I like to make things in my slow cooker. It’s easy. I throw a bunch of stuff in, turn the dial, and then go about my day.

The other day I made a chicken stew type of thing: thighs, carrots, celery, onions…thyme, rosemary, blah blah blah…

After dinner was over, I went to put the remaining stew into freezer bags so that my husband would have leftovers for lunch.

Here’s where the problem begins. I shut off the slow cooker, but after the infamous “This is Us” episode I am clearly a little over cautious about my slow cooker, so I always unplug it right away.

This is a good thing.

Except,

I need a crock of cooking utensils on the counter, and they sit right in front of the electric outlet. As I use some non stick cookware, most of my utensils are plastic. Except for the big fork. (which, btw I don’t normally keep in the crock because I don’t use it while cooking but when your family helps and puts things in the wrong spot, how much grief do you give them?)

So the big fork leaned up against the outlet.

And I unplugged the crock pot, not realizing that the fork was against the outlet,

And everything started sparking.

Spark spark spark

And all I could think was let me grab the fire extinguisher…

Then I though OMG did I ever make sure that the fire extinguisher is still operational as we’ve never actually used the fire extinguisher and I have no idea how old it is and I know they have expiration dates and I recently yelled at my Mother who thinks her twenty five year old extinguisher is still good…

One spark and you rethink your entire life trajectory…

Two sparks and you’re cursing yourself about your lack of fire safety preparedness, because you think your taping fire safety rules to the back of your apartment door is really going to help in the event of an actual fire…

And then nothing.

No more sparks.

The fuse did blow though, so the side of my kitchen that also houses my stove and fridge is now de-electrified…

And I’m afraid to reset the fuse…

Because you know: spark spark spark

So I call the super…

and he comes down and assures me that everything worked like it should. The socket shut itself off. Which it’s supposed to do in this case (you know- where you have to push the reset button and all) and the fuse blew, which it’s supposed to do…

And he resets the fuse for me…

The digital panel on my stove starts blinking 1200, and my fridge hums back to life…

and no sparks…

Of course, I threw out the slow cooker- I was too afraid to use it once it scared the ^%$#%$ out of me…

And I did purchase a new slow cooker, a much better one than the recently departed one I got at Target for 10$ on a super sale…

Because if I don’t jump on the slow cooker horse again, I’ll be too scared to try again.

Sometimes things scare us…but we have to push through.

62 thoughts on “Anything Can Happen Friday: The Kitchen Issue”

  1. What a day! But do you have a smoke alarm ? Btw , you really need to stop with the slow cooker and use an instapot! It’s soooo much better. The great thing is it not only cooks better , but it also keeps the food warm all day after it’s done. I got rid of my brand new crock pot after my sister gave me an instapot.

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    1. Yes we have a smoke alarm, but I’m more about preventing it instead of responding to it. To be fair, I’ve bought a bunch of insta pots as graduation gifts. However, for me, the slow cooker isn’t really about cooking, it’s about having something easy and I already know the how and the why. I mainly use it for simple stuff. When I want to try outa new recipe I’m all about the pots and pans and the process

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  4. OMG that is hysterical, I am glad no one was hurt and no damage done. My wife is afraid of all countertop alliances. Only the coffee makers and the Nespresso are plugged in Nothing makes a home smell more inviting than a crockpot in action, well make chocolate chip cookies baking.

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  5. Whew – that’s scary! My 6-yr-old daughter was organizing her bathroom and hung a metal necklace over the nightlight. It created a circuit between the prongs, sparked and blew the necklace apart. Scared her silly and I didn’t understand why until I saw the blackened outlet and nightlight. I did the same thing – threw the nightlight out even though it still worked and everything happened as it should.

    So glad you are okay and have a new slow cooker!

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  7. Wow! That’s scary. Thankfully you and your home are OK!
    I live in an old building and my fuse box switches are always flipping off. Mostly in my bathroom where I use my hair dryer. I think today’s technology is just way too advanced for a fuse box that’s over 30 years old. Our electrical panels in my building will eventually need to be replaced due to age. And internet and cable just got an upgrade in my building too. I think it should be a safety requirement for citizens to do a big overall safety check more often than every 40 years.
    But, the good news is that you have a super where you live. We don’t have that down here. I had a pipe break in my wall the other day. What a mess! I don’t have a super so I had to call my own plumber and now wait for my insurance adjuster to call someone in their network bla bla bla. 😪

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  8. I’d be lost without my little cooker. I make soup in it all the time. Plus your space is pretty compromised so having that option seems almost essential. I’m glad you didn’t turn into the latest fire news story from the east coast. Yikes!

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  10. Oh yes, it would have scared me for sure! Yay on the new slow cooker and it being on sale for you! I will admit I was afraid to use my slow cooker for a bit after that This is Us episode! And I love to use them as well!

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  11. I’ve long said the crockpot might be the best invention known to man. Yes, even better than the wheel. Think about it: a car can transport you to a restaurant where you can sit down to a hot meal, but a crockpot ensures you don’t even have to leave the house to enjoy that hot meal. It really is a lifesaver (at least when it doesn’t spark).

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  12. In our old Palm Springs house (circa 1937) and when my kids were in grade school, I was using the hair dryer and it blew out and sparks shot out from the outlet. I know your fear! I threw away the hair dryer and never used that outlet again.

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    1. I don’t really know if I’m blogging for bloganuary…I’m really just answering questions, and I’m not even really thinking about it, just reading the question and shooting out the first thing that comes to mind…sort of like typed morning pages….they don’t always make a lot of sense. But I guess my blog doesn’t always make sense either. Ok…I’m posting twice a day this month…

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  17. Wow that’s definitely scary. I probably would have cried and refused to cook ever again. I’m not the best cook to begin with so that would have scared the life out of me. Glad everything worked properly and there was no major damage.

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  18. A slow cooker was on my bridal wish list and I have not been without one (or more) since. To get one for $10.00 was a super sale! I would love to have been a fly on the wall when you explained what happened to your super–but I guess he has heard it all already.

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  19. Buy yourself some fire blankets. Two in a set from Amazon. I bought my family each one for Christmas. They look easier and safer to use than an extinguisher.

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  20. That’s exactly so – push through. Reminds me of my old magic bullet. When storing, I used to wrap up the cord, then store. Well, about a year into owning it, I was using it, as I do everyday, and sparks starting flying from the cord, blew the outlet, and the fuse. Turns out wrapping a cord is not a great idea. The cord had become frayed, and I didn’t even know it. Bought a new magic bullet the next day. No more wrapping the cord…😅😉

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  22. Wait ~ why didn’t you throw out all the forks? The poor slow cooker was just a bystander? The fork, now that’s a culprit if I ever saw one, they were created to pierce, spark, wound! I hear Macy’s is having a sale…C

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    1. I really did think about throwing out the fork, but I stashed it away in the drawer….I did buy a multi cooker. My husband was mega impressed with the quality of the stew I made

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  23. Omg 😱 that is so scary! So glad it wasn’t worse and there was no fire. So glad you’re safe and all is well now. And good move buying another cooker. Once I accidentally put something metal in the microwave and it crackled and I unplugged it right away but I had a phobia from microwaves for 5 years afterwards before I finally got over it when my mom bought me a microwave for my new house 5 years ago.

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