Hot peppers OMG

[malada]

Back when I was still at work someone left a plastic bag of peppers in the give-away table. I was hankering to make some chili and snagged them at the end of the day. They were small orange and red peppers - about a dozen each. Knowing the locals I thought they might be a variety of sweet Italian peppers. I eventually tossed the bag in the freezer to make chili (with lots of beans) another day.

That day was today. Yeah, I was hoping that I'd make a nice spicy batch this time.

I've handled green, red and yellow sweet peppers without issue. I've even cut up Jalapeño peppers without an issue - but I got half way through cutting up these guys and my fingers started burning. OMG. Hand washing did little to stop the burn. I could only stand to wash in cold water. I ended up using only a quarter of the peppers in the chili. I washed my hands again and again, soaked my hands in oat milk (it was cold so it helped) and then applying aloe. It's been about 3 hours since I chopped up the peppers and my finger don't burn but they hurt.

I did an internet search and I think they were Habanero and or cherry peppers. The chili smells scorching. I'm just letting it simmer right now. I think tomorrow I'll go get a few more cans of beans to dilate the chili a bit more.

Learned my lesson - always identify your peppers before cooking. Feel free to laugh at my silly mistake.

I just hope the chili's not too spicy. I like a good chili but not if it burns both ways.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

That sounds like habanero.

For future reference, the hotness of chili peppers comes from an oil. So the first response if it causes a skin issue is to use dishwashing detergent, which is designed to break down oils. (This also works to get hamburger grease off your hands after kneading meatloaf.) Another option is to dilute it with another oil or fat, such as vegetable oil, shortening, or butter. Rub it over your hands, then wash with an oil-removing soap.

Some peppers are strong enough to cause chemical burns. Once you've done your best to remove the caustic oil, then treat the burn with something like aloe vera gel.

>>The chili smells scorching. I'm just letting it simmer right now. I think tomorrow I'll go get a few more cans of beans to dilate the chili a bit more.<<

Taste before you add more ingredients. That is, put a tiny bit on a cracker. If it tastes good but is too spicy, then diluting it may work. If you don't like the flavor, it's not fixable. Too much habanero tends to taste burnt -- my partner had a similar experience with dried habanero flakes. In that case, it was a pot of lentils right at the edge of edibility, so they filled half a bowl with rice and half with habanero lentils. So another option for your chili would be to pour it over a starch, such as baked potato.

>>Learned my lesson - always identify your peppers before cooking. Feel free to laugh at my silly mistake.<<

Ideally, identify them, but you can also add a small amount and then taste.

[siliconshaman]

Vinegar or lemon juice works to remove chilli burn from hands, it's an organic solvent so it removes the oil, ditto garage goop (soap plus degreaser).

[warriorsavant]

Sounds like should be an government warning poster: "Know your peppers!"