Kitchen DIY: How to Cook with Peppers without Getting Burned

Kitchen DIY: How to Cook with Peppers without Getting Burned
Buy at Amazon

In making hot sauces and other things that use hot peppers I am getting used to accidentally contaminating sensitive areas of my body with the oily resin that makes peppers burn.

As a matter of fact in a couple of my videos you hear me warning my help not to rub their eyes after using hot peppers.  Without fail they always seem to get burned.  It almost always happens after they wash their hands and think they have the hot pepper resin off of their hands.

Since I got tired of feeling guilty for laughing at them I decided to do some research to see how to cook with peppers without getting burned and the solution is actually pretty simple.

Soap doesn’t do much to remove the oleoresin capsicum from skin, generally only time works.  Fortunately since it is an OILY resin it is possible to saponify (turn to soap) it.

Much like using sodium hydroxide to turn fat to soap calcium hydroxide (in bleach) can make the the oil water soluble.

Mix a 10% beach solution using bleach and water and dip your hands in the solution from time to time as you are working with peppers.

When you wash the solution off you also remove the pepper residue.

Now don’t be stupid an use the bleach on sensitive areas like your eyes or genitalia, and make sure you wash the bleach off very thoroughly.

Use common sense and I think you will be very pleased.  I know that in the video below I found this to work much better than expected.

I tried this (well a version of this using a less caustic chemical) to get the same saponification process last time I got pepper sprayed for certification.  The science was valid, it was well documented in a paper from the poison control center (using milk of magnesia) – unfortunately it did not work.

I do know, from experience, and from the video above, that bleach solution DOES work on the hands and kitchen utensils to allow you to cook with peppers without getting burned.

It clearly removes the hot pepper oil off of surfaces.  Just once again.  DO NOT use it around the eyes or mucus membranes.

Recipe: Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

Recipe: Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos
Buy at Amazon

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos are an addiction.  They are simple to make and taste so good.

I especially love them when the peppers come right from my own garden.

Since I have made my own bacon and cream cheese this is a recipe I can truly do from scratch.

I don’t know anyone that does not like these jalapeno bites.

Ingredients:

  • 1 package bacon
  • 1 package cream cheese
  • a pound (or so) jalapeno peppers

Materials:

  • Wooden toothpicks soaked in water
  • Spoon
  • Knife
  • Baking Dish

Procedure:

  1. Cut peppers in half and scrape out the inner flesh and seeds
  2. Cut bacon in half
  3. Spoon cream cheese into peppers
  4. Wrap strip of bacon around pepper and hold with toothpick
  5. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

These bacon wrapped jalapenos are gone very quickly, I tend to eat some as they come out of the oven.  I find that if I am making these for a party I need to make a double batch just to ensure there are some to take.

They are pretty easy to make, and I can eat them in huge numbers, but I dislike cutting up the peppers so I don’t make these as much as I want.  However, for those that are sensitive to the capsicum, I have a video that shows how to cut peppers without getting burned.

How to Make Spaghetti Carbonara

 

Recipe: Spaghetti Carbonara
Buy at Amazon

I love cooking Spaghetti Carbonara, it is cheap, easy, and tastes great – But I really like the cheap…
My only problem with this recipe is that my wife doesn’t like it because she does not think the eggs are cooked (because I hide the part where I dump in the hot bacon fat).

Of course pasta with hot fat and bacon are not quite in my wife’s diet plan so I understand that part,  but man is this a good recipe.  As a matter of fact, just writing this makes me want to go ahead and cook some tomorrow.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Ingredients

  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 8 slices bacon, diced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 pinch salt and black pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Procedure

  • In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti pasta until al dente.
  • Meanwhile in a large skillet, cook chopped bacon until slightly crisp; remove and drain onto paper towels.
  • Reserve the bacon fat
  • Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, and heat in reused large skillet. Add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until onion is translucent.
  • Next. add minced garlic, and cook 1 minute more.
  • Add wine if desired
  • Cook one minute.
  • Beat Eggs in separate bowl
  • Return cooked bacon to pan; add cooked and drained spaghetti.
  • Add beaten eggs
  • Toss to coat and heat through, adding more olive oil if it seems dry or is sticking together.
  • Toss constantly with tongs or large fork until eggs are barely set.
  • Quickly add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and toss again. Add salt and pepper to taste (remember that bacon and Parmesan are very salty).
  • Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and set aside.
  • Finally, serve immediately with chopped parsley sprinkled on top, and extra Parmesan cheese at table.

The hot spaghetti and hot oil will cook the eggs almost immediately – but if you are afraid of disease from raw eggs – you can cook longer, bake in oven to make baked spaghetti, or you can raise your own chickens so you are confident in the quality…

Kitchen DIY: Genny’s Berry Butter

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
Buy at Amazon

Genny is making berry butter.  As she says in the video, the recipe is forgiving, you can use almost any amount of fruit or butter to add or subtract from the flavors you desire.

Its pretty simple to make.  It is not as easy as my honey butter recipe, and I don’t use it as much, but for a treat it can’t be beat.

Ingredients

  • One cup of frozen blackberries, but you can use any fruit.  The frozen fruit thawed to about a half cup.
  • One tablespoon of honey
  • 2 Sticks of unsalted butter (softened)

Procedure:

  • Mix ingredients until the butter is light, airy, and well mixed
  • Next place a sheet of alumium foil on a cutting board
  • Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the foil
  • Spoon the berry butter onto the plastic wrap and shape into a log.
  • Roll the butter into a log by wrapping the plastic and foil around it.
  • Twist one end of the log shut
  • Like making sausage tighten the other end in the opposite direction which will compact the butter
  • Set the log in the refrigerator for a couple hours to let it firm up (Not strictly necessary)

This berry butter is GOOD.