Cooking Burns and Scars

[dougery]

Were you cooking with magnesium? That's a new twist.

[chezcherie]

when i was in culinary school, my (female) pastry instructor told me that when (female) pastry chefs get married, they have to have long sleeved wedding gowns to hide the burn scars.

[Mabelline]

No. I did not attempt cooking with magnesium, but while welding I crossed it's path--and it whupped my ass. It's kind of like the poisoning you get from working with galvinized steel--a necessary evil.

I still want to reiterate that the fat from the wok was far more painful; that took my breath away.

[chromedome]

I will see your left-handed smoke shifter and raise you a bacon stretcher and quart of white food coloring.

One of my colleagues worked for a local chain, Joey Tomatoes, right across the street from an Earl's (a powerhouse regional chain). They collaborated frequently on perpetuating the "gas the new guy" tradition.

One favourite was to send the newbie across the street to ask the hostess for a "longstand." The hostess would say something like, "Okay, hon, I just have to seat a couple of tables and then I'll look after you." After ten or fifteen minutes, that one would generally sink in.

I guess every industry has these. At Radio Shack, one of the standards was to get the new guy to count the bulk wire and cable at inventory time. "How do I do this?" was their inevitable question. We'd point to the floor and say, "The tiles are 18 inches. Just pull all the wire off the spool, count the tiles, and do the math." And then we'd see how long we could keep a straight face.

My brother-in-law works in the oilpatch, and they've got some *serious* practical jokers there. One of his co-workers got pushed into his locker, the lock was closed and then the lock was welded shut, and the locker was then transferred to a remote portion of the site and left for two hours.

....of course you know, payback is a bitch...

[agbaber]

So quick question.

Lets say you're making...creme brulee.

And it needs to be in a water bath while in the oven. Now, you put the dishes on a hotel pan, and put it in then oven, then pour the water in.

Now, after baking, this water is hot.

How, exactly, do you get it out of the oven and onto the counter without spilling the hot water everywhere? The hotel pans we use here are flimsy, and wobble back and forth when held with 2 hands, and REALLY wobble with liquid in em.

I've burned my thumbs/forearms about a dozen times now, and haven't found a way to do it.

The first person to answer, "Very carefully" gets a thwacking.

[snowangel]

Put a sturdy sheet pan under the water bath pan?

[Malawry]

I used to bake them in a half-sheet pan instead of a hotel pan. I could then pour the water off the corner of the pan carefully when I pulled the pan out of the oven. The only danger: I could easily get my dry towel wet from the pouring water and it would therefore get hot.

Another method: Pull the rack holding the hotel pan of finished creme brulees out from the body of the oven and use tongs to transfer the ramekins to a sheet pan. Then you don't have to worry about wobbling when you pull the hotel pan out of the oven...the brulees are already gone.

[Samhill]

I have never done this, but coudn't you leave a couple channels between the ramekins, then rool up a couple towels, open the oven, put the towels in the channels, let em soak up an amount of water, and then move the pan?

Just a concept I hope will turn into an idea.

[TheFuzzy]

One of my colleagues worked for a local chain, Joey Tomatoes, right across the street from an Earl's (a powerhouse regional chain). They collaborated frequently on perpetuating the "gas the new guy" tradition.

If you haven't read Jaque Pepin's auto-biography, you need to read his description of the "new guy" prank at the Grand Hotel in Paris, where he worked as an apprentice.

I won't try to describe it here, I wouldn't do it justice.

[dano1]

never ever give up a dry towel or 3 ;). sorry, carefully is the correct answer. Depending on size/shape of your ramekin/egg shirring dish, that will tell you to use a sheet or hotel pan. As said tongs can be very useful. Nothing worse than dumping your water bath into a sheet full of creme brulees unless it's on you. Try some oven mitts maybe, a lot thicker. Will take a while to feel the steam, get them off qiuckly.

hth, danny

[agbaber]

See, the big problem is that the place I work at, doesn't have "real" hotel pans. They arent sturdy at all. Even when empty, they wobble like aluminum.

Sigh.

Ill try taking the creme brulees out individually, but most of the time theres other stuff in there, and I can't leave the oven open for a while. (Only one oven.)

Argh.

[Mabelline]

agbaber, hi. How many of these do you have to make in a day? Because this is a safety issue, and you need to talk to whoever orders your kitchen sundries, and tell them the problem. If they won't get you the appropriate pan, buy one and keep it in your locker.

I know, I'm a rockhead, but employee safety has always been a concern.

[JennyUptown]

Top of right hand, about an inch and a half long, close to a centimeter think.

"Achieved" while reaching into boyfriend's oven to flip something that was toasting under the broiler that would have been better served with a toaster (boyfriend didn't have one).

<<<<<<<<<SIZZLE>>>>>>>>>

Hand went too high. Ouch.

Pain, suffering and loss of mobility after two days drove me to the doctor. Second degree burn with broken skin so he made me get one of those nasty tetanus boosters. More ouch.

Boyfriend got a toaster for Christmas.

