Joy of Burning.

[rootofnewt]

Some of you may remember explodingcat's adventure with capsaicin burn.

Now, you'd think he learned a good lesson there, right?

Twenty minutes ago, he walks in with a scotch bonnet pepper. Says, "Hey you wanted this in the meatloaf, right?" I confirm, tell him to wear gloves, and he wanders off.

He comes in shortly thereafter, stumbling against doorways . . . his eyes are screwed shut and streaming. "I think I got pepper juice in my eyes."

So I quickly look up a fix and tell him I'll go cut the aloe. Being manly he says, "NO! Oh, god. No! You can't cut that!" (I'm allergic.)

So I fill the eyewash cup.

He washes out his eyes. Tells me that it's amazing stuff because it works on both icy hot and pepper juice.

Then I ask him, "Honey, did you wear gloves?"

"No. I didn't really touch it that much."
"Did you think I was joking about the gloves."

He nods and shakes his head at the same time.

"Sweetie, I'm trying not to laugh at you while you're in excruciating pain, but . . . . Do you KNOW what the scoville units are on the teeny little pepper you just cut?"
"No."
"125,000 to 350,000. It's up there with the habanero."
"oh."

He wanders back to the kitchen with his bloodshot eyes and I descend upon LJ.

Comments

[twostepsfwd.livejournal.com]

I feel ashamed every time I admit this, but I once mindlessly sorta-kinda picked my nose after handling habaneros. Yeah. Um, not so fun. Not so fun at all. But still better than the jalapeno-contact-lense incident.

[ismene.livejournal.com]

This is why I simply never handle chili peppers of any sort. I know that they are dangerous, sneaky things, and in between thinking "I need to wear gloves" and actually putting on said gloves I would completely forget that I need the aforementioned gloves.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

Apparently, explodingcat is not a Learning Animal.

Ouch.

Ask Tim about the Habanero Vodka sometime.

:-D

[compostwormbin.livejournal.com]

OMG ouch!

Some things just aren't worth mbeing macho over. I could see my hubby ignoring a warning like this with similar consequences. Though in his case usually it's a lifting warning because he has back trouble.

[sharp-blue.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, my Dorset Naga plant is starting to flower...

[never1eighty.livejournal.com]

Mr F refuses to wear gloves when cutting scotch bonnet peppers and then does things like touch me. So I get the burn he's obviously impervious too.

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

*grin* Scotch Bonnets *are* habaneros, just a sub-variety that grows a little more rumpled and redder. Same species, and they crossbreed.

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

Also, reencountered the Rules Of Peppers elsewhere:

Nine out of ten times, small is hotter than large.
Nine out of ten times, narrow is hotter than round.
Nine out of ten times, green is hotter than red.
The habenero, or scotch bonnet, is the exception to all three of the above rules.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I figured they had to be super close, since I can't typically tell the specific varieties apart. Small, orange, lantern-ish. Scotch bonnet sounds much more deadly than "habanero". Like it's a poisonous fungal wasp or something.

(The scotch bonnet mushroom is actually edible.)

[seeliespright.livejournal.com]

But we love him anyway.

[hnybny.livejournal.com]

Yeowch! For future reference, Thai peppers are evil too.

[short-line2.livejournal.com]

LOL Having grown a lot of different hot peppers over the years, Thai peppers being the most prevalent with at least 10 plants every year for the last 15+ years, I can fully relate to this post. While I am not bothered much by the peppers my wife is. Yet unlike explodingcat she learned years ago to wear gloves.

I never thought of using hot peppers in meat loaf. I did put two habaneros (one scotch bonnet and one chocolate) in a 4 quart batch of chili. I ended up with the whole batch to myself as no one else could stand the burn. LOL