Ooo, That's Hot!

While it is hot (forecast calls for a high of 99 degrees) here today, I'm actually talking about the heat of chile peppers. Capsaicin is the natural component responsible for the heat and has been found to be beneficial for pain management when applied topically, typically in cream form. You can make your own, but I think it might be better to use a milder pepper than habanero initially to avoid irritating the skin.

There is a reason that cookbooks recommend wearing gloves when handling chiles. The capsaicin gets on your fingers while cleaning and chopping the peppers and it's very hard to remove. Washing with soap and water just doesn't seem to do the trick. When your mouth is burning from a hot chile, some recommend eating dairy. I believe it's the milk protein that helps neutralize the heat. This site recommends washing your hands with yogurt or milk to help remove the capsaicin, or mixing cooking oil with soap to wash it off. Since I never have dairy in the house, I'll have to remember the oil trick.

I generally don't use gloves when handling chiles for several reasons. I hate the disposable aspect of them, they don't fit well enough so it's harder to do the chopping with plastic flopping at the end of my fingertips, and I usually forget anyway. This morning, I added a dried red chile pepper to some white tepary beans to go out in the solar oven. I didn't think about gloves while opening the chile to remove the seeds and make sure there was no mold inside.

After a bike ride, I wiped some sweat out of my eye. Hoo boy! Oh yeah, I handled a pepper this morning. And by the feel of the burning in my eye, it must have been a hot one. YIKES! I could not open my eye for several minutes. The area around my eye was bright red and the pain was intense. I recalled that a friend had a similar thing happen and using milk as an eyewash worked. No luck there in a vegan refrigerator. Finally, after about 5 minutes, the natural cleansing action of tears must have helped because I could open my eye again.

I kept it open long enough to set up the camera and get this blurry shot for you. Sheesh, I hope those wrinkles are from squeezing my eye shut, not what I really look like!

Please remember safety first when handling chile peppers (or Chile). Wear gloves or wash your hands thoroughly with milk or oil and soap. Try not to touch your eyes or nose for at least a few hours. And for you women out there, put on a glove if you need to change your Diva cup. That really smarts, too!