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Comment by jacobkg | Hacker News Reader

I once left a cast iron skillet on the stove about 1/2 full of canola oil for about 10 minutes on high heat. I was heating it up to deep fry something (don’t do this) and got distracted. I started picking up the pan to move it to another burner when the oil burst into flame.

Everything turned out okay in the end but the fire department got called out (building smoke detector went off) and I had to repaint the kitchen.

All that to say smoke point is serious business

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This is why you always want to know where your salt is, and your fire extinguisher too.

I had a room mate do the same thing once. The flame must have been at least 4-5ft tall, hitting the ceiling. She grabbed a box of salt and started pouring it on the oil. This killed the fire rather quickly, before even a smoke detector went off or it created any damage.

Would salt work better than baking soda?

Whatever cools off the oil the quickest will work the best.

And isn't water.

I once tried to put away an oil fire with water, and I can attest it is not a good idea. The flames were impressive, though.

I've used both for grease fires, they work about the same.

Cast iron skillets are heavy and one should avoid for deep frying. For deep frying you need something that retains less heat so it responds quickly when you turn the gas to low.

The beauty of frying in cast iron is that it doesn't respond quickly to sticking cold meat in it.

Also to add, you should add oil _after_ the pan is heated (for a non-coated pan such as your skillet). You don't want to break down the fat before adding your food.

Non-stick pans should have a small amount of oil while heating up.

this doesn't apply to deep frying, as OP was doing

Wait, why "don't do this" ? I have done that many times, though I have never had anything burst into flames.

I think it's the leaving it unattended part that's ill advised.

If you're there, you can put a lid on the pan to smother the fire and it's not a big deal. And yeah, that means you need to have the lid ready.

> I think it's the leaving it unattended part that's ill advised.

It burst into flame when it was moved, not when unattended.

Hot oil smokes before it ignites, in my experience. If you don't leave it unattended, you can address it before it ignites.

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