TIP: Jalapeno Burning? I have a solution!

Monday evening I prepped the vegetables for our dinner Tuesday night. Included in the vegetables, were 4 jalapeno peppers.  So I did what I would normally do prepping any peppers.  I cut them in half, grabbed the seeds with my hands and tossed them, then cut long strips of pepper, and then cut across creating little squares.

3 hours later, I felt some slight burning, but nothing painful.  I washed my hands with dish soap and the burning went away.

Next morning, I woke up and took a shower, about 10 min after my shower, my fingers were on FIRE!!!! Starting to panic, this needed to stop.  So I went to my go to person, Google.  After searching for "how to stop jalapeno burning?" I found a web forum with may different solutions.  

Try #1: Cover your hands in milk/oatmeal.  I have this lotion called MILK, it is the best lotion in the world, and I thought it would work because it is dried milk solids and oat protein combined in a thick luxurious and moisturizing lotion.  Well the burning sensation got worse after applying the lotion.  So DO NOT USE for soothing jalapeno burning, but I highly recommend it for everyday use.

Try #2: Use a fat: Oil or Butter.  I used olive oil, I poured it all over my hands and rubbed it in as much as I could, but once again the burning got worse.

The Solution: Baking Soda!  I wiped all of the olive oil off my hands, and then rinsed my hands so they were a little wet, and then coated my hands in baking soda.  I felt cooling almost right away, but the burning was not gone immediately.  I sat over the sink for about 30 min (boring!), but finally the burning was gone.  Phew! I rinsed my hands again, and I was able to get back to work.

Going forward I am going to stick to using gloves!