How to Safely Cook Thanksgiving Dinner

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By edieness
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Thanksgiving Feast

The kitchen is a safe and happy place while unattended, until someone starts cooking a huge Thanksgiving feast. As the holiday approaches and the menu becomes more anticipated it is a wise decision to keep safety in the kitchen on top of the list, especially if small children and animals will be running around at your feet while you are preparing the Thanksgiving meal. While attempting to prepare the savory Thanksgiving turkey and all the side dishes to go with it, things may get a bit hectic in the kitchen. The turkey, the pies, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the sweet potatoes, peas, corn and whatever else you decided to cook up may distract attention that is normally focused on detail. Continue to read on for a series of safety steps that you can incorporate into your Thanksgiving dinner preparations.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Adjust the lighting if need be. Make sure there are plenty of lightings in your Thanksgiving dinner prep area. This will help you see what you are doing and possibly prevent cutting yourself with the slip of a sharp knife.
Step 2

Set the kids up with an activity, such as coloring in another room. Gate off the kitchen if your animals simply cannot resist being near while food is being prepared.
Step 3

To avoid slipping on a wet floor, make sure that the floor is dry and there are not objects for you to trip over while preparing your Thanksgiving dinner.
Step 4

Check to ensure that all areas of workspace are clean, wash your hands and disinfect any area where you will need to place raw meat during preparations. Be sure to disinfect before, and after you have finished assembling the Thanksgiving feast.
Step 5

If you are cooking your Thanksgiving dinner side dishes on top of your stove, be sure to turn the handles of the pans off to the side. This will prevent the pans from being knocked off of the stove and help to prevent small children from being able to reach up and grab the handles of the hot pots or pans. Even though the children are supposed to be in the other room coloring or playing an activity that you have previously sat them up with, does not mean that they will not find their way back into the kitchen.
Step 6

Use hot hands or over mitts to handle all items that have been cooked in the oven or on top of the stove to avoid burning yourself.
Step 7

Do not leave knives sit with water on them to help prevent any type of rust build up on the blades of the knives. Wash the knives you used to prepare your Thanksgiving feast after use, dry them immediately and put them away.
Step 8

Wear a pair of slippers or shoes on your feet, while preparing your Thanksgiving turkey, just in case something hot or sharp would fall from the counter and land on your foot.
Step 9

To prevent bacteria growth, keep the Thanksgiving foods that need to be hot away from the Thanksgiving foods that need to remain cool. Place the foods that need to remain cool or be refrigerated into the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.