working with hot peppers

[ricksindexing]

Does anyone know how to reduce the burn when working with hot peppers? besides wearing gloves.

[GA Pinhead]

Rick:

I don't use gloves but I do wash with lots of soap several times. Those habs can be um painful. It is an oil so maybe vinegar???

Picking them is usually my downfall. Something likes to chew one small whole in them. They get some rain water in them. I pick them and of course the water gets on my hands. Amazing how they can hurt.

John!

[e-mail] wrote:

[ricksindexing]

I tried vinegar. It does not work.

[GA Pinhead]

Surgical gloves then?

John!

[e-mail] wrote:

[Steve Calvin]

For the really hot little suckers (habs, etc) the only sure way is gloves. Sorry.

[xx1xx]

[The Cook]

Clorox water.

[Penelope Periwinkle]

Get some sturdy hemostats or fine pliers to hold the pepper, use a longish knife to cut. Watch out for juice running down the blade.

If you get it on your hands, try a degreaser like Grease Relief,

409; that kind of thing. Read the labels to decide which one will work best. If your hands start burning and washing doesn't give you relief, coat them in sour cream or vegtable oil for a minute or so, then wash again with the degreaser.

Gloves are best, though.

Penelope

[David Hare-Scott]

1) Wear disposable plastic gloves (maybe two pairs) and take them off carefully allowing them to turn inside-out, then toss them. Be careful not to touch sensitive parts of your (or anybody else's) body until you shed the gloves. Re-using gloves (eg rubber, leather) is just a way for the irritant to accumulate and end up on your body some time later. 2) If you get it on you (say your glove breaks) rub the affected part with vegetable oil (or a good oily hand cream, even lard or margarine if you are desperate), scrub it over the skin with a scrubbing brush thoroughly, then wash off with plenty of warm soap and water.

This works because the stuff that burns is fairly oil soluble but not very water soluble. The reason it is so hard to get off is because it dissolves in the oil on your skin. This also explains why yoghurt cools a burning mouth more than say cold water, the butterfat in the yoghurt dissolves the irritant from the inside of your mouth and provides some relief.

David

[Laura]

All great tips. I'll just add that you should get any pepper oil off your skin ASAP.

IME, after the pepper oil has been on my skin for a while, it seem to absorb into the skin, and *nothing* will get it off. At that point, all I can do is try to dull the pain and wait it out.

After an extremely painful experience with peppers a few years ago, I now use disposable gloves whenever I handle peppers. As soon as I'm done I use the oil/scrubbing approach on any skin that might have been exposed, just in case.

Laura

[~patches~]

My idea would be to try milk. I know milk is suggested to curb the after burn of eating hot, spicy foods. Sour cream and yogurt are often served along side of spicy foods so maybe even rubbing your hands with either will help. Water makes the hot oil spread so it hurts more. I use gloves myself. From experience do not try to put contacts in until you get all the hot pepper oil off your hands ;)

[Kathy]

Am I the only one coughing from peppers? I don't mind handling them bare handed, but cutting them for freezing makes me cough and gives me a worse case of tears and sniffles than onions do. I have five to ten minutes working time from first cut until I have to leave the kitchen for awhile.

Kathy

[STEPHEN PEEK]

[Al Reid]

I was going to post that same advise myself. You are right, it's unforgettable. I also had it under my finger nails. For about a week, every time I picked something up I got a little reminder.

[Dianna Visek]

I use a baggie held by a rubber band on my pepper-holding hand. A 5% bleach solution will heal the burning sensation if it gets on you skin.

Regards, Dianna _______________________________________________ To reply, please remove "fluff" from my address.

[Al Reid]

That experience was about 10 years ago and I will never forget it. I now always wear gloves and work carefully and haven't had a problem since.

[~patches~]

The fumes trigger my asthma :(

[Charles Quinn]

If you get it in your eyes rub a womans hair on your eyes. Mens hair does not work.

Charles

[Steve Calvin]

Not really. Surgical gloves are really your best bet.

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

Yep.

And take the gloves off before visting the john.....