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May 7, 2009 7:49 AM

How can I prevent the smoke alarms from going off every time we broil anything?

We recently moved from an apartment to a 2-storey house. The apartment only had one smoke detector, and it was easily removed from the wall and placed in a closet to keep it from going off. In the house, there's a smoke detector on each floor, and I've been unable to get them off the wall. EVERY time we broil, they go off, resulting in me comically racing up and down the stairs, hopping up on chairs and hitting the reset button, as they take turns shrieking.

Turning on the vent in the hood and opening windows has no effect, and in the winter opening the windows won't be an option. Can you suggest something I can do before we start cooking that will prevent them from going off (without breaking them)?

Thanks in advance!

posted by happy scrappy to Grab Bag (16 answers total)

Is there any reason you don't remove the batteries?
posted by christonabike at 7:51 AM on May 7, 2009 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I had hypersensitive hardwired smoke detectors in my last apartment, and when I knew I would set them off, I'd stick a ziploc bag around them. Worked great, didn't need any kind of fastener. Don't forget to take the bags off when you're done cooking, though.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:53 AM on May 7, 2009

Sounds like you need a better hood. Maybe that one has a filter that is so gummed up with goo that it's not passing air through? (Modern exhaust hoods have much better "suction" than older ones and can empty the smoke from a whole kitchen in a few minutes. I think they use PC cooling fan technology or something because the last one I saw opened up had about ten little ball-bearing fans. Pretty cool looking, actually.

Other than that, yes cover them with something. This is (of course) dangerous in itself and probably voids your homeowners insurance, though.
posted by rokusan at 8:05 AM on May 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

Tape them over when your broil (mailing tape is easier to take off than duct tape). Caveat: make sure to remove the tape when you are done.
posted by halogen at 8:16 AM on May 7, 2009

My parents have a fan aimed at one of theirs. They just turn it on when they cook; does the trick.
posted by interrobang at 8:16 AM on May 7, 2009

stick a ziploc bag around them

This. Although we used a shower cap.

(Our old smoke detector would go off when we cooked anything in the oven. We called it "the deliciousness alarm".)
posted by JoanArkham at 8:59 AM on May 7, 2009 [2 favorites]

We called it "the deliciousness alarm".

I had one of those, too!

My solution was to get a Rubbermaid plastic bowl & trim it down so it would snugly cover the smoke alarm. Worked like a champ!
posted by torquemaniac at 9:10 AM on May 7, 2009

Yup on the shower cap. I went to college in Stonertown, USA, and that's one of the first things folks in the dorms learned.
posted by mollymayhem at 9:27 AM on May 7, 2009

I've got high ceilings that make the shower cap thing a pain and I was never comfortable with blocking it off since I was sure I'd forget to undo it and then burn the place down.

The solution I use that stops the "I'm using the kitchen" alarm, but keeps the "dear god we're all going to die in a fire" alarm was to make a paper collar for the alarm. Just a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper rolled into a tube and taped around the thing. Smoke generally rises straight up and follows the ceiling. With the collar on it takes more smoke to set it off since it has to 'rise' over the collar before it triggers.
posted by Ookseer at 9:31 AM on May 7, 2009

Response by poster: @ christonabike: I don't know if I can get at the battery without taking the detector off the wall, but I'll take a look when I get home.

I'm liking the shower cap idea. It sounds like the quickest and easiest.
posted by happy scrappy at 9:40 AM on May 7, 2009

Tip via Cooks Illustrated:
If the problem is burning drippings, try filling the bottom of the broil pan with a layer of salt.
posted by anti social order at 9:54 AM on May 7, 2009

Try cleaning your oven. It's probably burned-on gunk being released in the air that's setting it off.
posted by radioamy at 10:19 AM on May 7, 2009

We live next door to a butcher shop, and we loves the grilling and broiling. We had the same problem and as already suggested above, our problem was the hood. It was old and decrepit and greasy and gunked up as fuck. Replacing it was the only option. Also ours is vented, not recirculated, and that makes a HUGE difference.

Popping the battery out of your smoke detector/covering it up/hiding it in drawers and closets is not a good idea! Our landlord installed a smoke detector with a "hush" button. Once you push it, instead of continual wailing, it will just beep every thirty seconds until the smoke level goes down.
posted by futureisunwritten at 10:27 AM on May 7, 2009

Shower cap is an excellent idea. If you're worried about forgetting to remove it once you're done cooking, drape a brightly colored shirt over it as well to serve as a hard-to-miss reminder.
posted by puritycontrol at 6:49 PM on May 7, 2009

According to a friend, you can stretch a condom over a smoke alarm if you don't have a shower cap handy.
posted by primer_dimer at 2:58 AM on May 8, 2009

Response by poster: I tied 2 plastic grocery bags around each smoke alarm, making sure they covered the base, and then put an elastic head wrap around each to keep it tight. I couldn't find shower caps, so this was the next best thing. Worked like a charm!

Thanks for all the suggestions.
posted by happy scrappy at 10:28 AM on September 1, 2009