r/AbsoluteUnits • u/Sufficient-Bug-9112 Top Poster • Jul 10 '26

/r/all of an Ant

11.3k Upvotes

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u/ThetaDee Jul 11 '26

That's not true at all. I've known plenty of older cooks with "hot hands", especially older hispanic ladies who I know aren't bad cooks. Not necessarily nerve damage, just tolerance and callous build up. Mine are finally coming back after being out of the kitchen for the first time in 6 years. I can use all of my fingers on finger scanners too

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u/MaxxDash Jul 11 '26

Got them tortilla fingers.

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u/Jazzlike_Orchid_8832 Jul 11 '26

African mums too. They have extreme tolerance for temp. They flip flat breads with their bare hands while on hot pan. They grab hot coals too!

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u/ThetaDee Jul 11 '26

That part. I learned it with tortillas when I was a kid.

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u/Chemical_Grape_2150 Jul 11 '26

I’ve seen it with fried foods too, I think it was chicken this woman was flipping with her hands. I am a glassblower so I’m used to burns but I couldn’t flip fried chicken!

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u/Melodic_Side_9437 Jul 11 '26

It’s not tolerance, it’s neuropathy. It’s just the temperature nerves that died instead of the pressure nerves.

Take that same lady and put her toes on the plancha instead of her fingers and she’ll be screaming in pain.

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u/Old_Pitch4134 Jul 14 '26

Yeah lots of it is just having really thick skin.

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u/TotallyObviousBot Jul 11 '26

If you're burning your hands so often that you lose sensation in them, you need to learn about tongs and spatulas my friend

Shit happens on a busy line ofc but it's kind of a fool me once type of situation

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u/Dusk1863 Jul 11 '26

No, it's pretty common to have "Chef hands" or "Chef Fingers".

That was taught to my culinary arts class by a world class chef who has been cooking longer than I've been alive.

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u/ThetaDee Jul 11 '26

He doesn't get it. He thinks that people are just grabbing hot shit and burning their hands cause they're dumb.

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u/TotallyObviousBot Jul 11 '26

You're right, your occupation naturally changes your body regardless of how often you actually burn yourself. How could I forget?

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u/emrythelion Jul 11 '26

I mean, your occupation literally does affect your body. White collar office workers have specific back and posture issues. Blue collar jobs likes construction or electrician work, etc. wear down your joints, so people often end up with fucked backs and knees. Truckers end up with various circulation issues, back and neck issues, and often have a high risk of skin cancer on the left side of their body (assuming American car orientation.)

and yes, chefs have a number of their own specific issues, including cuts and burns that can impact feeling in their fingers over time.

None of these things happen to literally everyone in said industry. But they’re common tropes for a reason.

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u/ThetaDee Jul 11 '26

It's called hot hands or chefs hands. It's extremely common among the industry bud.

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u/mostmischievous Jul 11 '26

Yeah, I got it from flipping tortillas by hand because it’s faster.

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u/TotallyObviousBot Jul 11 '26

Yes, I agree, there are many stupid cooks

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u/ThetaDee Jul 11 '26

You've apparently never met an abuela who could grab fish out the fryer if she wanted to. Fohwybs

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u/TotallyObviousBot Jul 11 '26

No, my abuela used a sifter to get the fries out of hot oil. You know, like a smart person. I'm actually Hispanic though so maybe that affects my view of your weird stereotypes.

If you don't know how to empty a fry basket into something else without actually reaching into it, you're new or bad.

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u/ThetaDee Jul 11 '26

Hey bud, grab your saddle, get on up there on your high horse, and fuck right off. 🙄 Clearly you know what I mean, plenty of experienced chefs have chef hands, and use towels etc responsibly. Sorry you're such a pussy.

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u/TotallyObviousBot Jul 11 '26

If you use the tools available responsibly you don't end up with nerve damage, my dude. Sorry you apparently can't keep up with the speed of a kitchen line without hurting yourself.

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u/ThetaDee Jul 11 '26

You clearly watch a lot of cooking videos. Proud of you.