Comments on: Kidde FX10K Kitchen Fire Extinguisher, 82CI

By: Patrick K. Miller

Patrick K. Miller — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:21:07 +0000

I have a rather small kitchen with only one stove. This extinguisher is huge for a space that is less than a professional kitchen. I know that if a problem comes up I will be glad that I have it, but I really don’t have a place to put it, and if I leave it out, it’s taking up valuable space. I do have a smaller kitchen extinguisher this was going to replace but I will keep the older one. The older one is about 1/3 the size.

I guess it comes down to the size, do you have the space? Do you really need one of these when a smaller more compact one could do?

So in closing, I gave this a four star rating as I really don’t know how well this will work (and hope to never know). The packaging was adequate, shipping was fast, the extinguisher arrived fully charged, has a mounting plate and looks like I could put out a forest fire. I will recommend this if you have the space and need for a big extinguisher.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: David Hopkinson

David Hopkinson — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:11:16 +0000

I ordered and received two Kidde kitchen fire extinguishers. One was empty upon arrival, as was indicated by the pressure dial pointer in the red. The devices have a plastic key which must be broken in order to use the extinguisher.

The plastic key was not broken: the tank was empty when it was packed and shipped.

I was required to pay shipping in order to return it. The deadline for a return is pretty tight. Being as I have to ship during the Christmas holiday rush, I doubt that I will meet the deadline. In shipping it, I was losing more money.

I will not do business with that company again. I wish that I was able to rate this purchase in negative numbers; one star is too generous.

Update: ANTOLINE contacted Amazon and credited my account with the value of the fire extinguisher that I had returned to them. Now I will give them 2 stars. Rating: 1 / 5

By: Douglas W. Jack

Douglas W. Jack — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:34:25 +0000

This extinguisher is something I had been intending to stock near my kitchen for several months, and I'm glad to have it. Though I can't speak for how well it puts out fires yet, I will say that it is labeled clearly, and is an appropriate size for the kitchen.

As well, it looks decent and yet inconspicuous enough that people don't notice it much.

Rating: 5 / 5

By: Nichol Wind

Nichol Wind — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:39:05 +0000

The January/February 2010 issue of Cooks Illustrated features a test on how fire extinguishers performed in kitchen fires. Kidde’s FX10K 10B:C Kitchen FX10K and Kidde FA110, 1-A:10-B:C FX’s were the highest recommended units. Kidde provided information and suggested products to the reporter for this article. A copy is attached under customer images.

Rating: 5 / 5

By: Pen Name

Pen Name — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:54:00 +0000

EVERYONE should have a kitchen fire extinguisher. The FX10K is an attractive design and mounts easily. Unlike many extinguishers, the red safety tab is easy to remove when you are panicking and trying to get it off in a hurry. If there's a fire, you are not going to be looking at a safety tab and trying to figure out how to take it off, you're just going to be ripping at it to remove it, and this comes off easily. Unless you have small kids who play with things, I would even suggest removing it in advance to break the tabs, and then reinserting it with the tabs already broken. That way you can get it off very easily, yet it still acts to prevent accidental discharges.

Unlike the fire extinguishers you may be familiar with, this is a sodium bicarbonate dry chemical extinguisher, designed specifically for grease and oil fires (although it will still be somewhat effective for regular fires). As most people know, you should never throw water on a grease fire, but instead smother it with sand, flour, or baking soda. This extinguisher essentially propels baking soda onto the fire to prevent the chemical reaction between heat, fuel, and oxygen, and put out the fire. Although dry chemical extinguishers like this are becoming less popular than wet chemical extinguishers, this is still a very effective product. I wouldn't buy one of these for a commercial kitchen, but would for a home.

We had a kitchen fire in our oven, and flames shot up the side of the wall. The fire was contained mostly to the oven at the time, but the Kidde FX10K had it out within about 2 seconds flat. It does discharge the entire cannister very quickly (you can only really use this once), it is so effective that you shouldn't need to use it very long, unless you freak out and miss the fire completely. Another advantage is that, since it's essentially baking soda, you can just wipe up the chemicals with a wet rag once you're done, and the extinguisher shouldn't cause any real damage. You could spray your sofa with this stuff and clean it up fairly easily.

I strongly suggest anyone who doesn't have an extinguisher in their kitchen designed specifically for class K (kitchen) fires purchase this and keep it in a convenient location. I firmly believe our house would have burned down had we not had it. Rating: 5 / 5