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Kailani Parkinson

Mrs. Stevens

Life Science

21 February 2020

Does Cooking Oil or Flour Burn Longer?

Did you know that vegetable oil can help remove a splinter? If you soak your finger or

whatever body part the splinter in vegetable oil, it will soften your skin and make it easier for the

splinter to come out (From)! Another fun fact is that a whole grain of wheat makes up 20,000

particles of flour (Facts). I did an experiment on testing to see if cooking oil or flour burns

longer.​ I thought that if I burn cooking oil and flour then the cooking oil would burn longer.

What Is Flammability and Why are Only Some Things Flammable?

Flammability is the ability of a chemical to ignite . Materials are normally rated as

flammable, highly flammable, or non flammable (Flammability). Some flammable substances

are gases, liquids, and solids that will ignite if exposed to ignition.

What Is in Cooking Oil That Makes It Flammable?

Common cooking oils are vegetable oil, canola oil, olive oil, coconut oil, and soybean oil

(Denby). For my experiment I used vegetable oil. The ingredients in vegetable oil can be oils

pressed from seeds, grains, nuts, or the fruits from plants (Most). The ingredients in soybean oil

are a mix of five fatty acids, ​palmitic, stearic, linoleic, oleic, and linolenic. Each acid has a

different melting point, oxidative stability, and chemical function (Soybean). Oil Smoke

points are the temperature of the oil when it gets too hot and starts to smoke. Sunflower

oils smoke point is 390 degrees fahrenheit and soybean oil is 450F (Most).
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What Is in Flour That Makes It Flammable?

Flour is made up of mostly starch, a carbohydrate. A carbohydrate is a substance that is

mostly sugar molecules chained together. An example of a carbohydrate would be a

marshmallow. Many carbohydrates become highly explosive when they’re floating in the air.

Flour grains burn instantly because of how small they are. When one flour grain burns

everything around it will burn as well (Contributors).

How Do You Test How Flammable Something Is?

There are two different kinds of flammability testing, vertical and horizontal. ​The

materials you would use would be placed on a Bunsen burner vertically or horizontally,

depending on which test you’re doing. Vertical testing is based on the length of time it

burns after the igniting flame is removed, how much of the object burns and if it drips

flaming particles. Horizontal tests observe if the material still burns after the test flame is

removed. Furniture and mattress flammability tests are also important because they help

ensure the customers safety. To perform a furniture or mattress flammability test you

would ignite a mattress or a piece of furniture with a lit cigarette or an open flame. This

shows how a product will react in cases of accidental or intentional incidents

(Flammability).

How Do You Safely Burn Things?

When you’re burning outdoors make sure to be at least 25 feet away from any forest

area and your home. Make sure to be 50 feet away from any paved or public roads as well.

There are certain things that are illegal to burn like household garbage, lumber, rubber,

pesticides, tires, paint and aerosols. A safe way to burn something is to burn it inside a burn
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barrel. A burn barrel is a 55 gallon, open head drum, it’s used to burn household trash

safely. If you do burn something outside you need to make sure the weather is right as well.

Wind can affect the rate of spread and intensity of the fire.

What Safety Precautions Should Be Taken When Burning Oil and Flour?

When burning oil and flowers you must stay in the kitchen. Leaving the kitchen may

cause the flour or oil to become too hot and catch fire. Another way to avoid a large fire is by

cooking with a metal lid on hand when using a pot. For a fire to burn it needs oxygen, fuel, and

heat. If you take away one of them the fire can’t burn. Make sure to use a metal lid because a

glass lid will shatter. You can also avoid an out of control fire by clipping a thermometer to the

side of the pot. Say you end up creating a large fire, what do you do? Well, turn off the heat.

Using a metal lid or a cookie sheet will stop the fire as well. If the flame is too large and you

can’t get rid of it a last resort would be a fire extinguisher. It will ruin your kitchen but it will

save your life. Say you don't have any of these, get out of the house and call 911 immediately

(Safety).

Conclusion

I thought that if I burnt cooking oil and flour, then cooking oil would burn longer,

I found out that cooking oil burned longer. ​One of the hardest things about the experiment was

figuring out the temperature and positioning the camera. I expected the flour to take a little

longer to burn than it did, same with the oil. One fun thing about this experiment is that I got to

burn things. The average flour was 30 seconds and the average cooking oil was 50 seconds.
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Works Cited

“Burning Safely Outdoors.” ​Burning Safely​, © 2016 Escambia County,

myescambia.com/our-services/public-safety/beready/other-emergencies/fire/burning-safe

ly.

Contributors, HowStuffWorks.com. “Can Flour Explode?” ​HowStuffWorks​, HowStuffWorks,

1 Apr. 2000, recipes.howstuffworks.com/tools-and-techniques/question150.htm.

Denby, Laura. “Are You Using the Right Type of Cooking Oil for Your Recipe?” ​Taste of

Home​, © 2019 RDA Enthusiast Brands, 20 Mar. 2019,

www.tasteofhome.com/article/confused-about-cooking-oils-bookmark-this-guide/​.

Guest. “How to Make a Burn Barrel - Burn Safe with Less Smoke.” ​Common Sense Home​, ©

2019 COMMON SENSE HOME, 5 Oct. 2019,

commonsensehome.com/how-to-make-a-burn-barrel/.

judyw2340. “Safety Tips for Avoiding Grease Fires When Cooking.” ​Waukesha, WI Patch,​
Patch, 24 Apr. 2015,
patch.com/wisconsin/waukesha/safety-tips-avoiding-grease-fires-when-cooking-0.

“Flammability.” ​Flammability​, ChemSafetyPro.COM, 13 Jan. 2016,

www.chemsafetypro.com/Topics/CRA/Flammability.html​.

“Facts about Flour.” ​FAB,​ ©2018 Fabflour, fabflour.co.uk/fab-flour/facts-about-flour/.

From: Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things. “5 Fun Vegetable Oil Facts and Uses.” ​Reader's

Digest​, © 2020 Reader’s Digest Magazines,

www.readersdigest.ca/home-garden/tips/5-things-do-vegetable-oil/.
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Myrick, Richard. “Flour Fun Facts: Mobile Cuisine.” ​Mobile Cuisine | Food Truck, Pop Up &

Street Food Coverage,​ © 2010-2018 Mobile Cuisine, LLC - All Rights Reserved, 23

Mar. 2016, mobile-cuisine.com/did-you-know/flour-fun-facts/.

“Soybean Oil.” ​Soybean Oil - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics​, © 2019 Elsevier B. V.,

www.sciencedirect.com/topics/food-science/soybean-oil.

“The Most Flammable Items In Your Kitchen.” ​Strike First USA​, © COPYRIGHT

STRIKEFIRST USA, 2 Nov. 2016,

www.strikefirstusa.com/2016/06/flammable-items-kitchen/​.

“Flammability Testing.” ​Www.tuvsud.com,​

www.tuvsud.com/en-us/services/testing/flammability-testing​.

“Weather Elements That Affect Fire Behavior.” ​Weather Elements​,

www.auburn.edu/academic/forestry_wildlife/fire/weather_elements.htm.