Advice needed please: Accident with oil and toaster

[IlonaM]

I accidentally knocked over a bottle of olive oil today and it splashed the toaster - outside, on top and presumably some got inside. I have cleaned up all the oil I can see and have put a kitchen towel around the inside as far as possible, but am worried about causing a fire if there is still some oil in there. Has anyone got any ideas please.

[KidKruger]

Unplug toaster, wipe inside as best you can with paper towels (perhaps push them in and wipe with a wooden spoon).

Then use a damp cloth and let it dry.

Then plug it in outside on an extension cable and see what happens - you may get some smoke as residue of oil heats-up.

[IlonaM]

Thanks KidKruger, I'll try that tomorrow.

[Saffron]

You could try to burn it off a little bit at a time. Set the empty toaster to run on its very lowest setting. Or, let it run until a tiny whisp of smoke appears. Shut it off and let it cool. Repeat until no more smoke comes out when you run the toaster.

Keep something to hand in the unlikely case there is a fire. (Ideally, you should be prepared for a kitchen fire anytime.)

If there is a fire, you would need to unplug the toaster and smother it with a fire blanket or thick damp towel. Do NOT use water or a standard extinguisher on a grease or electrical fire.

If you have an extension cable, you could run the toaster for a few cycles on a fire resistant surface in your garden, if you have one.

Of course it's hard to say without seeing your toaster, so it's a bit of a judgement call. xx

[Saffron]

Working in your favour, olive oil is not considered highly volatile. It will smoke easily but does not ignite readily, relatively speaking.

[KidKruger]

Basically the more oil you can clean-up / remove before turning the toaster on, the less chance of fire or excessive smoke.

[IlonaM]

Thanks for your advice Saffron and KidKruger. Hopefully most of the oil went over the counter and other things rather than inside the toaster, but as there was some on the top around the openings presumably a little went in too. I have tried my best to clean it inside and out with paper towels and will take it out into the garden for stage two tomorrow. The bottle leapt out of my hand today - never had to deal with oil inside a toaster before and was rather concerned, but you've made me much more confident in sorting it out. Thanks again.

[Saffron]

Hope it worked out! :)

[IlonaM]

Hi Saffron, yes it went very well. Took it outside, turned it on on the lowest setting and it smoked as predicted. Repeated a few times and then slowly raised the temperature. No fires or calamities!

[Saffron]

Woohoo! :)

[IlonaM]

Rather!!! Thanks again for your help.

Of course it had to happen while the water was off on Sunday - Sod's Law!

[Sue]

One of the Stain Devils is for oil.

Don't know whether it would have been suitable for a toaster though.

[malumbu]

I thought that this one one of those accidents where "I slipped in the shower" Sorry for my puerile comment, particularly as some of the childish banter on this site annoys me. Glad you got it sorted.