Sure, spicy foods and peppers can make your mouth feel like it’s on fire, but that’s not the only thing that can be impacted from the burn. If you’ve ever chopped jalapeños or other chilis for a dish, you know just how painful that accidental eye rub can be. I mean, it can feel like you were pepper sprayed!
Eating that batch of hot wings can cause the same problem. Before you know it, not only are your mouth and hands burning, but it can get on your face, your eyes...and don’t forget what can happen if you hit the bathroom without thinking about it! That can be one hot tamale!
So what can you do to help stop the burn and make sure you don’t transfer those hot capsaicin oils to yourself, or gods forbid, a loved one?
The burn you’re feeling from peppers or hot sauce is caused by capsaicin, and it’s not soluble in water. Rinsing your hands in water will just serve to move the capsaicin around, not remove it from your skin. Note: This is the same when you eat something spicy. Water won’t put out that fire, it’s just going to make your mouth feel hotter.
In a pinch, if you’re at a restaurant, or if you don’t have anything better, lather your hands judiciously with soap before rinsing them. The soap can help to remove some of the capsaicin…at least much better than water alone.
Many pepper aficionados swear by milk when seaking to quench their burn. You’ll often see the ubiquitous glass (or gallon) of milk at pepper eating contests and on the show Hot Ones. But does milk work? It can!
Remember how we said that capsaicin isn’t water soluble? Well, it does combine with fat and oils. And milk, and dairy products like ice cream, sour cream, and yogurt, can help ease the discomfort of eating spicy foods. That’s why you see these as ingredients in many spicy dishes, from Mexican, to Indian, and Asian. They’ll also work on your hands if you’re been touching peppers or hot sauce. A good soak in milk, or lathering up with yogurt, and help remove the spicy villain from your skin.
While dairy products are convenient for spicy foods, we prefer something else for our hands.
Slathering your hands with coconut oil and then washing with soap and water is our preferred way to tame pepper hands. And believe me, our significant others sure do appreciate it too. Coconut oil is easy to keep in the kitchen, and is more effective than milk (from our experience). Other oils will work too, but “lighter” oils don’t seem to bind as well.
The way to avoid potential pepper mishaps altogether when you’re cooking, is to make sure you wear some gloves when you’re chopping peppers or eating those inferno wings. Sure, it isn’t easy to look cool eating a plate of hot wings with gloves on, but if you’ve ever hit the john after a wing eating session, you won’t care about how “cool” you looked.