Cooking Lesson Learned the Hard Way

[Nashoba]

Ok I know this may seem like common sense, but word to the wise.... my darling husband requested that I send him a few jars of my homemade salsa in his next care package. Since I used the last of it a while back, last night I set out to do some cooking and canning so I could fulfill his request. I made two large batches which entailed seeding and chopping nearly 6 cups of Jalapeno Peppers (my salsa rates on the close to lethal scale, but it's good stuff) Here's the catch. I forgot the all important step of donning a pair of gloves before dealing with the peppers. :eusa_doh: By the time I had the last batch of jars in the canner my hands were tingling. 20 minutes later they felt like they were literally on fire. I spent most of the rest of the night (until about 0100 this morning) in a ridiculous amount of pain. I tried everything from washing my hands close to 30 times to soaking them in Sprite and Sugar Water as well as running them under cold water and soaking them in ice water and wash clothes with ice inside and just slathering them in Aloe Vera with Lidacane. This morning they still tingle a little and feel a little warm but thank heavens not the pain I was in last night.
Lesson Learned ALWAYS wear gloves, but has anyone else ever experience this? What was your solution? I thought of the sugar water to counteract the capsaism but I think the oils just soaked too far into my skin. I hope I never do anything that brainless again. talk about a painful cooking lesson

 

[Zig2k143]

God I did this ages ago. I remember my hands burning all night long.... It was a shame cause I was cooking a really nice cajun meal at the time and it kinda ruined it. But your right the lesson was learned.

BTW I was making Jalapeno's Stuffed with shrimp and jack cheese, wrapped in bacon and grilled. MmMM they are tasty.

 

[panamag8or]

Ok I know this may seem like common sense, but word to the wise.... my darling husband requested that I send him a few jars of my homemade salsa in his next care package. Since I used the last of it a while back, last night I set out to do some cooking and canning so I could fulfill his request. I made two large batches which entailed seeding and chopping nearly 6 cups of Jalapeno Peppers (my salsa rates on the close to lethal scale, but it's good stuff) Here's the catch. I forgot the all important step of donning a pair of gloves before dealing with the peppers. :eusa_doh: By the time I had the last batch of jars in the canner my hands were tingling. 20 minutes later they felt like they were literally on fire. I spent most of the rest of the night (until about 0100 this morning) in a ridiculous amount of pain. I tried everything from washing my hands close to 30 times to soaking them in Sprite and Sugar Water as well as running them under cold water and soaking them in ice water and wash clothes with ice inside and just slathering them in Aloe Vera with Lidacane. This morning they still tingle a little and feel a little warm but thank heavens not the pain I was in last night.
Lesson Learned ALWAYS wear gloves, but has anyone else ever experience this? What was your solution? I thought of the sugar water to counteract the capsaism but I think the oils just soaked too far into my skin. I hope I never do anything that brainless again. talk about a painful cooking lesson

Ouch.

Just make sure your husband knows the lengths you had to go through for his salsa.lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

Owwww! I got cayenne in my eye once -- never go near any kind of hot peppers now without full protective gear!

 

[Amelie]

I actually touched my eye after I splached by mistake some tobasco sauce on my hands that wasn't a good experience neither lol

but to be burning like that all night long must really be an awful experience

 

[gluegungeisha]

Ouch, you poor thing! What a sweet gesture for your husband, though.

I don't have any similar cooking experiences, but I have a memorable eating experience (who doesn't?). In India, my group spent a day with a village that was becoming sustainable with their own land and farming. A really kind family prepared lunch for us. I picked up what I thought was a vegetable, and was really excited because I hadn't chomped down on a whole (but still cooked) veggie for ages! You can't safely eat a raw fruit/vegetable in India unless you're a native. As it turned out, that vegetable was a HOT pepper! Now, I normally would have spat it out, but I was a guest to a family that probably spent their entire week's money/resources preparing this amazing meal for us...it would have been an extremely rude gesture. My throat and entire mouth were burning for the next day or so...hahaha.

 

[Nashoba]

Ouch.

Just make sure your husband knows the lengths you had to go through for his salsa.lol

Oh believe me, he will know lol I called my dad to ask for advice (he makes this habanero powder that is beyond lethal) all he did was laugh and tell me how he remembered when he did that...no help whatsoever. It was one of those moments where I wish I could have called my husband to cry about it...and then remind him of just what I put myself through for him.....lol

 

[Tomasso]

A freind of mine once chopped some habaneros peppers sans gloves, then went to the bathroom...before washing his hands.

