Tales from the kitchen: burnt popcorn
My wife loves popcorn, and loves to make it on the stove. She’s been known to flavor the snack (which sometimes serves as dinner) with a variety of ingredients: salt, Parmesan, Tapatio, chocolate chips.
Now, we’ve all burned popcorn at some point, even if it was in a bag in the microwave. But Kim doesn’t like to be outdone (it’s a pride issue, and we’re working on it together), and she proved this last weekend.
I was out of town, so I can’t vouch for her description of the incident, but she called me in my hotel in Dallas to let me know that she had just put out a grease fire. Normally, she explained, she puts the lid on the popcorn while it cooks; this time, however, she had to walk away for a minute, and she left the pot uncovered. When she returned, she found flames crawling up the hood and cabinets (again, this is her description).
This being her first grease fire, she wasn’t sure of the proper procedure for putting it out, but she knew not to throw water on it. I keep a fire extinguisher in the pantry, but evidently we have a larger one in the hall closet, and like a cavalier soldier she pulled the pin, braced her stance, and fired upon the offending flames.
The first shot was on-target, but it wasn’t lethal. She fired again, effectively smothering the fire; at this point I picture a proud grimace across her face.
To clear the remaining smoke from the air, Kim turned on the whole house fan. Only, the air wasn’t filled with smoke, it was filled with powder from the fire extinguisher. And after only a few spins of the fan, that powder had found it’s way onto every exposed surface (and a few unexposed areas).
She spent the next four hours or so cleaning up the mess, and after a week or so to rest, she can now laugh about it. I just wish she had taken a few pictures.
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