When do kids start using oven/stove without close supervision?

[Anonymous]

My son has been cooking simple things since he was 7 or 8, including dicing stuff with a sharp knife. Mac and cheese, french toast, butter chicken, rice, baking cookies, scrambling or boiling eggs, mixing pudding, melting chocolate for icing. Simple stuff.


He was fine around the stove top from about age 10, but much more hesitant to deal with taking things out of the oven itself. He's just now OK with that at age 13.

[Anonymous]

My just turned 11 year old can pretty much do anything in the kitchen if I’m in the house (not in the kitchen supervising, just in the house)
He’s made cookies, brownies, meatloaf, fried eggs, and soup by himself since this all started. I helped him get the meatloaf out of the over just because it was big and heavy.

My 8 year old can do pancakes and scrambled eggs on the stove top. And she’s made cookies and put them in the over, but I’ve taken them out.

I don’t think your biggest issue is your kids abilities, but rather your husbands reaction. Yup, they might burn themselves. They might make a mess or break things or burn things or whatever. That’s ok!

[Anonymous]

My kids started being able to use the microwave by 6 or 7, and the range by 7-12, depending on the kid and the type of range. The only hesitation I have about your set up, OP, is that your range is gas so I would move the age to 10-12. If you had an electric range then I would say by 7-8 the kids could start scrambling eggs, make a grilled cheese sandwich, bake cookies or brownies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10 year old bakes by herself. There's always an adult at home, but not supervising, per se.

+1

[Anonymous]

My 12 year old has been making scrambled eggs unsupervised for at least 2 years. She also can heat things independently in the toaster oven (chicken nuggets, bagel bites, etc.) Her 9 yo sister has no interest in learning at all even though she is capable and trustworthy.

I think it depends on the kid.

[Anonymous]

When my kids were 9, they could both use the microwave. Lots of conditioning about metal though. Plus the time I didn’t realize the alumni mug had metal in the paint on the rim and it caught fire. That drove the point home. By 12, they could both use the oven. But they were probably 13 and 15 before I was okay with them doing either when no adult was home.

At 15 and 17, they are fine on the stove, but the stove is gas and I still don’t love the 17 year old ADHD boy using it. I have come in and found it not completely turned off. The silent gas leak part actually concerns me a lot.

I am not a cook. My husband is. DD bakes some. You start out by asking them to heat something up while you are nearby and keeping an eye on it. And then slowly loosen up.

Speaking of which. Your DH sounds like a real winner. Tell him to calm the f—- down. Kids get bumps and bruises and small burns because they are kids. It’s not like you help a match up to the kid’s hand.

[Anonymous]

13y old use the countertop convection oven to make pizza rolls, nuggets, etc. The gas range makes me nervous. He has ADHD and it only takes one dish towel too close or forgetting to turn off the gas to have a huge issue with serious implications.