Yubb. Salad saves my Sims bacon every time. One thing that might come to play is the clumsy trait. Is your cook(s) have that trait? Because I have a Sim who had her stove catch on fire about 6 times in a row until I wised up and had her make the salad until I felt she had sufficient experience under her belt. Not that I had any choice. She didn't have any more money to buy a stove and the insurance money only covered so much. I haven't experienced so much fire since her though but then I don't have many Sims with the clumsy trait that have to be the ones to cook. She lived alone at that time.
Edit to add: You can also call the fire department on the phone if you forget to put an alarm.
