Beware of the Capsaicin

Today I decided to tackle the job of processing the jalapenos from our garden.  I picked out a recipe for easy jalapeno jelly and, even though I didn't have enough sugar to do the canning, I decided to go ahead and stem, seed and vein the jalapenos.  I read through the recipe tips, got my gloves and began to carefully cut the jalapenos.

 

About halfway through the jalapeno mountain my hands started to tingle.  I switched to a new pair of gloves.  My hands began to burn.  I finished 2/3 of the jalapeno pile and cried uncle.   

My hands were on fire so I washed them with soap.  The burning continued.  I did a quick check on the internet to see if there were tips to help ease my pain.  There were several suggestions:

Vegetable oil provided relief for a few minutes and then it didn't.

Unfortunately, the advice given didn't include drinking the alcohol.  Rather, I was to pour it over my fiery hands.    While this was more successful than the oil, I couldn't see soaking my hands in alcohol every few minutes to keep the burn away.  Since alcohol was suggested and I didn't have rubbing alcohol, I tried to think of something that was high in alcohol but not liquor.  This fit the bill. 

And, it worked.  I reapplied several times and waited several hours before the burn went away completely but, hands down, the hand sanitizer was the best solution.

From my jalapeno experience I have determined that if I can't even cut them without pain there is no good reason for me to ever grow or eat these precarious peppers again.