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I do this ALL the time -- scoop out a little divot in the fingernail on my left index finger. Don't keep my fingertips properly tucked under when mincing and oops! I did it again!

It's not that I don't know that I should, or that I don't know how. I just get reckless. So far it has been minor to moderate cuts only, hurt like the dickens and bleeds a lot but not really serious. Hope I get less reckless before it does get serious.

bobcatsteph3: would a silpat on the baking sheet prevent slipping? It shouldn't affect the heat from below.

I'm always anxious to eat food and drinks that are fresh out of the oven or microwave. Stupid me, you think I would have learned the 1,000th time that I WILL burn my tongue and roof of my mouth, but no...

Two nights ago, exact same dumb move as kmnola above, but I managed to let go much sooner and ended up with just one small blister. I feel sure that if the pan had not been one that I most commonly use on the stove top, rather than the oven, I wouldn't have been so quick to grab that sucker.

During the thanksgiving marathon I stood too much and gave myself fascitis of the feet. yes that is right I overdid it big time. I was working in my stocking feet a bad no no. Next time those dansko clogs are getting out of the closet.

Last Friday I was draining boiling water and the pot slipped and I dumped pasta water all down my leg and foot. On Thanksgiving, I got a 2nd degree burn on my wrist . Oh and by the way, a total freak accident yesterday my chef's knife fell from it's magnet and hit my hand, leaving me with a cut on my knuckle!

I cause myself minor burns all the time by accident. However, my most recent notable injury involved almost slicing off the tip of my right index finger while chopping smoked sausage. I misjudged the density of the meat and the knife slipped. Thankfully, my finger healed with no significant scarring.

I'm always getting injured. I finally learned how to sharpen a knife to the point where I don't even feel it cutting anymore. That's a relief! There were two injuries in November alone. If you watch the Filet Wellington video on this page you'll hear him mention how the 48-blade Jaccard should be used for "puncturing meat, not thumbs", and then a bandaged thumb appears for a second. I was taking the stoopid thing out of its package, looked the stoopid thing over, pushed the stoopid thing together for the first time ... and the stoopid thing went right into my left thumb. Yeah, right, like that's my fault!

And on Thanksgiving, I took the biscuits out of the oven, this young man grabbed one ... and as the brand new stove in that house wasn't level, the sheet pan did a slow nose-dive off the cooktop. I grabbed it with my left hand and no potholder. I saved the biscuits, but I was sure I singed the fingerprints off three fingers on my left hand.

Funny how people are generally either one type or the other:

bakers or cooks

burners or cutters

Pulled the turkey out. Pulled the probe out of the breast to test the thigh. With my bare hand.

I'm also a master at new burns on top of newly healed burns. Singed my forearm on stirfry, then burned the same scar with a pizza pan. I apparently believe that my forearms are covered in Silicon.

I am in constant pain (back and knees), so I don't need anything else. I am extremely careful. I have holders for hot handles, available anywhere that sells cookware (they're made for cast iron skillet handles).

WARNING: My 80 year old mother was rushing around and walked into the open dishwasher, hitting her head on the floor on the other side. She wasn't seriously hurt, but the silverware basket had been emptied. I normally put knives point side up (not my good knives, but steak type knives used for a myriad of tasks). They all get hand washed or point side down now. Same for forks. Not worth the injuries they can cause.

One year, my sister was in her basement (covered with fragments from a coal stove), dropped the 20 lb. frozen turkey on her bare foot and ground the fragments (like glass) into her foot. She prepared dinner with her wrapped foot elevated on the counter, and that's how she spend most of Christmas Eve and Day. She was in terrible pain and I felt so bad for her, but she did look pretty funny - we can laugh about it now.

Here is the handle cover at Amazon. It serves as a reminder as well as protection. Two per pack. If I didn't use them religiously. I'd be constantly burning myself.

http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-2-Piece-Handle-Holder-Pepper/dp/B00008GKCL/ref=pd_sim_k_title_3

I'm a burner AND a cutter. However, I am definitely more prone to burns. It's usually spattering grease, splashing boiling water, or the oven rack above my food colliding with a hand or forearm, always because I was too lazy (or too cocky) to bother pulling out the other one first. I've also engaged in the "forgot it just came out of the oven" routine, more than once. (How stupid does that make you feel?) Luckily, most cuts are intercepted by a finger nail. I also bump my head at least a couple times annually.

