What are your home remedies for small domestic accidents while cooking?

[MypinchofItaly]

Sometimes it happens while you are cooking, to run into some small (hopefully) domestic accidents. Of course I cook with all the tricks of the case, but sometimes I am distracted or interrupted by something else and so I end up burning or cutting myself, or even grating myself.

One of my favorites is the oven, I believe I have toasted enough parts of my arms by checking or removing things from the oven.

But what scares me the most is Oil. One of the immediate remedies that someone advised me is to immediately apply ice to stiffen the burned part and then apply salt because it seems to destroy the bacteria .. and then eventually go to the nearest pharmacy or consult a doctor, depending on the entity of the burn and pain.

Do you have any home remedies that you use in case of oven or oil burns or anything else?

 

[Morning Glory]

Sometimes it happens while you are cooking, to run into some small (hopefully) domestic accidents. Of course I cook with all the tricks of the case, but sometimes I am distracted or interrupted by something else and so I end up burning or cutting myself, or even grating myself.

One of my favorites is the oven, I believe I have toasted enough parts of my arms by checking or removing things from the oven.

But what scares me the most is Oil. One of the immediate remedies that someone advised me is to immediately apply ice to stiffen the burned part and then apply salt because it seems to destroy the bacteria .. and then eventually go to the nearest pharmacy or consult a doctor, depending on the entity of the burn and pain.

Do you have any home remedies that you use in case of oven or oil burns or anything else?

Burns go straight into ice cold water. I've been known to sit for several hours with my finger in a glass of cold water.

 

[CraigC]

Its like dealing with snakes, the question is not if you'll get bit but when. Burns usually get ignored, cuts get band-aids and grates usually don't bleed so nothing. then there is always rum!

 

[ElizabethB]

My issue is knives
I use very sharp knives and a mandoline
A small nick on my finger produces lots of blood.
Immediate pressure with a clean towel then a tight wrap with a bandaid or a gauze bandage
Because my knives are sharp cuts heal clean.
Burns are awful.
From an accident in 04 I have serious nerve damage. My hands are stupid
I had a pot of potatoes boiling. Picked up the pot to bring it to the sink
It slipped from my hands
Boiling water spilled on my feet. That required a trip to the walk in clinic

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Burns go straight into ice cold water. I've been known to sit for several hours with my finger in a glass of cold water.

Same here: I'll have one hand in the ice water, and the other preparing food, drying off and continuing with both hands as needed, and then reimmsersing my hand. It always seems that I have to put that same hand into an oven at some point, and the oven mitt is suddenly not so much protection.

I do have burn cream on hand after one particularly bad burn.

and grates usually don't bleed so nothing. then there is always rum!

I have a box grater that's wickedly sharp, and I have scraped myself before. At that point, I pick the bloody bits of cheese out, then rinse off (the grater and my hand), bandage up, and continue.

Mandolins are a different matter: I am so careful with them because I know that I'll end up in the hospital if I'm not. I have a cut-proof glove for small things (like Brussels sprouts), but otherwise I'm happy to waste the top 1/4 inch of a carrot (or munch on it later) rather than risking it.

I have only cut myself badly with a knife once, preparing something on New Years Eve (note to self: don't drink and cut!)

 

[MypinchofItaly]

..and never grate something when you just have made a manicure. I grate fingertips, nails and nail varnish.

Its like dealing with snakes, the question is not if you'll get bit but when. Burns usually get ignored, cuts get band-aids and grates usually don't bleed so nothing. then there is always rum!

I assure you that the grater slices up like a guillotine .. especially then if you use the part to get the thin flakes / slices ..
But the rum before or after?

 

[MypinchofItaly]

My issue is knives
I use very sharp knives and a mandoline
A small nick on my finger produces lots of blood.
Immediate pressure with a clean towel then a tight wrap with a bandaid or a gauze bandage
Because my knives are sharp cuts heal clean.
Burns are awful.
From an accident in 04 I have serious nerve damage. My hands are stupid
I had a pot of potatoes boiling. Picked up the pot to bring it to the sink
It slipped from my hands
Boiling water spilled on my feet. That required a trip to the walk in clinic

oh gosh, it must have been terrible, I'm sorry

 

[CraigC]

..and never grate something when you just have made a manicure. I grate fingertips, nails and nail varnish.



I assure you that the grater slices up like a guillotine .. especially then if you use the part to get the thin flakes / slices .

Before, during and after!

 

[MypinchofItaly]

Same here: I'll have one hand in the ice water, and the other preparing food, drying off and continuing with both hands as needed, and then reimmsersing my hand. It always seems that I have to put that same hand into an oven at some point, and the oven mitt is suddenly not so much protection.

I do have burn cream on hand after one particularly bad burn.


I have a box grater that's wickedly sharp, and I have scraped myself before. At that point, I pick the bloody bits of cheese out, then rinse off (the grater and my hand), bandage up, and continue.

Mandolins are a different matter: I am so careful with them because I know that I'll end up in the hospital if I'm not. I have a cut-proof glove for small things (like Brussels sprouts), but otherwise I'm happy to waste the top 1/4 inch of a carrot (or munch on it later) rather than risking it.

I have only cut myself badly with a knife once, preparing something on New Years Eve (note to self: don't drink and cut!)

The mandolina is another thing if I can avoid it, I do it willingly, but sometimes it is really necessary for me. Not that slicing with a knife is much easier, also because I don't see well up close, I have to wear glasses and when I forget to put them on, then there are fingertips that bleed.

A cut-proof glove? You just suggested something I had never thought of.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

Before, during and after!

and hands fly away!

 

[Mountain Cat]

I did the mandoline thing one night while making scalloped potatoes. Those potatoes were no longer vegetarian, shall we say..

Fortunately I didn't need to see the doctor, instead I multiply bandaged the finger, and held my arm over my head for the next 20 or so minutes. Dinner prep got truncated... next time, treat with rum AFTER an injury, not BEFORE!

Burns: Ice water.

 

[Morning Glory]

When using a mandolin I always use a guard - in fact the mandolin I have came with one. Its just a plastic 'shield' with a slightly pronged surface to grip the item being sliced. So, I've never cut myself that way. I once severed a tendon in my thumb with a knife though...