Thanksgiving Cooking Dangers

The number of people deep frying turkeys every Thanksgiving is increasing and officials are warning the public that using oil is the easiest way to burn yourself.Mid-Missouri doctors say they see more people coming in for superficial burns over the holidays due to cooking. They say most of the injuries can be treated at home and that knowing when to see a doctor can be confusing.First degree burns can feel like third degree burns, but they can usually be treated at home with a burn ointment.”If it burns down into the skin and it gets blistered at all, I’d say more than the size of the bottom of a red solo cup, then you ought to come in and see the doctor,” said Dr. Ross Duff of Broadway Urgent Care. “If you can look down and through the skin and into the fat, the muscles, or anything like that, then you ought to come in then.”The Boone County Fire Protection District responds to kitchen injuries, not just fires. The most common injury they tend to is when cooks splatter oil on themselves.”So when you’re doing that turkey and you’re putting it in, the deep fryer, you have to be sure that you have a secure handle and that you have the right equipment to do that,” said Gale Blomenkamp of the BCFPD.Since warm temperatures are expected this year, officials want to warn residents to make sure they still take the same precautions in the kitchen as they would outside.