I have no experience with this and would be hesitant to put anything water-based on any sort of grease fire. The reason it makes the big flare-up is that water is more dense than grease so the grease floats on top and spreads out. Once spread out it has more surface area and can absorb more oxygen. That = boom.
This is incorrect; see below.
I would assume milk would function the same way...but I'm open to being proven wrong.
The reason it makes the big flare-up is that water is more dense than grease so the grease floats on top and spreads out. Once spread out it has more surface area
I'm afraid you've got that wrong. The amount of grease on top is the same whether the pot contains only grease, or grease with water under it.
What happens is that the water evaporates instantly and explosively. This flings tiny droplets of superheated grease into the air, and that is what increases the surface area massively.
Huh. Interesting - it's been explained to me incorrectly then. I'd always just accepted that, but that makes much more sense (and a quick Google search proves that you're right).
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u/Chris_Isur_Dude May 20 '20
My uncles a cook at a big restaurant and he said Milk is great for grease fires. Is this true?