So I got some peppers a couple days ago, dehydrated them, and ground them in a coffee grinder in my kitchen. There must be some thing from the peppers in the air because if I come into the kitchen I start coughing non-stop. Does anyone have a way to get this out of my air? (3 of the peppers are 1mil to 2mil SHU btw) The pepper dust in the air is burning my face.. This is bad. I don't like peppers anymore.
drying Making ground pepper - problem.
- Thread starter backyardpepper
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There really should be a How to guide on peppers that breaks EVERYTHING down before you even start. So far this week I have burned my privates, eyes, hands, fingers, under my nails, face, and now my whole body.. I hit the cap on the grinder a little when it was still running, dust came flying out and onto my clothes, I went to change and while I was changing somehow that dust got all over my body. Why do peppers have to be so painful?!?!
The oils/dust don't wash off my hands so I'm sitting here with gloves on.
The oils/dust don't wash off my hands so I'm sitting here with gloves on.
Sounds to me like you just learned everything you need to know about what NOT to do when working with peppers.backyardpepper said:
Experience outweighs anything you can read about.
Honestly, I am curious here. It sounds as if you have absolutely no experience with chiles. Most people who have never done anything more than eat them in sauce or salsa seem to know not to touch the eyes or privates until the hands have been eradicated of capsaicin. Stuff happens. The best things in life always have a price of one sort or another. So what made you decide to grow chiles and make powders?
Well I was grinding up 7 pot jonah's, the dust/oil stays on my hands no matter what I tried to wash it off with. And yes I have absolutely no experience with peppers. I only ate foods with hot sauce like once a month so I don't know anything about it. As a child my mom would always make me spicy foods, I absolutely loved spicy food, but I didn't know the risks. I decided to grow chiles and make powders because this year I only grew 1 plant, a jalapeno, I love cooking so I decided to use the jalapenos in some of the food I make. I loved the taste so much that I thought it would be much better to grow my own chiles and make my own powder, crushed pepper, hot sauce, and salsa rather than go to the store and buy them. I want to "go organic" and peppers help me do that while adding some heat in my kitchen.geeme said:
Ok, we have a baseline now.backyardpepper said:
First off, only handle chiles with gloves on, regardless of whether they're fresh or dried. I like the Playtex Clean Cuisine disposable gloves and have never had a problem with heat leaking through. (Some disposables aren't so good at that.) Otherwise, get a more "permanent" type of kitchen glove - nitrile as the best - and make sure you only use them for handling chiles. If you use kitchen gloves for other stuff, ideally get a different color for use with your chiles to make it easy to know which is which. Regardless of whether you are using disposable or other, wash your gloves before taking them off. Ideally have someone else turn on the COLD water for you (hot water creates "hot" capsaicin-laiden steam, which will cause even more coughing) and put soap in your hands for you. If no one is around, have a couple of those plastic grocery-type bags around so you can put your hands into them before handling the kitchen faucet and soap dispenser. Many of us use Dawn dish soap. I have found that a combo of Dawn plus Bath & Body Works brand hand soap works better than Dawn alone. Once you've washed your gloves, take them off of your hands then go ahead and wash your hands, too. If you've gotten too much on your skin and a few washings don't help, you need to try a few different things. One is milk or a dairy product like ice cream. Milk can (some say more so, some say less so) help not only calm the burn on the skin, but can also help in the mouth if you're not ready for as much heat as you just ate. Sugary things like sodas can help, too. Things that cut through oils help, as well. Think citrus juice or even the oil from a citrus peel. We all have different tolerance levels and also different things work or don't work for different people.
The grinder you used to make your powder? Unlikely that you'll get all the cap out of it, so plan on only using it to make powders, unless you and your loved ones like spicy everything. Anything plastic will take and hold the heat, as well, so if you have a plastic jar on your blender, it's a good idea to get another for other things. As noted above, you really need to let the dust settle down before opening your grinder. Granted, it still doesn't really matter - even the most experienced of us sometimes gas ourselves. Outside is ideal, but you know, wind sometimes kicks up or shifts directions with little notice. If you have to grind inside, turn on the kitchen vent, open windows, run a fan. But yeah, these things can make the dust swirl, so use with caution.
