Hot peppers provide an extra flare and spice to any dish. Whether you are looking to pack on the heat to your homemade salsa, or make a spicy stir fry, hot peppers are a delicious, flavorful vegetable to add to a variety of meals.
However, hot peppers can be challenging to handle, regardless if they are slightly hot or the world’s hottest peppers! The last thing you want is to burn your skin, face, or eyes while you handle hot peppers. No matter if you are harvesting, handling, or cutting hot peppers, you always want to prioritize your health and safety. Hot peppers can and will burn your skin if you don’t properly prepare to handle the vegetable carefully. And, even if you do burn yourself, it’s important to know what methods are effective at stopping the burning sensation from the hot peppers.
In this article, you’ll learn the various ways to carefully handle hot peppers to ensure you don’t burn your skin, and if you do, how to stop the burning sensation.
Wear Rubber Gloves
No matter if you are harvesting, chopping, washing, or however you may be handling your hot peppers, it’s essential you wear rubber gloves at all times. This is because rubber gloves will provide protection for your hands/ arms to prevent them from getting irritated.
Even if you are in a rush, whether you need to quickly chop a hot pepper for a dish you’re making and don’t have time, still get in the habit of wearing gloves. Otherwise, you risk burning your skin which will take a lot more time out of your day to remedy.
It’s important to note to always replace your rubber gloves if they are ever punctured in any way. This is because when you are handling hot peppers, this still puts you at risk for the oils to enter via the hole in your gloves. And, as always when you are finished handling hot peppers and remove your gloves, always wash your hands with soap to ensure you have no hot pepper oils whatsoever on your skin.
Wear Plastic Bags
If you don’t have rubber gloves, no problem! When handling hot peppers, whether it be when harvesting to chopping the peppers, consider wearing plastic bags over your hands. This adds a layer of protection to your skin and ensures that no matter how you are handling the hot pepper, you have something for the pepper oil to catch then just immediately getting on your skin.
Don’t Touch Your Face Or Eyes
This is a rather obvious tip; nonetheless, even if you aren’t chopping your hot peppers, whether it be you just picked a hot pepper from your garden or are washing one, never itch your face or eyes. And, always remember to wash your hands with soap and water after handling hot peppers.
Use Milk (Or Any Dairy Product)
If you happen to burn your skin thanks to handling hot peppers, consider using milk or another dairy product (like yogurt or sour cream) to reduce the heat/burning sensation. This is because capsaicin (the part of the hot pepper that causes the burning sensation) can be easily dissolved with the help of dairy products. So, if you do experience burning from hot peppers, consider putting or soaking the given area in dairy products such as milk.
If you happen to feel burning in your eyes, you can also try carefully pouring small amounts of milk into your eyes as a sort of rinsing process to stop the burning sensation.
Scrub Your Hands With Dish Soap
Another way to stop the burning sensation thanks to hot pepper exposure is by washing your hands with dish soap. This is a simple, quick, and effective way to reduce burning, especially on your hands. Make sure you are washing your hands and nails completely to get rid of all the hot pepper oils on your hands and under your nails.
Use Rubbing Alcohol
Rubbing alcohol is another great way to reduce burning from hot peppers. Simply apply the rubbing alcohol onto the affected skin and then wash it off with soap and water. Whether you accidentally got hot pepper juices while tending to your hot peppers in your garden, or improperly cut your peppers while chopping, a little rubbing alcohol works great to reduce the burning.
Use Vegetable Oil
Another product to reduce burning from hot peppers is by rubbing a good amount of vegetable oil onto the skin. This works great because the oils help dilute the capsaicin in the hot pepper, which in turn helps reduce the burning feeling.
Apply Vinegar
Vinegar has acetic acid that helps neutralize the capsaicin, which means vinegar helps reduce the burning sensation felt by hot peppers.
So, the next time you accidentally get hot pepper oil on your skin, whether it be from picking some in your garden to cooking with one, pour vinegar on the affected area of the skin. If you also feel burning in your mouth from hot peppers, you can even rinse your mouth with some vinegar to reduce the burning feeling.
Blink Fast
If you unfortunately get hot pepper into your eyes, another fast-acting way to reduce the burning sensation without needing any other products is by naturally blinking fast causing your eyes to tear up. This is will help cleanse and flush out the hot pepper oils.
Resist The Urge To Shower
Last but not least, don’t shower! If you happen to experience burning from hot peppers showering will only spread the capsaicin which is the part of the pepper that causes the burning feeling. Furthermore, showering with warm water will only open your pores up more, increasing the burning you feel.
Meg is an author at Cinnamon Hollow. She writes on a variety of topics sharing tips and ideas for daily life.