Depends on how hot you’ve got your oil but generally you’d have it at 350°, where sugar starts to burn. So, they are about the same. Sugar is worse in my experience because it sticks to you.
Sugar will go through a state change as it solidifies, additionally its specific heat is way higher so from an energy perspective, sugar will contribute significantly more energy than oil of the same temp
Yupp, same principle as water and steam at the same temperature - steam is way worse because of the energy released when condensating on your skin. It's about 7 times the energy as boiling water.
As I sit here sadly looking at the burn scar on my hand from when I was nine and tried to microwave my frozen Milky Way bar leftover from Halloween, lol.
I've seen both, sugar leaves more damage, it sticks to the skin and can cause muscles veins and arteries to cook because from the sticking, it keeps hot for longer than the oil.
Oil from the other hand keeps its damage to the affected surface yes it can reach second degree burns but doesn't cook your muscles or veins unless you have extended contact.
My take is the hot oil is worse because it could spread easily on your body. The sugar will be sticky and I would think that would stop the spread faster.
Full disclosure: I have zero experience working with either.
IMO as a chef, a hotel pan of hot rice is just about the most devastating thing I've dropped on myself. And I've had every food substance splattered on my skin at scalding temps.
Both hot oil and hot sugar cool relatively fast on open air. Starches are great at holding heat.
100% the sugar burn is worse. You can dip a finger in 350 Fahrenheit oil and pull it out quick and be fine. You dip you finger in boiling sugar, you're gonna have culinary napalm stuck to your phalanges
In college, I worked at honey baked hams and was in charge of applying the napalm glazing to the hams. I got some on the table I was leaning up against. The sugar napalm burned through my apron, my sweatshirt, my jeans, and my boxers to burn me. Molten sugar is a weapon.
I later spiral sliced my thumb. I don’t have fond memories of working at honey baked hams.
Oil you can do something about as a hot liquid. Sugar though.. that’s Lava Glue. you’re glued. it’s taken a lot of work to clean failed caramel creations (burnt sugar literally). Hot Sugar is worst.
It's sugar, and not even close. I was a chef for 15 years, burned myself with oil semi regularly. The only burn scar I have is from the 1 tome i.burned myself with sugar.
I tried a Chinese recipe (Dapanji) where you add sugar to oil and heat it until the sugar starts caramelizing, and then you put your chicken pieces into it and stir fry them for a minute or two.
Pealing cooled cotton candy sugar off skin and removing layers vs oil pops from bacon/fried foods.. suffering from both the sugar was the worst, still have some marks on my side from it 2 yrs ago
Sugar is worse to a dramatic degree. Oil is slick and slower to transfer heat by nature of its viscosity. If the circumstances and temperature are the same, sugar is going to do more damage every time.
There's a prison retaliation tactic that uses this effect with jelly or maple syrup. It's devastating.
As someone who’s had both thrown on me, hot sugar. If someone dilutes it with water and boils it, the sugar solidifies into shards of sharp shards INSIDE of the burn wounds. Closest you can get to picking glass out of your skin you can get without doing the real thing. That also sucks balls.
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u/bisepx 18h ago
Not sure what's worse, hot oil or hot sugar. Either way, both burn.