I was finishing a jar of extremely hot peppers (7 pot primos) that I had fermenting on Thanksgiving day. I made a hot sauce with them and cantaloupe. I had them in a pan at a low simmer to meld the flavors. The problem was the steam coming off was potent as hell. It filled the house when everyone was arriving and coughing from the hot sauce in the air, me included. We had to open all the windows, dig out the fans to get it out of the house, freezing everyone in the process.
I’m sure everyone’s absent mindedly grabbed the handle of a cast iron pan they’ve just taken out of the oven, and had that quick “Oh no!” thought in the milliseconds before the pain registers.
I’ve got that trained down to perfection: the moment I go “Oh no!”, I’m already running towards the sink and turning cold water to the max. Heat takes a moment to spread through skin and flesh, so if you quickly dump a bunch of running cold water onto it (not ice), then there is a chance it will take away the heat before it does too much damage. I’ve avoided what I’m sure would’ve been a decent blister more than once that way.