Picture this...
You have a dinner party planned for this evening, and you are in the home stretch. Your hors d'œuvres are out and presented; the table is set. The only thing remaining is for you to pull the roasted lamb rack. While you reach for the handles of the roasting pan, you realize the towel in your hand is wet. "OUCH!" You scream, wondering how you are going to get this pain to go away before your guests arrive.
Coming from an industrial kitchen, this used to happen to me and my co-workers on a nightly basis. I used to lather on the burn creams, throw on a band aid and a glove over it; however, this did little for the pain.
I am rather skilled now at cleaning and wrapping cuts, but not great at treating burns. I became careful not to burn myself; nevertheless, there were always the exceptions when I would.
One night when I was at the fish/sautee station, I was burned pretty badly by the cook next to me. He threw his ingredients into a pan with hot oil and it splattered on my forearm. Normally that wouldn't bother me, because I don't use my forearm to cook. Since my arm was constantly over heat that night, the pain was unbearable.
The other Jr. Sous Chef, told me to put a tomato slice on the burn. I looked at him like he was crazy. He explained to me that the acid in the tomato will neutralize the pain. I thought, "what could it hurt?" Sure enough, I placed the tomato on the wound and the aching started to slowly go away.
I have worked in several other kitchens since then, and taught that trick to many other cooks. Not only tomatoes work; my personal favorite is lemon. Squeeze some lemon juice on your burn or hold a lemon slice on it. The pain will start to minimize.
Don't get me wrong, this is not a cure-all. The skin will still be tender and sore to the touch, but it does relieve burn pain. I am sure there are other burn remedies out there, but I find this one to be easy, fast and convenient.
If you have other burn treatments, please share on the comment section below...
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