 

[Paisley]

I vaguely remember handling some hot peppers without gloves, getting pepper oil in my eye and getting it in cuts. I just had to suffer until the feeling went away.

Whenever I eat something very spicy, I chase it with bread or a tortilla. It helps absorb the hot oil, whereas water just spreads it around like a grease fire.

 

[Nashoba]

Ouch, you poor thing! What a sweet gesture for your husband, though.

I don't have any similar cooking experiences, but I have a memorable eating experience (who doesn't?). In India, my group spent a day with a village that was becoming sustainable with their own land and farming. A really kind family prepared lunch for us. I picked up what I thought was a vegetable, and was really excited because I hadn't chomped down on a whole (but still cooked) veggie for ages! You can't safely eat a raw fruit/vegetable in India unless you're a native. As it turned out, that vegetable was a HOT pepper! Now, I normally would have spat it out, but I was a guest to a family that probably spent their entire week's money/resources preparing this amazing meal for us...it would have been an extremely rude gesture. My throat and entire mouth were burning for the next day or so...hahaha.

Oh now that's truly horrible! I remember when I was a kid my dad convinced me that a small red pepper was a sweet one and that I should take a bite out of it. I never ate another pepper he offered me again. He still laughs about it.

 

[Nashoba]

A freind of mine once chopped some habaneros peppers sans gloves, then went to the bathroom...before washing his hands.

**shudder**

 

[Nashoba]

Whenever I eat something very spicy, I chase it with bread or a tortilla. It helps absorb the hot oil, whereas water just spreads it around like a grease fire.

Thats what I do too. Or drink some sprite or other soda with sugar. The sugar helps to dissapate the hot too. I learned that on Good Eats from Alton Brown

 

[RedPop4]

Thats what I do too. Or drink some sprite or other soda with sugar. The sugar helps to dissapate the hot too. I learned that on Good Eats from Alton Brown

The grease fire analogy was particularly appropriate. I have a good friend who is trying to make it in the salsa/sauces business. He makes a fairly tasty mango-habanero salsa among other things.

Anyway, it's the oil that gets you. Make sure to wash your hands with Dawn diswashing soap because it's a degreaser, and it will help get the oil off of your hands.

 

[Joie DeVive]

Whenever I eat something very spicy, I chase it with bread or a tortilla. It helps absorb the hot oil, whereas water just spreads it around like a grease fire.

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but someone told me that consuming protein is the way to go when your mouth is on fire. The thinking behind it was that the pepper is reacting with the protein that is you, and if you put some more protein in there, it gives it something else to react with. So I always drink milk with my hot meals. I find it to work.

Maybe putting your hands in milk would work???
I don't know for sure, but it might be worth a try....

 

[gluegungeisha]

Thats what I do too. Or drink some sprite or other soda with sugar. The sugar helps to dissapate the hot too. I learned that on Good Eats from Alton Brown

I love that show!

 

[Paisley]

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but someone told me that consuming protein is the way to go when your mouth is on fire. The thinking behind it was that the pepper is reacting with the protein that is you, and if you put some more protein in there, it gives it something else to react with. So I always drink milk with my hot meals. I find it to work.

Maybe putting your hands in milk would work???
I don't know for sure, but it might be worth a try....

Kind of like a sacrificial anode...I think of pepper oil as more of an acid burn.

Milk also has a lot of sugar in it; maybe that helps, too.

 

[Nashoba]

I thought about the milk but at the price of milk I didn't think it was worth it....they feel a little better now. I slept off an on with them wrapped in a cold wet washcloth...I finally fell asleep for good around one in the morning. Now they just feel warm and tingly. I'm hoping that by tonight they'll be good as new.

 

[BellyTank]

When eating the hot stuff- always have a good amount of full fat yoghurt nearby. Your plate is a convenient spot.

B
T

 

[Zig2k143]

I love that show!

I am a huge AB fan myself. I even have all his DVD's. I have learned a lot from that man about cooking.

There is nothing more romantic then cooking with the one you love.

 

[Nashoba]

yes but the one I love tends to get in my way in the kitchen . And he makes a big mess. which causes the dog to want to come clean up which makes them both underfoot....