My two most memorable kitchen injuries:

Once, when I was a newlywed, and still young enough (and slim enough) to wear such things (a million years ago), I fried up some bacon whilst wearing a crop top. And no apron. Now THAT was educational. Still have a scar near my belly button.

My dear ex, despite repeated admonishments from nagging wife, insisted on putting all of my very sharp knives into the soapy dishwater when washing up behind me. Sure enough, he reached blindly through the suds and grabbed the business end of my very new, very sharp bread knife. It was a terrible cut, and after I cleaned it up, I told him that it needed to be stitched. Being a Man however (yes, capitalized Man), he refused. The next morning, we unwrapped it and it immediately spurted blood. Lucky for him I worked in the ER, and got the doctor to stitch it even though it had technically been too long. He still has a scar on that thumb. And no longer puts knives into the sink.

I routinely burn & cut myself. My favorite was when I grabbed the oven rack to pull it out so I could put something in, having forgotten that the oven was preheated...Pure genius

Most of injuries beyond routine nicks and burns have occured in the office at the restaurant, not the kitchen. CHopped off the end of a finger in the door, dropped a safe door on same finger (thank goodness for the splint I was wearing!) slammed fingers in file cabinets etc. The worst in the kitchen were the deep fryer burns from drips and splatters hitting my legs when wearing heels and stockings...melts the nylon right in! TIny burns, but ouch, getting that stuff out hurts. Sometimes you have to jump in no matter what you are wearing....I miss that!

Bruised toes.
My shoes had really been bothering me. And I thought it was because I was on my feet so long every day. I had this great idea that, if I got shoes a little bigger, my toes would have room to spread out and my feet would feel better overall.

Then after about a week of wearing my new shoes, my feet felt even worse! I finally went to a specialty shoe store thinking I needed some kind of orthotic. After looking at my toes and hearing my pitiful story, they measured my feet. I had been wearing shoes that were too big. By a full size. Duh.

The lesson I've learned is - it's really important to wear shoes that fit. I love my new shoes. Even though they cost about $100 more than what I'd been wearing. But it is so worth it!

One of my mother's good friends had her ring finger torn off when it got caught in her stand mixer. Very, very true story. But she also got a good settlement from the company (*cough, cough* Kitchen Aid).

My story is much tamer. The first time I ever tried to make fried okra -- in high school, no less -- I stupidly didn't defrost the frozen okra and threw it straight into the pan of hot oil. I ended up with tiny little burns all over my face and arms from the madly popping grease. No fun at all.

Last story. My college boyfriend set his hand, the kitchen cabinets and the countertop on fire when he accidentally started a grease fire on his stove and tried to put it out using water. And I thought my fried okra story was embarassing. He ended up at the emergency room after his much smarter roommates put the kitchen fire out with flour and his hand still bears some nasty scars to this day. :)

I'm a cook rather than a baker, but I certainly am a burner rather than a cutter:-). Although I do use my oven for cooking (roasting, braising and even searing sometimes) quite often, so that might be it. And no, I never learn...

Haha that part about being a burner or a cutter made me laugh out loud. I think it's definitely true! My heart goes out to all you other burners out there. I have to admit, however, that I am sometimes a cutter when things are slippery, or if I misjudge the density of something, as someone mentioned above.

That's easy...top of my hand at the base of my thumb. There's a full 1+" round brown spot where I burned myself in...May, perhaps?

I made (stovetop) popcorn and had already put the pot in the sink when I realized that the plastic soap/scrubber thing was too close to the pot and would likely melt. So I stuck my hand in that tiny space to retrieve it. 'nuf said? OUCH!!!

Speaking of kitchen safety:

The Most Terrifying Canadian PSA of All Time

Warning: quite graphic.

(I don't think this has been mentioned on SE before; if it has, my apologies.)

I already have a post under my belt about frying bacon naked, so I'll tell a story about "Joe".
My coworker had stopped at the bar one afternoon to celebrate a friends birthday for a few hours before heading home to cook his elderly mother a big pot of ham and bean soup. Getting ready for dinner, he pulled up his jeans and untied his boots. Before he could take his boots off, he noticed the pot boiling over. Still daffy from the party he ran across the kitchen, boots untied, pants up to his knees to heave the pot from the stove to the counter. Before he could get the pot to the counter, he tumbled forward smacking the pot against the stove, tipping it back towards himself, filling his boots with scalding ham and bean soup.
He managed to feed his mom and pack a bowl of soup to take to the hospital before the ambulance arrived.
Poor "Joe" couldn't wear shoes for a very long time.