The Hands-Down Best Way To Cut A Jalapeño Without Touching It

If you cook with jalapeños even occasionally, you know the burn is real. It stays on your fingers and under your nails for hours, sometimes days. A quick eye rub or absentminded face touch means you're really feeling the burn. Jalapeños might be small, but the capsaicin they carry (what makes them spicy) has a way of lingering on your skin and making itself known at the worst possible time. You can search for milder jalapeños if you want to avoid some of the burn, but there's a way to avoid the spicy oils when cutting them, too.

The good news is you don't need gloves, gadgets, or a complicated prep routine to avoid the burn. The hands-down best way to cut a jalapeño without touching it is already in your utensil drawer: a fork. This is a pretty quick way to slice a jalapeño and avoid the seeds. Whether you're getting ready to make a classic pico de gallo or guacamole, you can use this method to avoid stinging your skin.

The method is simple. Stick a fork into the top of the pepper near the stem and lay it on a cutting board. Slice lengthwise several times around the pepper, roll it, and slice lengthwise again to get the other side. Then, chop the pepper all the way up to the fork, never touching it with your skin. No lingering burning sensation to worry about or get rid of — just some chopped pepper without the risk.

If you want to remove some of the spiciest parts of the pepper, it may be a little trickier with the fork method. Most of the capsaicin is in the pith, or membrane inside the peppers. So, stick the fork in the top of the pepper like before and slice lengthwise once. Use another fork to hold the jalapeño in place and pull the other fork out. Separate the halves to show the inside of the pepper and stab one half with a fork. Use the other fork to scrape away the membrane and seeds and repeat with the other half.

You can use this technique with other spicy peppers, too. Think habaneros, serranos, hatch greens, poblanos, and other chili peppers like Thai and Fresno. Be extra cautious when going up to higher Scoville level peppers like habaneros, serranos, and especially ghost peppers. These are high on the heat scale and can make the air spicy, similar to onions making you cry. You may want to protect your eyes and nose, not just your skin. 

The fork method can be super helpful in the kitchen when you want to avoid touching a jalapeño. You may even want to wear some safety glasses just in case some juice from the pepper squirts in your eye from cutting, slicing, or scraping off the spicy bits. Hey — it happens. Be careful and use these precautions to keep your skin, eyes, and nose from burning.