I burned my face with steam from oven

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:56 am

Yes, Saturday I burned my face quite severely with steam when I opened the oven door and an enormous cloud of hot steam came pouring out.

I was roasting cut up sweet potatoes, squash, parsnips, and carrots in the oven on two large jelly roll pans at 425 degrees. It was a single layer, not piled up on the pans. I set the timer for 20 mins. When I looked through the oven window I couldn't see them clearly and besides I wanted to turn them over and switch the pans around. When I opened the door a crack and was bending over, the hot steam burned my face. I screamed and slammed the door shut. Thankfully my eyes were protected by my glasses. I held a bag of frozen vegetables on my face to relieve the pain. My lips blistered and broke open later that evening. My one cheek has a bad burn but it didn't blister. There are several other areas that are still quite sensitive.

I mention this so that others here do not make the mistake I made by trying to roast too many vegetables at one time. LESS IS BETTER. The vegetables ended up being oven steamed rather than nicely brown and roasted. They didn't go to waste though. With my Paleo cooking I am finding roasted vegetables are so much better tasting than steamed or microwaved.

desertrat · Post by **desertrat** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 11:09 am

Oh my! Thank God that your glasses protected you! Do you have any aloe vera gel or spray? I've heard that it helps tremendously with healing.

Take care and thanks for the advice!

Mandy

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 11:21 am

Sounds really painful. Glad you're ok. Danger lurks in unexpected places.

Jean

TXBrenda · Post by **TXBrenda** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 11:54 am

Sorry this happened to you. Hope you heal quickly. This sounds crazy but it works on burns. If you have it, put shaving cream on the burned areas - even if all you have is the gel. Not sure why it works. This takes the heat out right after the injury.

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:24 pm

I had no idea that you could get steam burns cooking vegetables in the oven. Thank you for the warning. I hope your burns heal quickly.

Gloria

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 1:54 pm

Wow, that's scary Charlotte. Glad you're okay. I like lavender oil applied right away to burns. It usually prevents a blister and seems to heal a lot quicker.

nancyl · Post by **nancyl** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 2:24 pm

Charlotte,
That's terrible, so glad you didn't damage your eyes. It must have been so painful. I will be more careful, that's for sure.

Nancy

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 3:18 pm

Charlotte,
I, too, have done that. Both on my face and on my hands. It's incredibly painful. The last time I did it (yes, it has been more than once. I used to cook and bake a lot, and was always in a hurry) I stuck my head and hands under running cold water for 10 minutes. A plastic surgeon told me to do this. Said it's better than ice. Physiologically I understood why, given the dynamics of a steam burn. Or any burn for that matter. It barely blistered or marked.

Aloe vera gel. I always keep it in the kitchen.

Be well, my friend!

coryhub · Post by **coryhub** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 3:27 pm

Charlotte,
Thanks for the warning, I'll be careful now when I peer into the oven. I'm an inexperienced cook who's learning to cook out of necessity. I hope you heal quickly.

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:05 pm

OUCH! Glad it wasn't worse. I have found the best treatment for household burns is Cortaid (1% cortisone cream) applied immediately to the burn. No water. It prevents redness, blistering, pain. Amazing, really. You will not believe it!

Hugs,

Polly

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:21 pm

Ouch Charlotte. Thanks for the heads up. I use my 6-slice toaster oven to roast a small batch of veggies. It works great and you don't have to light the whole oven. I agree- roasting is best!

Leah

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 6:40 pm

Polly,
Interesting you should say that. I've never heard of cortaid as a burn remedy. I used ice till redirected by a plastic surgeon to water and aloe vera gel.
Next time I get a burn I will have to try cortaid l as a remedy.

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:55 pm

My spray can of Solarcaine was empty. All I had was some ancient aloe vera gel I had gotten in Hawaii for a sun burn. I really need to put Cortaid on my shopping list.

My lips feels pretty good as long as I keep them coated with an antibiotic ointment. I also had a dentist appointment this afternoon. I had a crown replaced as there was decay underneath. I had so much freezing in my mouth that the lips didn't hurt while I was being worked on.

carolm · Post by **carolm** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 9:52 pm

Charlotte, I'm sorry that happened to you. thanks for the warning because you know we are all looking for ways to add foods and try new ways to cook vegetables. I hope you heal quickly.

Carol

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 11:02 pm

Carol! I was thinking of you just yesterday, wondering how you are doing?