As Americans prepare to tuck into their turkey thanksgiving dinners tonight, they would be well advised to watch this dramatic safety video.
The graphic footage demonstrates the extreme danger of dropping a frozen turkey into a hot deep fryer.
As the turkey is lowered into the fryer, it explodes into flames setting the house alight – in a stark warning to people this November holiday.
In the dramatic safety video, a turkey is gradually lowered into a hot deep fryer
As it is dropped into the fryer it catches light, in the safety warning to people on Thanksgiving
The video highlights the dangers of putting the turkey into a fryer – a dramatic explosion of oil and flames
The video, released by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, aimed to highlight the dangers of careless holiday cooking.
A spokesman for the commission said: ‘Although a fried turkey is very tasty, it’s not the safest thing to do.
There are about 1,400 cooking fires [in the United States] each year on Thanksgiving
‘Since 2004, CPSC is aware of 107 fire or burn incidents involving turkey fryers that have caused 47 injuries and cost $5.2million (£4.2m) in property loss.’
Chairman Elliot Kane added: ‘We estimate that there’s about 1,400 cooking fires [in the United States] each year on Thanksgiving.
‘That’s more than three times the average of any other day during the year, which really is a scary statistic.
‘Thanksgiving is such a great holiday – it’s exciting, it’s fun. Family is in town, you’re all excited to see each other. But that also leads to distractions. If people are not paying close attention, we could end up having this [the destruction in the video].’
In their safety tips, they urged people to use turkey fryers outside and away from their homes, to completely thaw and dry a turkey before cooking and to turn the gas supply off if the oil starts to smoke.
They also told people to avoid overfilling the oil in the turkey fryer and to never leave a turkey fryer unattended.
When the ice and water on a frozen turkey makes contact with the hot oil it instantly vaporizes into steam and expands it 1,700 times its original size.