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Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has been labelled the most ‘dangerous’ chef in terms of fire safety in a survey of UK amateur cooks.
Nearly half of those questioned named the fiery chef as the one least likely to warn people of the potential fire hazards of recipes such as his flambeed dishes. His one-time mentor, Marco Pierre White, came second in the Hall of Flame with 18% of votes, while Heston Blumenthal – known for his scientific approach to his cooking and having a test kitchen which looks more like a science lab – came third with 16%. Slow burner Delia Smith and Saturday Morning Kitchen presenter James Martin were hailed as bastions of kitchen fire safety.
On more serious note, the survey, conducted by Kidde Safety, reveals that many people have experienced cooking accidents in their own kitchens when trying to emulate TV chefs. A third of those who found it difficult to multitask their cooking skills had experienced fires, while 22% had ended up with burnt food.
Simon Jones, brand manager for Kidde Safety said: “I’m not much of a cook, so I am unlikely to attempt any of these dangerous recipes, but if I did, I would certainly make sure that I had a fire blanket and a fire extinguisher to hand to prevent a small fire from getting out of control.”
Mr Jones added: “There are over 3,000 cooking related fires per week in the UK. A fire blanket, properly used, could prevent fat or chip pan fires from spreading as it starves a fire of oxygen and cools hot oil, therefore reducing damage.”