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Fear of home fires Royal VKB slow cooker, $109.90.
Kuhn Rikon limited edition 60th anniversary “Inox” pressure cooker, $462.
Kambrook KSC110 stainless 6L slow cooker, $79.95.
Comfort of slow cooking WINTRY conditions make us more likely to turn to traditional winter fare “to warm our bodies and minds,” says Adam Tacey, Kambrook marketing manager – and so using a slow cooker is a good option for Canberrans. “It’s a wonderful feeling to come out of the cold, wet weather into a warm house and a delicious, home-cooked meal ready to be served,” he says. Slow cookers are great time-saving devices, he says, because they simply need to be filled and turned on – and
meals are ready hours later. They’re also designed specifically to be safely used for cooking while unattended. “Slow cookers are safe because even when on high, the temperature doesn’t reach boiling point, but still operates at temperatures high enough to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria,” he says. Ideal for novice cooks, slow cookers are also versatile, ideal for anything from roasts to casseroles and desserts,
he says. The process also enhances the flavour and texture of cheaper cuts of meat. Slow cookers aren’t the only appliance enjoying a comeback, according to a spokesperson for Kuhn Rikon: pressure cookers offer another easy means of making warming comfort food, perfect for a chilly winter evening. They’re also fast, allowing food to cook quickly in its own juices, for instance a hearty beef casserole can be cooked in 20 minutes.
MANY years ago, I had to evacuate from a burning building. I had just started working there when one end of the office block suddenly caught fire. As a new-starter I had never been through a fire drill and I’d seen “Towering Inferno” way too many times. With black smoke billowing all around and no idea where the emergency exits were, I was all ready to succumb to panic. Fortunately, cooler heads were present and my more-experienced colleagues led everyone out according to the building evacuation plan. Still, thanks to having gone through numerous practice evacuations from various buildings, I was pretty confident that at work I’d know how and where to find safety if disaster struck. But what about at home? The other day a friend’ s little girl asked her what she should do if the house fire alarm went off in the middle of the night. My friend told her daughter to try to find her or her dad, but on reflection it occurred to her that this could involve trooping through smoke and fire in a dark house. I suspect many of us haven’t really thought about fire in the home and what to tell our children. I know I haven’t. The last time I accidently set the kitchen fire alarm off, both of them wandered around looking
By Sonya Fladun utterly confused until I turned the thing off by hitting it with a broom handle. So I’ve decided to take a leaf from work and conduct a home fire drill this weekend, relying on guidance from the ACT Fire Brigade’s homepage at the Emergency Services Agency website: www.esa. act.gov.au. Winter is a good time to think about fire safety. In the colder months last year, the ACT Fire Brigade attended 36 household fires, many of which could have been prevented by taking a few precautions. The NSW Fire Brigade studies show that between a third and half of the people who have died in house fires over the past decade could have escaped if they made proper preparations. The ACT Fire Brigade advises that all homes should have a fire-safety plan in place, and why not have a fire drill and run everyone through their paces. We’re also checking the fire alarms and making sure they’ve all got new batteries. After all, with a little bit of preparation, we will all sleep better and safer on these cold winter nights.
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