[stephenc]

I have burns and knife wounds on my fingers! But doesn't everyone?

[zilla369]

See, the big problem is that the place I work at, doesn't have "real" hotel pans. They arent sturdy at all. Even when empty, they wobble like aluminum.

Sigh.

Ill try taking the creme brulees out individually, but most of the time theres other stuff in there, and I can't leave the oven open for a while. (Only one oven.)

Argh.

I feel your pain. I didn't often burn myself, but more often sloshed hot water on top of the custards. Try pouring water off the top of a hot custard. Eventually i hit on the suggestion posted above, and put the water-bath pan on top of a sturdy sheet pan.

Also, i don't pour the water in until the pan is sitting in the oven with one corner poking out.

As for burns, brulee sugar is pretty bad - if i'm in a hurry and stick my finger in the molten sugar while garnishing the top. Ouch.

My favorite stupid burn, which i can't seem to keep myself from repeating: Pulling blanching veg (like tomatoes) out of a pot of boiling water with tongs at the wrong angle, and having boiling water run out the hinge end of the tongs and down the inside of my jacket sleeve. Boiled elbow, anyone?

[KatieM]

I'm just a home baker, but I've actually got quite a few nasty ones.

Right ring-finger knuckle - sugar burn. Since I was 11 years old. WHY my mother let me play with sugar when I was 11 is beyond me. Or maybe she didn't. Hmm, I probably did that one while she was taking a nap and dad was at work or something.

Deck of cards sized scar on the tender flesh of my inside left forearm. Two years ago, getting bread out of the oven (450), glass pan, somehow managed to press my entire left forearm onto the glass. Went to doctor two days later. They had to to the scrapey thing (they actually took a razor blade and scraped the burned flesh from my arm). I have a decently high threshold for pain, but I nearly fainted when they did this. I gladly took the bottle of percocet they gave me. Ok, maybe I'm a wuss. 450 isn't that hot, but honestly I think it was the worst pain I'd ever experienced.

Recent one - I was steaming some fondant pieces for a cake (to make them shiny). Did I put them in a colander? Of course not. Held them one by one over boiling water. Took it like a woman.

When you're trying to look sexy (at least for women) cooking scars just don't make it.

Alas, I have to face facts that I will never be a hand model. Though it does make for interesting conversation (I show you mine, you show me yours). And I will NOT be wearing a long-sleeved wedding gown. That's just silly. Besides, I'd need to wear gloves too, then.

Katie

[Mabelline]

That's an interesting thought. Perhaps when sleeveless gowns with elbow length gloves became popular among the Less-Than-Hoi-Polloi had less to do with fashion, and more to do with the advent of ranges in kitchens.

[FistFullaRoux]

I'll vote for the roux burn. Sugar does stick longer, but the oil/flour mixture gets hotter, especially when making a dark roux.

The nickname says it all. Incident with a wooden spoon that was being used to stir the developing roux, and I stopped for a second to grab a towel. 3 seconds later, when trying to grab the top end of the spoon, I bumped it instead, and ended up catching the business end when it flipped in the air.

The only 2 burn scars that still show are the one on my ankle from a motorcycle exhaust, and one on the forearm from a soldering iron. All of the bakery, McDonald's grill, and pizza place scars have gone away.

[Samhill]

I was peeling a carrot, at 9 yo you hurry to see how fast you can do it.

Comma shaped, and yes, I ran to mom.

Give it up.

[Alex]

There've been so many, they all blur together...

The earliest one I clearly remember was a lesson in mindfulness somewhere in my early 20s: trying to slice some recalcitrant vegetable but winding up slicing the side of my index finger. The scar is still there.

[Bicycle Lee]

I was probably 10 or 11...a nice slice right on the top of my left pointer finger...still have the scar today.

[jayt90]

I have no early cuts, but a few burn scars, on both under arms. I saw Anthony Bourbain looking for this when he visited a kitchen recently. It is real easy to get a burn under the elbow when you're picking up a pot from the oven, improperly protected...

[Pickles]

Bagel-cutting on Easter Sunday 1979. Deep cut and subsequent scar on fleshy palm side of thumb from holding bagel flat with left hand and sawing away with the right like an idiot. No bandages in the house. Mom runs to Jewish neighbor's house...where Mrs. Goldman said that's what I get for eating bagels on Easter! (She was kidding...) Various other small scars from grease spatters and cuts on left fingers. That's left hand...not fingers that are left!

[alexhills]

cut myself amusingly last week - dropped a knife which was about to fall on the cat's head, deflected the blade with my hand, saving kitty but dinking my finger. then had to get the cat away from the fish I was working on while I went and repaired myself. kitty was more grateful for the monkfish than the self-sacrifice.... dunno if it will scar though.

[Ovenfrenzy]

I was in my twenties. Just watched some Chinese cooking show on PBS involving lots of furiously fast paced chopping that just said to me"Go thou and do likewise." I'm not capable of sustaining such a pace and my knife slipped and cut off the fatty tip from the fleshy part of my thumb, which fell to the floor...and was promptly eaten by my cat.