# Hot peppers - "handle with gloves" - really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483 "2007-03-03T23:56:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/21 "2007-03-04T16:23:24Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] my girlfriend was the victim… [/QUOTE] And thus was discovered the worst practical joke ever. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/22 "2007-03-04T16:39:11Z")
[QUOTE=2pelo honey] DEAR GOD, I hope you have stopped before handling those things w/out gloves! Actually, I thought Scotch Bonnets were habanero’s, equally, not ‘closely related’…either way, the highest on the Scoville scale there is…ouch, I think I am twitching recalled my last experience thinking “aw, no worries, mon…why would I want to find and buy plastic gloves to wear…I’m pretty resilient”… Flashback to around mid-80’s, and I was making my live-in SO at the time, a nice batch of homemade lasagna. I’d bought several of those little red italian peppers - cherry peppers? - at a local farmer’s market, as his b-day was at the beginning of Oct. So…I’m futzing around my apt, starting on the sauce, and started w/ the peppers, THEN went onto the onions…well, I had no initial response to the peppers, and then the onions made me start to tear, so don’t I go into the bathroom and splash my face w/ water…with the hands that had handled the peppers…honest ta god, I started screaming out loud, running around my very large apt at the time, and the pain was so bad, I couldn’t even see…not funny here..I mean panicking, and it took 20 min until I was finally able to open my eyes, and they were staring out at me from the bathroom mirror, swollen purple, and extremely painful. I managed to flush most of the toxin off myself, and get through the next few hours, BUT THEN, when I tried to go to sleep that night, realized that the heat had actually bled under the pads of my fingers, and went to sleep on a twin bed in the spare bedroom, w/ bowls of ice water on either side of the bed for my hands to rest in…then, as I slept, I’d roll out of one side, and wake up feeling the burn, then same thing for the other side. Honestly, one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had, stemming from “just not using rubber gloves”…NEVER AGAIN!!! [/QUOTE] Good god, and people actually eat stuff like this? I just never understood the appeal. ---
**Author:** ![2pelo\_honey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/ecb155/32.png) [@2pelo\_honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2pelo_honey)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/23 "2007-03-04T18:33:43Z")
😉 Ya know, I thought about that after writing the post - to end w/…“and after all that, I actually ate the sauce”…I did, and weirdly, it wasn’t too hot/spicy, although I don’t mind a bit of that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/24 "2007-03-04T19:31:50Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Good god, and people actually eat stuff like this? I just never understood the appeal. [/QUOTE] People have differing sensitivities and tolerances. I’m at the point where habaneros are about the only pepper that give me any decent sensation of a burn. I have to be _very_ careful when preparing spicy foods for others because I simply do not taste the heat at lower levels and something that is mildly spicy to me is often inedible to others. It’s not a macho thing–you just build up tolerance over time and you need more and more to get that same sensation. At any rate, I’ve never used gloves to handle hot peppers and, as I said, I handle habaneros and the like a lot. I do know some people who have extremely sensitive skin and will break out in red splotches if they don’t wear gloces. So, if it doesn’t bother you, I wouldn’t worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![mlerose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@mlerose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlerose)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/25 "2007-03-04T20:25:00Z")
My fiance wears gloves now when he handles hot peppers, after an incident where he thought he’d cleaned his hands thoroughly enough after cooking, and then we started fooling around, and then he touched, um, a certain part. There was no more fooling around after that, as I was sitting uncomfortably in the tub for a little while. It’s just easier for him to use gloves and then he doesn’t have to worry about it later. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/26 "2007-03-04T20:39:08Z")
The first time I decided to make chili using actual peppers (jalapenos, not habaneros), it was in my dorm room late one Saturday night. My hands started to turn red and sting like hell. I tried everything I could think of - soap, saltwater, vinegar, baking soda - nothing helped. By 3 a.m. when I still couldn’t sleep, I even called the emergency room, to see if they would tell me anything over the phone - they said they couldn’t do much without seeing me, but that it sounded like I’d basically given myself a chemical burn. I finally fell asleep around dawn, face-down, with each hand in a bucket of iced saltwater with baking soda. My Salvadoran roommate, the one who eats pickled jalapenos straight out of the jar, had gone home for the weekend and found me like that when she got back to the dorm the next day. She couldn’t stop laughing when I told her what had happened. Thankfully, my skin isn’t quite so sensitive anymore. Oddly, habaneros don’t usually bother me, but the occasional serrano does. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/27 "2007-03-04T21:22:22Z")
I wouldn’t normally wear gloves if chopping up just a couple peppers. I’m fairly experienced with them. But one time a friend gave me a couple bags of Hungarian Wax peppers, which are considered relatively mild, pepper-wise. After spending part of an afternoon cleaning, chopping and freezing them and carefully washing my hands I felt pretty safe. I knew better than to stick my fingers in my eyes, duh. My hands did have a mild burning sensation to them. But then I went to take a shower and lathering my scalp with shampoo spread the capsaicin _everywhere_: eyes, nose, and all points south. So, a couple peppers, no gloves. A lot of peppers, gloves. IME, washing your hands is somewhat meaningless. The hot oils need time to go away, not soap. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/28 "2007-03-04T21:57:50Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Now, I’ve dealt with these things quite happily plenty of times. I certainly make sure I clean my hands thoroughly after chopping them, and have never had any trouble. Does anyone ever actually bother putting gloves on just to chop up a chilli? [/QUOTE] I don’t wear gloves when I chop chili peppers, but there have been a few occasions where I wish I had. I chopped some jalapenos for use in a BBQ sauce and afterwards went to the bathroom to pee. I washed my hands and returned to watching television when slowly but surely a burning sensation built up and radiated from little MGibson until it started to hurt. Another time I ended up rubbing one of my eyes on accident and that hurt as well. My wife always wears gloves when cutting peppers. Marc ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/29 "2007-03-04T23:01:19Z")
