18 June 2009

Burning down the house.

I just had a 10-minute "discussion" with my dad about ovens. Back me up here, peeps. Have you EVER heard of the "rule" that you "have" to leave the oven open while you use the broiler, lest risk setting your house on fire?? I have never ever heard of such a thing, have used many broilers many times, and I've certainly never started a fire in my oven. I have to assume this is something he learned in the '70s or something -- he's a little stubborn when it comes to change. I'm just curious if anyone has anything that backs up my dad's whackadooness!?

4 comments:

Lady Lisa said...

I think your Dad is spouting some certifiable wackiness these days. I have heard of no such broiler rule; this coming from a girl who's mother burned the garlic bread in the broiler EVERY SINGLE TIME when she was younger. I'm sure I would have heard about some open door rule back then if it had existed. :-)

Sara said...

I do know of the open door rule! But I never heard that it was because it would burn your house down if the door was shut - just the heat rises and something about keeping the heat at the top of the oven. Which doesn't make much sense either. But I do often crack the door on the oven when I'm a-broiling, and I don't really understand why other than that's what my mom told me to do. And I tend to burn things so I can keep an eye on it that way.

Stephanie said...

Hmmm.... It sounds like my dad's whackadooness stems from something... but it's probably just not legit anymore with, you know, modern stoves. Thanks, guys!

Alison said...

Yeah, that was the rule when I was growing up, but it probably stemmed from old-fashioned stoves. It's kinda like the rule that we literally had to scrub down dishes before putting them in the dishwasher -- apparently old dishwashers didn't actually clean dishes!