Pepper...sucks

[YiffySneeze]

Just wanted to let everyone know, I tried pepper and...it hardly works for me I barely got two sneezes out after sniffing practically a hundred handfulls, and now my nose is burning to no end, and my nose is red! Sorry to complain, it just hurts! Never trying that again!

Anyway, to make this a valid topic, I might as well ask, does anyone else have the same problem?

-Yiffy

[the texaskid]

Yeah, it's the same for me. Hurts like a cast-iron sonofabitch but doesn't make me sneeze to speak of. I've heard people say white pepper works better than black, maybe because it tends to be very finely ground, but I don't think it's a great method. I haven't heard many people say it works for them, and it's really bloody painful! The whole pepper-sneezing thing is a nasty myth designed to screw us poor fetishists up and make us hurt our sinuses.

I hope your nose recovers soon!

[god_bless_allergies]

Guess I am one of thelucky ones. Yes does burb a lot but the sneezes r worth the burn

[sneezealot]

pepper works for me but i never sniff it, i shake the can and just get like the scent from it, dont actually inhale the pepper cuz yes that hurts like hell

[resolution]

Absolutely wrong way to use pepper. Doing with it what you just described is not going to make 9 out of ten people sneeze. Think about how pepper usually makes someone sneeze. They are using it to cook and because it is in the air they inhale it and sneeze. Pepper tossed or blown into the air in the room will fill the air with particles and when that air is lightly inhaled it can cause sneezing (without the pain). However White pepper actually works farbetter for this kind of thing, because it is much more fine and powder like. Also in my experience when it comes to Black pepper the cheaper brands are much better and the expensive brands like McCormick, for example, are horrible for this (great for cooking though). In general when it comes to the use of pepper it's best to stick with White pepper, used in the way i've outlined.

Sneezalot's method is also good.

[WLF2226]

If you inhale pepper you'll end with a burning nose, I only use a little amount in a tip of my finger and put it in the inside of one or both nostrils.

This takes time, but surely will sneeze 6 to 9 times.

[justmistme]

its the same for me.. maybe one sneeze, and a half hour of burning nose.

although for some reason, the pepper i use at the restaurant i cook in seems to make me sneeze all the time unexpectedly. weird.

[lolerskates]

I think, the "pepper sneeze" is just more of a cartoon cliché.

[helios]

Sniffing pepper is the wrong way to use it to induce sneezing. You should shake some into the air, even better get a puffer, and then just breathe normally and let the pepper work its way into your nose. There is no way that you will be able not to sneeze.

I have tried this many times on a variety of people, when cooking or by being over vigorous with the pepper shaker at the table and it almost always works.

It really is all in the technique. I could pretty much guarantee to make you sneeze.

[donttakenostuff]

Yes, sniffing it never works for me. But if I am cooking and shake it onto the food, I can almost guarantee a sneeze or two. Sniffing it only makes my throat and nose burn, and send me into a coughing fit.

[jamesy]

what helios, sneezealot and resolution all said are true. the key i think is to continue breathing normally to let the very finest particles work their way in there. (often there will be a delay before sneezing starts, or so i've found.)

i would also add that for the same reason, pepper works especially well if you're trying to make an unsuspecting person sneeze. i don't mean to get into the whole moral debate of making someone sneeze without them knowing, just saying that pepper works well for that (particularly white pepper).

[Sophie]

Pepper never works for me. I love cooking, so I've had my fair share--black, white, red, green, flakes, cayenne, pre-ground, freshly ground . . . nothing makes me sneeze. The only food-related thing that really makes me sneeze is a wierd spice combination I stumbled across in a recipe.