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Comment by Semaphor | Hacker News Reader

2018, 127 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17540401

I made this back then! It’s what taught me to use gloves with chili. The capsaicin managed to permeate my skin, and for around 3 days my hands would start burning if they only got slightly warm. I had to sleep with my hands slightly raised, so they wouldn’t touch either the mattress or the covers (or my own skin). Nowadays, I always have nitrile gloves for any kind of hot chili recipes ;)

I think it was great, I guess I’ll make it again this year.

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Similar story with me. I was at my grandma's house for the holidays and wanted to can a bunch of jalapenos. I'd slice them in half, rub the seeds/guts out with my thumb then slice them into rings and throw them in a jar to boil. Did several pounds... Night came and I couldn't sleep my hands were burning so bad. Touching the sheets or anything would shoot pain. I went and dug through her medicine cabinet and found some tylenol with codeine pills. Took a couple and managed to go to sleep but woke up in the morning and they were still burning. Was like that for 3 days or so.

I’ve had this from peeling roasted green chiles. My hands felt chill-hot and tingly for 2 days. It seems like abrasion cleans it off better than solvents or soap.

Try washing with milk if it ever happens again, should help.

Ha me too! I couldn’t believe that burn and how long it lasted. I soaked my hands in milk as placebo one day.

We had a kid just after making it and therefore loads of visitors for meals - everyone commented on how good it was and wanted some. I’m gonna make it again.

I made some and loved it too, a few different various things added but one I think was important was some fruit. An apple or some mango or something adds something quite beautiful.

I really recommend trying some other lacto-ferments. Green beans are great, as are tomatoes (those on toast are fantastic). I make them with my 3yo as it's just "kinda chop & add ~2% salt".

“Wash” your hands in oil (capsaicinoids are most soluble in oil), then wash off the oil with strong detergent like dish soap.

It doesn’t eliminate the heat, but it reduces it by (to my perception) about 80%. Using gloves annoys me, and this method allows me to skip them.

I got used to gloves, I use them for handling ground meat as well, especially when making sausages.

Another thing to watch out for is opening the lid to a pot of stewing chiles. I had a friend that made sauce like this often and when she’d open the lid, it was like chemical warfare.

Worse with a blender. You aerosolize them and then stick your face in it. Just like being hit with mace or bear spray

Use gloves if you’re ever handling a lot of tamarind as well. It’s more acidic than you might think and it will burn your skin.

Same thing with lemons, especially if you're in sunlight.

Yeah I had to juice a bunch of lemons a few days ago (1/4 lemon just speared with a fork and juiced into a strainer to catch the seeds, which is quick but also covers basically your entire hand in juice) and I was surprised how almost raw my hands felt after for basically the rest of the day.

Any citrus, and a few other plants as well: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/lime-juice-and-sunshine-c...

I feel dumb, I just now rubbed my eye after eating hot sauce. Senor Lechuga Hot Sauce .003 - very good but very hot and my eye is on fire.

Avoid touching sensitive areas if you handle chili peppers or hot sauce, eyes, nose, groin...

That’s the expected burn. What surprised me, was that the non-sensitive area "hand" would burn, and that it would seep below the top layer of the skin so you can’t even clean it off.

The nerves are below the skin surface so...

Rubbing your eye after handling peppers is a definitely a problem - I’ve had that issue when peeling roasted green chile. Going to the bathroom can be risky, too. I had a vivid experience with that after chopping up a couple jalapeños at Taco Cabana one time…

Contact lenses. No matter how much I cleaned my hands, put oil on, butter...next morning putting my contact lenses in were 10 second of bleakness.

I've also had a similar experience peeling and crushing a massive amount of garlic by hand with no gloves. Not as bas as with chilis, but still caught me by surprise.

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