Schaumburg resident Ryan Gustafson was using his new, very sharp kitchen knives to prepare his first smoked brisket on Memorial Day 2023 when he accidentally sliced his hand to the bone. His wife purchased him cut-resistant gloves which he now uses every time he handles his favorite knife. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
It was Thanksgiving morning and I was making ratatouille for a family dinner using a mandoline slicer for the first time.
Everything was fine ... until I sliced off the tip of my index finger. While minor, it required a trip to an immediate care facility, where a sympathetic nurse informed me that mine was the first food-prep mishap that day.
It probably wasn't the last.
While cooking accidents happen throughout the year, they are more prevalent over the holidays, said Dr. Brigham R. Temple, emergency medicine specialist at Endeavor Health Highland Park Hospital.
"People get adventurous in the kitchen around the holidays," he said, when well-intentioned home chefs purchase mandolines or new kitchen knives in an effort to prepare something wonderful for their families.
The director of Immediate Care Medicine for Endeavor Health's north region, Temple attributes most kitchen injuries to inexperience, inattention or a combination of both. Fortunately, the damage -- often finger lacerations and, less frequently, burns -- is usually minor.
That was the case for Jeremiah Medema.
It was a couple of days before Christmas 2021 when the Roselle soup aficionado took out his new, very sharp kitchen knives to prepare homemade beef barley soup.
Taking a cue from professional chefs, he tucked in his fingers and began slicing the meat.
"I'm usually careful about positioning my fingers," said Medema, who admits to having a beer or two before he began cooking. "I just didn't do it very well that day."
His hand slipped and he nicked his thumb. He bandaged the finger and kept going. Soon after, he sliced into his index finger.
"It was pretty deep," Medema recalled.
A plumber by trade, he determined his injury was minor and did what he and his fellow tradespeople do when injured on a construction site: He wrapped his finger with a paper towel, secured the bandage with duct tape and kept working.
"If I go to hospital they'll probably just clean and bandage it," Medema reasoned. "I may as well just tough it out at home."
The experience taught the soup chef a couple of lessons: Heed proper knife techniques and avoid drinking beer before cooking.
Using appropriate tools helps prevent injuries, Temple said. That means using the safety guard that comes with a mandoline to prevent sliced fingers; oven mitts, not a dish towel, to remove a hot pan from the oven; and specially made cut-resistant gloves "to keep your fingers out of harm's way."
Brenda R. Vazquez-Gamez's husband ordered cut-resistant gloves for her seven years ago, after she sliced two fingertips when a mandoline safety guard slipped. After all these years, the tips of her middle and ring fingers are still numb.
"You can still see the scar and callous," said the Schaumburg resident. "It's going to remain there forever."
Her advice when it comes to using a mandoline?
"Don't rush yourself on using this thing," she advised. "It is an awesome device but it is dangerous to use."
Chef Mauricio "Noe" Sanchez-Tapia, of Arlington Heights' Hey Nonny, agrees. He urges both amateurs and professionals to focus, follow directions and exercise caution when cooking, especially around the holidays.
"We have to be aware of every single thing we do," he said. "Be patient. Keep an eye on every appliance. Make sure you know how you are supposed to use it."
Try slowing down and cooking with love, he added.
Cooking with love is what Ryan Gustafson was doing Memorial Day 2023 as he prepared to indulge his passion for barbecue and smoked food by making his first smoked brisket using his new knives.
He didn't expect one of those knives to so easily slice through the brisket and into his hand.
"I have too much oomph," the Schaumburg resident recalled with a laugh.
"The knife was so sharp the only thing I felt was that it hit my hand," he added. "I had no idea that it was the bone that stopped the knife until I got up to remove the latex (cooking) glove."
Gustafson had his priorities, though. Before he and his wife left for the emergency room, he made sure his son wrapped and refrigerated the brisket.
Later, as his hand was sutured, the emergency room physician told Gustafson the knife had nicked an artery. While the doctor stitched Gustafson up, his wife bought him cut-resistant gloves online. They picked them up on the way home, Gustafson said.
As for the brisket, it was a hit.
"It ended up being the best thing I ever made," he said. "But my son's ribs were probably better."
Gustafson, who has smoked two or three briskets since then, now takes extra precautions.
"I will not trim a brisket without those gloves," he said. "I'm paying heightened attention to what I'm doing and it still can happen. Without those gloves, I'd be back at the emergency room again."