Pepper Spray

I don't taste test peppers for spice level when I add them to dishes. It adds an element of suspense to every meal. But I do sometimes remove the seeds, which does a lot to temper the spice levels of very hot peppers. I used to remove the seeds by chopping up the peppers and dumping them into a colander and blasting them with water to try to wash away the seeds. It was a fine method until I employed it on some habaneros, which when hit with the spray created a mushroom-cloud mist of spice that scorched my eyeballs and airways. It was a harsh lesson. Not as bad as my friend who learned he had to wash his hands before going to the bathroom after chopping peppers, but still harsh.