But yeah, sometimes all you can do is wait the burn out, even after using everything possible to eradicate it. It WILL wear off over time, usually less than 24 hours. However, make SURE you observe the number one cardinal rule - do NOT touch anyone else while you have cap on you, ESPECIALLY your significant other. You WILL be in the doghouse if you do!
beavishogleg said:
those are called the trials and tribulations of hot pepper growing . i ground some first time in the kitchen , mama walked in and the kids about killed them ! lol been doing it in the garage ever since . welcome to the pepper world !
I was making suckers and powder a week ago. Ended up shaving the ol mustache off to stop the pain lol.. and unfortunately I am a nail biter, so my mouth burnt most of the day, with the occassional eye burn..
Ill tell you whats worse than powder in the air. When you put pepper powder into a pan of melted sugar and corn syrup at around 290°.. it hits the lungs damn hard lol.. last batch I stepped out onto the porch to mix it and their just wasnt any wind at all. Brutal.
Such is the chili life
Ill tell you whats worse than powder in the air. When you put pepper powder into a pan of melted sugar and corn syrup at around 290°.. it hits the lungs damn hard lol.. last batch I stepped out onto the porch to mix it and their just wasnt any wind at all. Brutal.
Such is the chili life
hahaha I've learned all these lessons the hard way and still burn myself periodically. Nothing like burning prick....
I had some reaper X Moruga flakes that I ground up and opened grinder immediatly. Nuked the whole kitchen. girlfriend was standing right next to me when it happened. Hit both of us like a atom bomb. She ran out the kitchen screaming I fcking hate you I fcking hate you over and over. My lungs hurt, was drooling and snot pouring down my face... lesson learned. i do all my dehydrating and grinding outside and I let the grinder settle for a minute before I open it. I wear gloves 90% of the time I cut and deseed peppers. The other 10% of the time my nose, eyes , lips and prick are burning.
One the most used items in my house
I use them for cleaning, handling things I don't want to leave prints on, cooking/handling raw meat, peppers... kinky time.. you name it.
I had some reaper X Moruga flakes that I ground up and opened grinder immediatly. Nuked the whole kitchen. girlfriend was standing right next to me when it happened. Hit both of us like a atom bomb. She ran out the kitchen screaming I fcking hate you I fcking hate you over and over. My lungs hurt, was drooling and snot pouring down my face... lesson learned. i do all my dehydrating and grinding outside and I let the grinder settle for a minute before I open it. I wear gloves 90% of the time I cut and deseed peppers. The other 10% of the time my nose, eyes , lips and prick are burning.
One the most used items in my house
I use them for cleaning, handling things I don't want to leave prints on, cooking/handling raw meat, peppers... kinky time.. you name it.
The purple mountain majesty tone must be great for kinky time. Very nice choice of colors. I always end up with blue. I noticed cops have black ones.
D3monic said:hahaha I've learned all these lessons the hard way and still burn myself periodically. Nothing like burning prick....
I had some reaper X Moruga flakes that I ground up and opened grinder immediatly. Nuked the whole kitchen. girlfriend was standing right next to me when it happened. Hit both of us like a atom bomb. She ran out the kitchen screaming I fcking hate you I fcking hate you over and over. My lungs hurt, was drooling and snot pouring down my face... lesson learned. i do all my dehydrating and grinding outside and I let the grinder settle for a minute before I open it. I wear gloves 90% of the time I cut and deseed peppers. The other 10% of the time my nose, eyes , lips and prick are burning.
One the most used items in my house
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I use them for cleaning, handling things I don't want to leave prints on, cooking/handling raw meat, peppers... kinky time.. you name it.
Some people swear by oil bath for Hunan hand.
Put the nitrile on before you start next time!
We all been there.
Put the nitrile on before you start next time!
We all been there.
hogleg said:
Yea I like the purple better than blue. I wear a medium and they are hard to come by. I used to make my old work buy several boxes for me at a time and would always take one home. Current work only buys extra large because the safety guy that orders them is a big fat fuck and only orders things that accommodate him even though he doesn't do any of the work....
Lately my girlfreind been pilfering gloves from her nurses office for me. Most of the time they have powder though and I hate that.