There’s three times more cooking fires on Thanksgiving than any other day during the year, and yes, turkey fryers out there, we’re looking at you.

Today we’re talking grease fires and the do’s and don’ts of turkey frying, so you can be thankful later on that you didn’t burn your house down this year.

(REACTIONS SPLASH INTRO) But why turkey fry?

It’s simple: Speed, texture, and flavor.

A turkey can be perfectly cooked in under an hour because deep frying cooks food double time.

First, hot oil flows around your bird, heating the exterior in a process called convection that evaporates out the moisture in its skin.

This gives it a nice, crispy crust, blessed with the delectable Maillard Reaction alongside other bold flavor compounds from the oil.

Then, due to the direct contact heat transfer of convection, the turkey cooks itself from the outside in via conduction.

By the way, that crust keeps your bird extra juicy by trapping moisture inside.

Sound too good to be true?

It may be - that oil can also cause an inferno that could fry the mood of your feast.

But what exactly sets oil ablaze?

Oils have specific temperatures called “smoke points” where they break down and release airborne compounds.

Here are the smoke points of several common frying oils.

While cooking oils themselves aren’t flammable at these temperatures, these airborne compounds are really flammable.

Also, if the heat isn’t regulated, oils may reach their auto-ignition temperatures, where they can burst into flames.

If your oil is releasing dark smoke, it’s hit the smoke point, so turn the heat down asap!

Turkey fryers can also go boom because water and oil don’t mix.

Water molecules are polar, which means one side is slightly positive and the other is slightly negative.

Oil, on the other hand, does not share this quality.

Or in other words, it is nonpolar.

Ultimately, this means that polar and nonpolar molecules try really hard to stay away from each other -- and it shows.

And for this reason, frozen turkeys are prone to catastrophe!

When the ice and water in a frozen turkey makes contact with hot, it instantly vaporizes into steam and expands to seventeen hundred times its original volume.

This causes the oil in the frier to bubble over.

Not only can this burn you, these smaller particles of cooking oil can quickly ignite if they reach the heat source.

If you’re going to try a turkey fry this year, listen up - Washington DC, battalion fire-chief Tony Falwell has some steps you need to pay close attention to in order to not burn your house down.

“When you’re frying a turkey, you want to make sure that the turkey fryer is on a stable, non-combustible surface, that’s 10 feet away from your home.

Basically, monitor the fill levels – you don’t want to overfill that turkey fryer, because over-filling that turkey fryer can cause serious burn injuries to you as well.

And since frozen turkeys are going to cause you big problems, make sure they are fully thawed and pat them down to dry them off.

Also, use a thermometer to keep an eye on that heat - avoid your oil’s smoke point and you’ll do alright.

But let’s just say something happens in your home this Thanksgiving, chief, what’s the best, immediate solution to a fire?

“for grease fires I say that every home should be equipped with a multipurpose fire extinguisher, and if that fire gets out of hand, make sure you get that extinguisher on it real quick.” Be safe out there, and be ready to feast.

We want to hear your favorite thanksgiving dishes in the comments, and hey let’s trade some recipes!

If you do go the route of a turkey fry this year, be as precise as a chemist when following your cookbook instructions and remember that 911 is your friend.

Got any other food chemistry questions?