Gloves? Never heard of such a thing. We handle all kinds of chiles nearly everyday. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/30 "2007-03-04T23:05:50Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] Remember, folks, use _milk_ to flush the area. [/QUOTE] What **E** said. Also works when you accidentally chomp into one of the suckers. I use scotch bonnets on the regular, usually in curry or rice and peas. I recommend gloves because you really want to seed and remove the ribs of the fruit. That’s where the incredible heat lives. If you leave the seeds and ribs in, you’re a masochist. Scotties are hot enough as it is! ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/31 "2007-03-04T23:17:42Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] I use scotch bonnets on the regular, usually in curry or rice and peas. I recommend gloves because you really want to seed and remove the ribs of the fruit. That’s where the incredible heat lives. [/QUOTE] One of the things I like about using scotch bonnets is that they’re easy to deseed - chop the stalk end off, and slice three or four chunks off the body, leaving a seed ‘skeleton’. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/32 "2007-03-05T02:00:55Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Good god, and people actually eat stuff like this? I just never understood the appeal. [/QUOTE] Of course sensitivity varies and the effects listed in the section you quoted didn’t involve actually eating the peppers. They are quite tasty. The heat adds a nice layer to foods and combines with other tastes pleasantly. There’s a certain chest thumping machsimo boost involved in the consumption of truly hot items. The pain causes endorphins to be released providing a mild and entirely legal high. As long as you are careful in the handling and in the recognition of your own limits, peppers is good food…unless yer a durn sissy. 😉 edit: [Here’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_peppers#Nutritional_value) some more information concerning the benefits of peppers. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![b3tour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@b3tour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/b3tour)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/33 "2007-03-08T00:29:19Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] One of the things I like about using scotch bonnets is that they’re easy to deseed - chop the stalk end off, and slice three or four chunks off the body, leaving a seed ‘skeleton’. [/QUOTE] I agree the deseeding is pretty straightforward without gloves – but if you want to remove the ribs, which is where the heat lives, it seems to me it would be tricky to do without gloves. I’ve never tried to take out the rib, but knowing the anatomy of Habaneros, I certainly don’t like to mess around with the insides with bare fingers, beyond just scraping the seeds out with the flat of the knife, which can certainly be done without gloves if you know what you’re doing (and, presumably, the pain of defeat). Just giving a small dice doesn’t seem to be a problem, as long as the quantity is limited to around 6-12 peppers and one pays basic (albeit careful) attention. The oils get everywhere on the board and knife when chopping – can be something to watch for even if one dices only a small handful of Habaneros or similar. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/34 "2007-03-08T06:37:19Z")
I guessed that since it’s present in the oils of the plant, that you could probably remove it by using oil. The wiki entry on capsicum says that it’s lipophilic, so it seems to me that rubbing with oil and then washing the oil off might be more effective than just washing with soap and water. While satisfying my curiosity about whether that would be an effective treatment, I found an article with the stirring title, [Red Hot Chili Pepper and Hemorrhoids: The Explosion of a Myth: Results of a Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial](http://www.springerlink.com/content/02h537k58736gwr6/). I particularly like the title, but this bit, > [@](#): > > _Methods_ Fifty patients with second-degree and third-degree symptomatic hemorrhoids were randomly assigned to take a capsule containing red hot chili powder or placebo during lunch, scoring five hemorrhoidal symptoms (bleeding, swelling, pain, itching, and burning) on a visual analog scale, makes one wonder; exactly what is a visual analog scale for hemorrhoidal symptoms? (Please don’t answer that.) ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/35 "2007-03-11T22:42:48Z")
On the bright side, The gazpacho is delicious but… Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! I cut up a one stupid tiny little habanaro – I usually use jalapeno peppers and have never had a problem not using gloves. I thought it would be okay this time, too and it was fine for about a hour after I cut the thing up. But my fingers, especially right under the nails are on fire. Right. Fucking. Now! So far I’ve tried [ul] [li]detergent[/li][li]salt[/li][li]lemon juice[/li][li]ice water[/li][li]bleach[/li][li]alcohol[/li][li]cortisone cream[/li][li]tomato sauce[/li][li]stomping around the house swearing[/li][/ul] Why didn’t I open this thread when I saw it the other day? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483/36 "2007-03-11T23:43:36Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] stomping around the house swearing Why didn’t I open this thread when I saw it the other day? :smack: [/QUOTE] IMHE, this is about the best remedy, other than time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-peppers-handle-with-gloves-really/394483.md?page=1)