half a cup, of oil) when water is added by Fire and Rescue NSW (video)
 
The result of adding 200 ml of water to a liter of burning oil

It is essential not to use water to extinguish a chip pan fire. Attempts to extinguish cooking oil fires with water result in a slopover, an extremely dangerous condition whereby the flaming oil is violently expelled from the container.[17]

Cooking oil fires (Europe class F, US class K) burn hotter than other typical combustible liquids, rendering the standard class A and B fire extinguishers ineffective and even dangerous. Class F fire extinguishers featuring a yellow label use saponification to put out chip pan fires by spraying an alkaline solution which reacts with the fat to make non-flammable soap. These extinguishers are generally only available in industrial and commercial kitchens.

The use of fire blankets has traditionally been considered effective and safe, especially in Europe and Australia.[18][19] It has, however, been put in question by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.[20][21] The Netherlands Foundation for Burn Wounds reported several accidents involving the use of fire blankets when extinguishing oil/fat fires.[22]

  •  
    Oil is heated strongly...
  •  
    ...eventually reaching ignition point.
  •  
    Pouring a very small amount of water into the fire ejects a plume of fire...
  •  
    ...which rises and spreads against the ceiling.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Chip Pan Fires". Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. 2009-06-19. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  2. ^ Willacy, David M. (1992). Craft and Design in Wood. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. ISBN 9780748710669. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  3. ^ Rhodes, Christopher J., ed. (2000). Toxicology of the Human Environment. London and New York, N.Y.: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-7484-0916-5.
  4. ^ Liao, Ching-Chuan; Rossignol, Annette MacKay (2000). "Landmarks in Burn Prevention". Burns. 26 (5): 422–434. doi:10.1016/S0305-4179(00)00026-7. PMID 10812263.
  5. ^ Whitaker, I.S.; Oliver, D.W. (2002). "A 5-year Retrospective Study: Burn Injuries Due to Hot Cooking Oil". Burns. 28 (4): 401–402. doi:10.1016/S0305-4179(02)00005-0. PMID 12052384.
  6. ^ "Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service: Chip pans". Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service. Archived from the original on 2015-05-20. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  7. ^ "Chip Pan Safety Advice". UK Fire Service Resources. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  8. ^ "Hand In Your Pan: Chip Pan Amnesty!". Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service. 2007-02-09. Archived from the original on 2008-05-05. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
  9. ^ "Deadly Effect of Water on Chip-pan Fire Displayed". Irish Examiner. 2008-10-07. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17.
  10. ^ English, Eoin (2017-01-25). "Video: Coroner Calls for Ban Chip Pan Sales Following House Fire". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 2021-12-20. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  11. ^ "Inquest Told Teenager Overcome by Chip Pan Fumes". RTÉ. 2015-04-21. Archived from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  12. ^ a b "Chip Pan Fire Safety Tips". Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09.
  13. ^ a b "Chip Pan Fires". Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. Archived from the original on 2022-04-10.
  14. ^ a b "Chip Pan Safety Advice". UK Fire Service Resources. Archived from the original on 2023-08-05. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  15. ^ "Chip Pans and Deep-Frying". Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Archived from the original on 2023-07-26. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  16. ^ "Fires in the Kitchen". Fire Safety Advice Centre. 2022-02-09. Archived from the original on 2023-07-29. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  17. ^ API (1991). Fighting Fires in and Around Flammable and Combustible Liquid Atmospheric Storage Tanks. API Publication 2021 (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Petroleum Institute. p. 29. A slopover can result when a water stream is applied to the hot surface of a burning oil, provided the oil is viscous and its temperature exceeds the boiling point of water.
  18. ^ LACORS (2008). Housing – Fire Safety: Guidance on Fire Safety Provisions for Certain Types of Existing Housing (PDF). Burgess Hill: Newman Thomson. ISBN 978-1-84049-638-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-05-07. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  19. ^ Ahrens, Marty; Hall, John; Comoletti, Judy; Gamache, Sharon; LeBeau, Amy (2007). Behavioral Mitigation of Cooking Fires Through Strategies Based on Statistical Analysis. Final Project Report for EME-2005-CA-0343. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  20. ^ "Niet alle blusdekens blussen olie- en vetbranden" [Not All Fire Blankets Extinguish Oil and Grease Fires]. Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit (in Dutch). 2013-12-23. Archived from the original on 2014-11-07.
  21. ^ "Belangrijke veiligheidswaarschuwing: blusdekens niet geschikt voor frituurbranden" [Important Safety Warning: Fire Blankets Are Not Suitable for Deep-Frying Fires]. Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit (in Dutch). 2014-10-31. Archived from the original on 2014-11-07.
  22. ^ Stegenga, Marieke. "Vlam in de pan: niet blussen met een blusdeken" [Flame in the Pan: Do Not Extinguish with a Fire Blanket]. Nederlandse Brandwonden Stichting (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2014-11-07.
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