Cook Top Dangers
Don’t Store Flammable Items On Your Stove Top
The simmerstats that control the temperature of the hot plates on your cook top can occasionally malfunction and turn on by themselves.
Even when they are turned to the off position it is possible for a faulty simmerstat to supply power to the hot plate causing it to heat up.
It’s not common but it does happen. If you are in the habit of storing flammable items on the stove top you are taking a risk. The risk may be small but the consequences are potentially disastrous.
At the very least you will have a nasty mess on the stove top, at worst a serious house fire.
The best practice is to never put anything on your cook top except for cooking pots and fry pans etc while they are being used.
Avoid placing plastic containers, paper or cardboard or any flammable materials anywhere on your stove top at any time. Even if the hotplate controls are working correctly it’s very easy to turn on the wrong one by mistake and burn whatever has been placed on the hotplates.
A problem can also occur if you remove the knobs from the hotplate controls to allow for cleaning and don’t put them back on correctly. If the knobs are put back the wrong way round the indicator markings will be in the wrong positions. Turning the knob to the off position will actually turn it on.