Cooking and baking with children is an excellent way for teaching important life lessons and bonding. We spend lots of time in the kitchen, and so it’s never too early to start equipping your child with the kitchen skills they’ll need later in life.
However, the kitchen is one of the most dangerous rooms in the house, and so it pays to be careful in there. There are sharp objects, spills, fire and many other potential hazards.
Always start by teaching your little helpers the ground rules for safety in the kitchen. Setting basic kitchen safety guidelines is not about curtailing their freedom; on the contrary, it makes them feel empowered and provides healthy limits within which they can explore.
Establish your kitchen safety rules together and remember to go over the main points each time you’re working with kids. Keep reading for our food and kitchen safety guidelines, and feel free to add your own in our comments section!Little hands carry some not-so-little germs from the world around. Knowing how to prevent food poisoning is the most important lesson young chefs need, even before the safety rules for cooking. They should know how to prevent food contamination by observing the highest standard of hygiene.
Kitchen hygiene rules start with proper hand-washing techniques: they should wash their hands for 20 seconds with soap and running water:
- When they enter or leave the kitchen
- Before eating or tasting anything
- After handling anything that was in the ground, e.g. vegetables
- Every time they touch raw foodstuffs, especially meat and eggs
Learning how to prevent food poisoning starts with good food handling habits. Raw foods should be kept away from cooked foods or foods that won’t be cooked to avoid cross-contamination or scombroid poisoning. Do not put cooked food in utensils that had raw meats or eggs, and handle salad ingredients extra-carefully because they won’t be cooked.
Preventing food poisoning and salmonella means not licking the mixing bowl or spoon when baking, unless you’re using pasteurized eggs. Raw flour also has some pathogens in it, so you shouldn’t taste raw flour products either.
Cleaning any messes and spills is a good safety cooking standard. Not only can a spill cause a fall, it creates a dirty environment that breeds germs. Therefore, teach your little chefs the
ABC of cooking and baking:
Always
Be
Cleaning: your hands, surfaces, spills, messes, and utensils after use. A clean kitchen is a safe kitchen.Teach your children not to work in the kitchen without an adult present. You might think this is obvious, but your child will want to try out their every-growing kitchen skills. As they become more confident in themselves, they may want to surprise you by cooking or baking yummy treats.
Sweet as it may sound, this may spell disaster, especially for children younger than ten years. Tweens and teenagers may work alone in the kitchen if you’re comfortable with their level of knowledge/skills.
However, an adult should be present when younger children are working, even if they’re just supervising from a distance. Encourage your children to always consult an adult when they don’t know what to do or when there’s an accident.Wearing proper baking apparel helps to ensure that you’re comfortable and safe when working in the kitchen. Wear an apron to keep your clothes clean and protect you from spills and splashes. Your clothes should be well-fitting: not too snug, because heat in the kitchen will make tight clothes uncomfortable. However, avoid baggy sleeves as they can easily catch fire or get caught in cabinet handles, mixers and other places.
Tie your hair back – you can put a bandanna over it to prevent shedding hair into your food. Don’t wear any dangling jewelry, especially around your hands. Complete your ensemble with well-fitting, closed-toe shoes. Closed-toe shoes protect you from hot food/equipment and sharp objects falling.
Always have a fitting set of oven mitts to put and remove your foods from the oven. Mitts that are too big can make you spill your food.Proper knife skills are a crucial part of being in the kitchen, but it matters when and how you teach those skills to your child. Before giving a child a knife, even a practice knife, they should:
- Be standing steadily on a stool or chair to work on a counter – no wobbling
- Interested in working in the kitchen – if they’re uninterested they won’t be cautious
- Be able to listen and follow instructions
When teaching knife techniques, keep sessions short and focus on nothing else – even five minutes before moving to the next thing. Start by modelling how to handle a knife safely and tell them what to (and not to) do when holding knives.
Invest in kid safe kitchen knives, which are plastic knives made to look like the real thing. You can also use butter knives, serrated dinner knives, or picnic knives for their first blades to teach the holding and handling skills.
Once you think they’re ready for a real knife, choose one that suits their age, size and abilities. However, take away the knife anytime you have to move or look away until you’re confident in their knife skills.
Proper Knife TechniquesEmphasize that they must handle their first knife like the real thing: that means no slamming, waving, throwing, or playing with them. Show them where and how to place their other hand and fingers when slicing vegetables to prevent cuts. Teach your little bakers not to walk around with knives; if they must (like to the sink), knives should point down and away from anyone else in the kitchen.
Finally, keep your child’s knife sharp. A dull knife can be more dangerous because the child will apply more force to try and cut, causing an accident.Watch out for hot foods when cooking. If you’re baking, avoid opening oven door when baking. Look through the glass and only open once or twice to check for done-ness. Announce before opening the oven door so that others in the kitchen keep away, and turn away from the burst of hot air. Pull the door slowly, and use oven mitts to handle the baking tin or casserole.
Your oven-based foods should cool for at least 10 minutes before you try to taste them. Breads and cookies need a little more time, about 20-30 minutes.
Kitchen Fire SafetyKeep your stovetop clear – except for the food you’re cooking at the time. Make sure handles of pots and pans face away, so that people don’t accidentally knock them over. Be especially careful not to leave plastics, oven mitts, or kitchen towels on the stovetop, as they can easily cause a stovetop fire.
Tell the children never to pour water on any kitchen fire. They should raise an alarm immediately so that an adult can handle the fire.
Train children old enough to be unsupervised on how to handle small kitchen fires. Show them where you keep the kitchen fire extinguisher and how to stop oven fires. They should also have a phone and know the emergency numbers to call should the fire get out of hand. Always being alert and careful in the kitchen is the most important kitchen fire prevention tip they should know.If your child knows the dangers lurking in the kitchen, they will always handle themselves with caution and discipline. Don’t be afraid to send away a child who seems too flippant with kitchen safety. They should only participate if they’re also exercising caution for themselves and others in the kitchen.
Just like everything else in life, having fun should never get in the way of being safe in the kitchen!
