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Post by Spruance on Oct 19, 2007 18:31:02 GMT
My Mum has been preparing some of my Cheyenne and Pinnochio's Nose chilis this afternoon for freezing.
Due more to luck than judgement, she wore a rubber glove on one hand but only because she had cut her thumb this morning.
Almost two hours afterwards she was complaining of a burning sensation on the unprotected hand, despite rinsing it several times in soapy water.
Having checked online, it appears that best practice is to always wear gloves when preparing chilis, and ensure that you don't touch any unprotected part of the body during the preparation process. Surgical gloves are the best option apparently, as they allow unrestricted movement.
The rather unexpected cure for contact with the hands only, is to briefly immerse the hands in a solution of one part bleach mixed in 5 parts of water. This dissolves the Capsaicin compound which gives chilis their heat. To relieve symptoms in the mouth the suggestion is to use dairy products such as milk or yoghurt. Milk can also be used as a follow up to the bleach treatment for the hands.
Since many of us have grown chilis for the trials it may be a good idea to follow best practice to avoid any problems.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2007 18:36:16 GMT
On a more basic level......After handling chillies always wash hands with cold water, as how water just binds it to your skin.
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Post by andy on Oct 20, 2007 9:01:48 GMT
And a little note for us boys who never had any toys when we were kids and have to play with *ahem* other things !!!!!!!, BEWARE.....it hurts  I grew some apache chillis this year and i thought i'd try their "hotness" by eating a tiny amount of the fruit...not the seeds and for the next 2 hours, i was doing the dance of a thousand vestal virgins  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2007 13:16:46 GMT
A few years ago, we got some Scotch Bonnet chillis from the Nigerian shop down the road ... it was obvious that we could not use them as is (even blew OH's head off), so we cut them open (wearing gloves), removed the seeds and pith, and soaked them, hoping this would 'milden' them ... but even the smell of the soaking water was too much! Won't be trying those again ... cheers ...
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