5 Ways To Get Jalapeño Off Your Hands
The trick is to keep the spicy oil from spreading.
There are no shortage of ways to use spicy jalapeno peppers in recipes, everything from Jalapeño Popper Dip to Cucumber-Jalapeño Gin Coolers. While the allure of spicing things up may be exciting, the thought of preparing jalapeños – and then getting the spicy oils off your hands to prevent any eye or skin irritation – may immediately put the kibosh on any immediate recipe plans.
Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to get jalapeño off your hands as long as you're prepared ahead of time.
“This happens way more often than people think, and I can attest that it is not fun,” Chef Jerry Lanuzza tells Southern Living of accidentally transferring the spicy oil from jalapeños from hands to other parts of the body.
Lanuzza cautions against using just running water to rinse the oil away. “You risk the chance of spreading capsaicin (the oil that makes jalapeños spicy), because it is an oil that can be spread with water,” explains.
So if rinsing with water isn’t the trick, what are the best ways to get jalapeño off your hands? Lanuzza shares some of his top tips below.
Meet The Expert
Jerry Lanuzza, MS Ed., CHE, Associate Professor, College of Food Innovation and Technology, Johnson & Wales University, Charlotte Campus
About Jalapeño Peppers
Jalapeño peppers belong to the family of chili peppers. “Most chili peppers have capsaicin in them, which causes them to become hot peppers,” explains Lanuzza. “Some peppers like a red bell pepper have very little to no capsaicin so they are sweet.”
A jalapeño pepper has some capsaicin, which puts it into the lower end (milder end) of the “hot pepper spectrum.”
“Other peppers such as cayenne, tabasco, scotch bonnet – or habanero – and ghost pepper are much spicier because they contain a higher concentration of capsaicin,” Lanuzza says.
Related: How to Pickle Jalapeño Peppers
Why It's Important To Get Spice From Jalapeños Off Your Hands
Capsaicin is an oil-based compound that does not “just rinse away” by running your hands under some water. In fact, if one just uses water, it will pick up the oils and spread them around to non-affected areas.
“If you do not get the pepper oils off your hands, the capsaicin can transfer to other foods, thus making them spicy, or can be transferred to other sensitive parts of the body – like your eyes – causing burning and irritation,” Lanuzza explains.
Lanuzza adds extra caution for those with sensitive skin.
“The oils in the chili pepper – such as internal juices, pulp, membranes, and seeds – can cause severe irritation on the hands and anywhere else that might interact with pepper oils,” he says.
Related: How To Grow Jalapeños In Your Garden Or Patio Containers
5 Ways To Get Jalapeños Off Hands
Once the capsaicin has touched your hands, it’s important to know the best ways to remove it to avoid any skin or eye irritation, as well as to make sure the spicy doesn’t transfer to any other food or drinks.
1. Wear Disposable Gloves
The easiest way to prevent getting jalapeno juices on your hands is to wear gloves.
“I recommend wearing disposable gloves, but be careful when removing them when you're done working with the chili peppers (as) the oils can transfer to the hands during the removal of the gloves,” Lanuzza says. “It is always a good idea to wash your hands with soap and water whenever you remove gloves during cooking or meal preparation.”
2. Wash With Kitchen Strength Soap
When you are done working with the peppers, wash your hands with a good amount of kitchen strength soap, such as Dawn dish soap and water, scrubbing all the way to your elbows to make sure you get any oils that may have come in contact with your skin.
“Be sure to wash the cutting board and cutlery that you used as well, or the oils may get back on your skin by cross-contamination,” Lanuzza says.
3. Wash With Acid
Lanuzza recommends using an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar.
“Capsaicin is an alkali, which can be neutralized by an acid,” he explains. “Rub your hands with lemon juice or vinegar to neutralize the capsaicin and then wash your hands as above.” However he cautions this is more of a hit or miss approach based on the concentration of acid that is used.
“Not all acids are the same, much like all chili peppers are not the same,” Lanuzza says.
4. Wash With Milk
Milk can be used for the same reason as lemon juice.
“Milk contains lactic acid, which can help neutralize the capsaicin,” he explains. “Rub your hands with copious amounts of cows’ milk – soy or almond does not work – and then wash with dish soap and water.”
5. Wash With Vegetable or Olive Oil
Use a little bit of vegetable or olive oil in your hands and rub them together.
“The idea is that the added oil will blend with the capsaicin, thus lowering the concentration of pepper juices and then making it easier to wash away with the dish soap method,” Lanuzza says.
What Should You Do If You Get Jalapeño Pepper Juice In Your Eye?
The eye-watering burn that occurs when capsaicin is transferred from hands to eyes is enough to make even the strongest person wince. Lanuzza says that as with most things, it depends on the person and the amount of capsaicin that is in the peppers that are being processed.
As with using just water to remove the oil from hands, using just water to flush your eye runs the risk of it spreading.
“If it is a severe irritation, you may want to flush the affected eye with milk in hopes of neutralizing the alkali with lactic acid,” Lanuzza says, adding to avoid using lemon juice or vinegar to flush eyes. “Regardless, even when the capsaicin is neutralized, the exposure to the eye has inflamed some nerve endings and it is going to take some time for those nerves to calm down. I have never found anything that makes the burn go away instantly.” (And as always, consult a medical professional for how to handle specific issues.)
Related: How To Cook With Hot Habaneros Without Losing Your Cool
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Read the original article on Southern Living.
