Dangers of Cooking with Halogen Heat – Risks, Safety Tips

Popular and modern new-age kitchen appliances such as halogen hobs and oven generate extreme heat instantly. These ovens radiate heat through bursts of red light and halogen then spreads the heat through the air pressure.

In some equipment’s, the halogen heat is transferred throughout the oven or the hob, cooking the food directly and evenly without any conduction. While sometimes, the heat emitted from the halogen hobs, heat up the utensils directly, which cooks the food inside just like any other traditional stove.

There are some dangers involved with halogen cooking. Let’s cook, I mean look at a few-

9 Dangers of Halogen Cooking

dangers of halogen cooking

  1. Strength

According to the Induction Site, many home cooks have this preconceived notion that halogen heat is not as strong as other kinds of cooking mediums such as gas, induction.

This disbelief or lack of knowledge sometimes ruins their dishes or their estimate of timely cooking. There is no prominent difference between halogen and other kinds of heating elements.

  1. Wrong Utensils

wrong utensils

If you have a halogen hob or oven at home, you might have to replace majority of your pans, pots and cookers. Halogen heat only gets transferred to certain magnetic materials such as stainless-steel and cast iron.

Materials like aluminum, copper and glass are not effective when using any halogen appliance. Therefore, do not ruin your utensils or risk of catching a fire, so replace your equipment when using halogen heat.

  1. Radiation After-Effects

Since halogen heat is a kind of radiation, there are radiation dangers involved. Radiation emitted from Halogen heat can affect a human’s immune system, cardiac and nervous system, neuro-behavioral and ocular effects and can also cause problems with melatonin production.

This radiation is not as safe as other alternatives of halogen cooking.

  1. Burns

burns from halogen oven

While the halogen ovens are not likely to burn those, who are using them and it does not generate heat itself, instead it relies on the containers to heat-up and cook the food inside.

However, the utensils and the cookware can be really hot to touch bare-hand and can easily burn anyone using or touching it.  This is especially in the case of water or oils, which heat up with halogen instantly and can cause extreme burns if accidently touched.

  1. Possibility of Electric Shock

Just like any other electrical appliance, there is always the danger of shocks. If the cord inside the halogen stove becomes wet, it can cause major short-circuit or electric shocks to anyone coming in contact.

It is also a dangerous appliance to use, if the electric plug is damaged or the halogen oven is immersed in water by accident. The shocks can be life-threatening.

  1. Bacteria and Contaminants

Cooking in halogen heat exposes the food to a lot of dry heat all at once. This increases the risk of creating contaminants because of the dry heat process of cooking.

Since, halogen ovens emit infrared radiation, it also harms the food by producing bacteria’s and contaminants.

  1. No Flames

no flames in halogen cooking

You must have noticed by now that halogen hobs do not produce flames like gas stoves. It is impossible to char-grill your food when cooking over halogen heat.

But, it has been proven that lack of flames increases the safety of the halogen stove.

  1. Power Consumption

Halogen cooking uses electricity. This not only increases the bills every month, but also increases the risk of power outage. If there is a power cut in your area, the halogen appliances will automatically switch off and stop working.

However, people have generators and power back-ups in their households, the halogen stove would need a different source of energy. The whole process will only haul your time and delay everything.

  1. Price

Halogen stoves fluctuate in their prices. If the prices of electricity go up, the prices of these appliances also go up.

 It can be a little expensive to purchase halogen stoves, but it is a good alternative when the gas prices are reaching heights.

Last Minute Safety Tips for Halogen Cooking

safety tips of halogen cooking

Follow these tips to save yourself from the dangers and risks associated with Halogen Cooking-

  • Use the grill at a lower temperature. While it takes more time, it kills the bacteria’s and contaminants which the food is exposed to.
  • Eat fresh fruits and vegetables with Halogen cooked meal. It will strike a balanced diet.
  • Clean your hob or oven at regular basis. Get in the habit of going over each component for maximum cleanliness,
  • Avoid over-heating the food, but make sure it is cooked throughout and properly.
  • Avoid eating barbecued meats prepared in halogen oven.
  • Do not have charred foods over halogen heat.
  • Ensure cooking food thoroughly, especially poultry and meat which should be cooked until their juices run clear and no pink color is visible.

Conclusion

Even though a halogen hob or oven is very simple and ideal to use, there are various risks and dangers involved with using halogen heat and an electrical appliance together in the soul of your house- kitchen. Therefore, take all the above safety precautions to have no problems in handling your halogen unit.

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