hot crop,hot hands

[BUFFS]

REF peppers and chillies,we harvested our peppers and chillies from the greenhouse and decided to blanche them,we spent hours deseeding and chopping them,ready for the freezer.we did know about always washing your hands carefully afterwards,but did not realise it woud make our hands hot for the next two days,and you still had to be careful where you put your hands,my wife rubbed her eye some hours after we had finished only to find her eyelid burning.i think next time we will use gloves(nobrainer) but still grow them as i have just seen the price of them in store,and would really miss using them.

[Two_Sheds]

that sounds like a lot of work!
I just hang mine up in the kitchen to dry, then pull one as needed. Pop it in a glass of water to rehydrate, before adding to recipe

oh, and I cut them with scissors, so I don't have to touch them

[FionaH]

I just freeze mine as they are, then chuck them into food straight from the freezer

[Reb Williams]

we did know about always washing your hands carefully afterwards,but did not realise it woud make our hands hot for the next two days,and you still had to be careful where you put your hands,

Friend of mine was telling me a terrible story where he was handling chillies and then went to bed for a spot of nookie... his wife leaped up and ran out and I don't think she talked to him for the rest of the week. hee hee

Reb

______________________________
should I publish? Vote now at Grow Your Own Cows

[HotStuff]

Chillies can cause reactions sometimes. Several years ago my GF at the time and I were preparing a Thai Green Curry, she preped the Chillies and her hands came up all red and puffy for a couple of days. Yet she'd done that kind of thing many times before without a hitch.

Like Two Sheds I tend to just string my crop up into Ristras and let them dry out, far less faffing about and quite decorative.

These days when I work with Chillies I generally wear gloves. When I've finished I take the gloves off, wash my hands and then stick each of my fingers in turn into my mouth. If I'm going to get a burning sensation I would much rather get it in my mouuth than my eye or, Heaven forbid, somewhere else

[BarleySugar]

I buy the disposable gloves now. Last year I made some chilli jam, and my hands felt as if I'd stuck them in boiling water, especially around the nails. It lasted for 2-3 days.

[crichmond]

Gloves is a good idea but the juice in the chillies can eat through them so something to keep an eye on.
Personally I dont wear gloves the technique I use is to rub my hands with a little cooking oil this blocks the pores in the skin with oild and stops the juice of the chillies entering the pores when done wash hands thouroly with washing up liquid and your hands dont sting your eyes or anything else.

[annacruachan]

I find that gloves make cutting up veg almost impossible. For just a couple of chillies I keep contact to one finger on my right hand and two on my left, then scrub them immediately with washing up liquid on a scourer. When I make chilli jam I use the chillies whole and blitz in the food processor. When they have been frozen it does not take so long to scrape out the seeds, I find.

[poly]

Ooh like your tip for rubbing cooking oil on hands first, I'll try that later today. Wish me luck, I'll try the ol touch finger to tonge trick (after washing my hands ) just to check

[ilikesoup]

The Chilli lady at our local farmers market advised as well as adding sugar to reduce heat when cooking, if you wash your hands using sugar (like a sugary hand scrub) that will also remove heat etc from hands. Works for me! On a sep note, rubbing your fingers with a stainless steel spoon is gr8 for removing garlic smell!

[Marge]

At the allotment club I help out at we made some chilli jam and didn't wear gloves ... oh the pain! My hands were STINGING for hours. I think I tried everything from lemon juice to milk to bathroom cream cleaner(!) to get my hands clean

A lesson to us all: use gloves when preparing chillis

[Florence Fennel]

My daughter took a chillie from me yesterday, hot cayenne. She tested it with the end of her tongue and had to suck an ice cube all night!

[ginger ninger]

I buy those latex use once gloves, I had a really bad experience with chillies a few years ago (scotch bonnet), I'm really careful around them, I wash my hands all the time, anyway this day I rubbed my eye, it must have been 2 hours after I'd chopped the chillies up, I spent 3 hours at the hospital having my eye rinsed out.. I don't ever want to go through that again....very painful.

[Reb Williams]

My daughter took a chillie from me yesterday, hot cayenne. She tested it with the end of her tongue and had to suck an ice cube all night!

I find milk or yogurt is better than cold water or ice for cooling off the tongue after chillies; I remember once reading that there is a proper chemical reason for this but I'm afraid I can't remember what it is. Anyway, I do remember reading that that's why yogurt raitas are usually served with hot curries in India.

Reb
_________________________________
Finally published, thank you for voting: adventures in self-sufficiency - Grow Your Own Cows

[HotStuff]

I find milk or yogurt is better than cold water or ice for cooling off the tongue after chillies; I remember once reading that there is a proper chemical reason for this but I'm afraid I can't remember what it is. Anyway, I do remember reading that that's why yogurt raitas are usually served with hot curries in India.

Reb
_________________________________
Finally published, thank you for voting: adventures in self-sufficiency - Grow Your Own Cows

Reb, it's because the chemical that is actually responsible for the heat in Chillies, Capsaicin, is not soluble in water. Something fatty will do the trick though, like milk, ice cream. yoghurt or even peanut butter.