Cooking with Eowyn, WTF edition

[next_to_normal]

Apparently, I can set things on fire even when there's nothing to burn...

I tried to use the oven for the first time tonight. (In my defense, the toaster oven is usually sufficient, and besides, it's not like I've been doing a lot of cooking, since I've been sick nearly the whole time I've lived here.) I was planning to make yummy, delicious Bisquick biscuits, so I started preheating the oven, and then moved on to mixing.

And the smoke detector starts going off.

Now, I'm still putting the dough on the baking sheet, so it can't possibly be my biscuits burning. In fact, there's nothing in my oven to burn - the oven's never been used, so it's not even dirty. Nothing in the vicinity of the oven is burning or even visibly smoking.

And yet, the alarm goes off. And stops once I turn the oven off (and open the windows and turn on the fan and jump up and down waving my arms in front of the smoke detector).

Clearly, the fire gods have bestowed me with some kind of super power, because I don't know how else to explain it.

(My biscuits turned out very well, btw, once I transferred them to a smaller tray and baked them in the toaster oven without further incident.)

Comments

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Hmm. If it's a brand new oven, I don't suppose there's still packaging material inside it or something? Or maybe the manufacturer coats the inside with some sort of grease to stop it rusting in the warehouse, and they forgot to strip it off before selling the oven?

Also, I'm kind of wondering what you mean by biscuits, and suspecting it's not what I would mean...

[next_to_normal]

Nope, no packaging. It was already installed in the apartment when I moved in, so it should have been ready to use. My mother's theory is that it's just a new-oven thing, and some kind of coating needs to burn off. However, if that's the case, I'd prefer if maintenance disabled my smoke alarm first.

And no, your biscuits and my biscuits are not the same, lol. Mine look like this.

[rahirah]

Smoke detectors are of Satan. Yeah, yeah, fire safety and all that crap, but in the 30-some years I have dealt wit them the only thing they've ever warned me of is the fact that I was cooking bacon.

[next_to_normal]

OMG I hear you. In my last apartment, the smoke detector was right outside the bathroom, and I'd set it off every time I took a shower, because it would mistake the steam for smoke. Arrrgggh.

[silverusagi]

Maybe it's just because it's the first time it's been used? Our gas heaters at the motel sometimes set the smoke alarms off the first time they're turned on at the season.

[next_to_normal]

Yeah, that's what I figured. You'd think, though, considering that everyone on the top three floors got new appliances at the same time, they'd have figured that out and done something to prevent the alarm from going off, like disabled the smoke detector and let the oven run for a while - or at least warned us it might happen.

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

When I first moved into my apartment, first thing I did was take the battery out of the smoke detector in my kitchen. Damn thing always goes haywire otherwise.

Um...don't tell the fire marshal or anything...

[next_to_normal]

Oh, you rebel! I kind of want to do that, but I'm too afraid of authority to disobey the rules, lol.

[shapinglight]

I can't explain it either. Possibly, the smoke alarm is in the wrong place?

[next_to_normal]

It's not even in the kitchen - it's out in the hall, which makes things even weirder, given the lack of smoke to set it off.

[urania-calliope.livejournal.com]

I feel kinda bad I laughed while reading this because fires are serious and scary but... Tee hee!

[next_to_normal]

Oh, laugh away. There was no actual fire (nor even any smoke that I could see), so I'd hardly say it was a serious situation. :P