I gotta go, I think I left my oven on. Again... My souffle!!!

July 5, 2006 5:35 PM

How easily would my house burn down if I left something cooking in the oven and forgot about it? Also share your favourite tips for not forgetting that theres something in the oven!

The thing that seems to keep happening to me is that I put something in the oven and then start snacking while Im waiting and then eat my fill and forget about the original thing that I put in the oven...

posted by GleepGlop to food & drink (19 comments total)

Stop snacking. Also, timer on the microwave, or set timer on the oven.
posted by exlotuseater at 5:37 PM on July 5, 2006

The thing that happened this time was that I left the house though, and I still didnt even notice when I got back! It was only a patty in the toaster oven that wasnt causing any smell, but that thing was charred...
posted by GleepGlop at 5:40 PM on July 5, 2006

Depending on the dish, I think it'd be very unlikely for your oven to catch fire. You could probably stink/smoke the place up pretty well, though (and don't take smoke damage lightly).

As for not forgetting? The obvious solution is to set a timer. Failing that, have a bracelet/ring/hat/single shoe/etc that you put on when you put something in the oven. Hopefully at some point you'll move, notice the unusual accessory, and that will remind you that something's in the oven.
posted by 0xFCAF at 5:40 PM on July 5, 2006

Toaster oven? That's probably considerably more dangerous than a regular oven, especially if it's underneath a wooden cabinet, for instance. You could definitely start a fire....
posted by mr_roboto at 5:42 PM on July 5, 2006

Yeah, just get a timer. I usually set one on my phone, since I always have it on me and if I'm out of earshot I can go running back.
posted by voidcontext at 5:45 PM on July 5, 2006

I also have a reminder set up to send text to my phone every Wednesday and Sunday to remind me to move my car at 8:30pm so I don't get a ticket at 9pm. I use an internet reminder service (backpack maybe?) to send me a text message. I set it up and it's been running for a year and saved me hundreds of dollars.
posted by voidcontext at 5:47 PM on July 5, 2006

Our oven goes up to 700 degrees when it's in self clean mode. There is plenty of insulation which will probably prevent a fire. Yeah, fancy internet notification sounds cool, or maybe a kitchen timer from the dollar store.
posted by fixedgear at 5:51 PM on July 5, 2006

Yeah I guess I could do a combination of a watch timer and an oven accessory... thanks!
posted by GleepGlop at 5:52 PM on July 5, 2006

How easily would my house burn down if I left something cooking in the oven

Though things neglected in the oven or on the stove may produce a lot of smoke or smell bad almost all will not catch on fire.

The big exception is large amounts of grease/fat/oil which can ignight on a stove top and is the #1 cause of kitchen fires.

Ovens are pretty safe. If I put a pound of sugar in a baking tin at 400° and just left it I would expect a lot of smoke but no fire. Even if some of the molten sugar mass bubbled over, landed on the floor of the oven, got near a flame, and caught on fire - I would think the oven would contain the fire.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 5:54 PM on July 5, 2006

The problem would likely be smoke damage, not fire.
But your oven already has a timer. You can set it to turn on at a certain time, and off at another time. If you used that feature every time you used the oven, you could relax, knowing it would turn off by itself.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 6:06 PM on July 5, 2006

Here is the timer I swear by. It's a necklace, so you put it on and then even if you go outside/go to another part of the house/whatever, you'll still be reminded of whatever you set it for. It rocks.
posted by GaelFC at 6:07 PM on July 5, 2006

Make sure one of your neighbors has a key to your home. Call that neighbor when you remember. I was that neighbor about 15 years ago. One egg left boiling on the stove. The house was filled with thick smoke after a couple hours, and the egg was black and shiny. The house needed professional de-stinking.
posted by planetkyoto at 6:45 PM on July 5, 2006

Well...there was the one time when my roommate put tater tots in the oven at 450 degrees and failed to notice that the oven manual was inside -- THAT got set on fire and probably would've burnt the place down if we hadn't noticed smoke coming out! :-)
posted by echo0720 at 7:01 PM on July 5, 2006

You can absolutely set things on fire in a toaster oven - I have inadvertantly done this both in a toaster oven and a microwave oven.

I love the idea of the necklace timer. I often use my cell phone's alarm clock as a timer as well.
posted by tastybrains at 7:09 PM on July 5, 2006

My fraternity house burned down when the stove was left on.

Just sayin'.
posted by Doohickie at 7:45 PM on July 5, 2006

Leaving an oven or toaster oven on can't be that bad, they have thermostats to limit the maximum temperature, everything is enclosed in a metal box which is guarantee (baring thermostat failure) to be cooler than the internal temperature..

Now leaving a burner on.. That is really bad! All you need is a little bit of clutter, a little bit of greasy dirt, anything that can ignite really.. The temperature can go very high, and there is no containement. Bad!

my roommate put tater tots in the oven at 450 degrees and failed to notice that the oven manual was inside -- THAT got set on fire and probably would've burnt the place down if we hadn't noticed smoke coming out! :-)

How would the fire spread out of the oven compartment? Not something to screw around with, definitely a bad idea, but it probably wouldn't have burned your place down..

Don't get me wrong, I imagine that some oven contents and/or some particular circumstance, might be able to spread a fire. It just isn't that easy..
posted by Chuckles at 8:25 PM on July 5, 2006

Back in college my drunken housemates put a frozen pizza in the oven and then went to bed. In the morning the house was filled with smoke but no fire. They still ate the pizza though.
posted by gfrobe at 1:01 AM on July 6, 2006 [1 favorite]

Cook naked. Then, if you find yourself under arrest near the meat department at the store, or somewhere down the street, you will suddenly be reminded that you're cooking something at home.

(Not recommended for deep fat frying or baconry.)
posted by Sallyfur at 1:07 AM on July 6, 2006

I've set food on fire (yes, with actual flames) a few times using the broiler in my oven, with the food on the top rack. In one case, bread; in another, something with a fairly sweet barbeque-type sauce on it. But I agree with everyone else that even if the food catches on fire, the oven should contain it so the fire won't spread.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:26 PM on July 7, 2006