Sheet Pan Grippers

[Shel_B]

Sometimes it's helpful to have a handle or gripper to move or remove the pan from the oven. I've been using a set of groove joint pliers for this task.

 

They are somewhat suited to the task, but sometimes their grip and stability are poor.  A friend made me aware of the existance of pan grippers.

          

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)                    (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

The shape of the head is designed to grip the rim of sheet pans and the like in a more secure manner than pliers. At least that's the intent. Has anyone used these things? Do they work as advertised?

 

[Duvel]

They work as well aa any pipe wrench; stability depends on the compatibility of the “head” to whatever geometry your pan rim has. Scratches on your pan are to be expected (seasoning/coating will suffer). Better use towels instead: far better grip and multipurpose …

[Maison Rustique]

I have that one on the bottom right. I think I used it once when I first got it but then forgot about it until now. That said, life has been pretty chaotic since then so I haven't really been baking a lot of things.

[liuzhou]

Those are ubiquitous here. Not for sheet pans but for lifting steam pans from steamers etc. Anything hot and with a lip to grab hold of. Other than my girlfriend.

[Shel_B]

7 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

I have that one on the bottom right. I think I used it once when I first got it but then forgot about it until now. That said, life has been pretty chaotic since then so I haven't really been baking a lot of things.

@Maison Rustique  Do you remember how well or poorly the gripper worked? Did you use it on a typical 1/2 sheet?

 

I hope things become less chaotic for you ... 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

16 hours ago, Shel_B said:

Sometimes it's helpful to have a handle or gripper to move or remove the pan from the oven. I've been using a set of groove joint pliers for this task.

 

They are somewhat suited to the task, but sometimes their grip and stability are poor.  A friend made me aware of the existance of pan grippers.

          

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)                    (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

The shape of the head is designed to grip the rim of sheet pans and the like in a more secure manner than pliers. At least that's the intent. Has anyone used these things? Do they work as advertised?

 

 

I have these:

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

[Maison Rustique]

@Shel_B, as I recall, they worked just fine.

[Dr. Teeth]

My mother raised me that it’s rude to answer a question with another question.   So please forgive me.   But in the absence of a wet environment, like steaming, why would this be better than towels or a hot mitt?

 

I have a few pairs or glassblowing gloves and chemical clean up gloves I bought for such things.   Work better than stuff marketed to home cooks and cheaper too

[Maison Rustique]

1 minute ago, Dr. Teeth said:

My mother raised me that it’s rude to answer a question with another question.   So please forgive me.   But in the absence of a wet environment, like steaming, why would this be better than towels or a hot mitt?

 

I have a few pairs or glassblowing gloves and chemical clean up gloves I bought for such things.   Work better than stuff marketed to home cooks and cheaper too

 

For me, it is a matter of using it when you have a pan that is not easy to grip. If something doesn't have handles or you have a pan with no lip on it, it isn't easy to pull it forward and grab hold of it. At least not with arthritic hands.

[Dr. Teeth]

Everyone has a different experience.   I personally find the grip strength to hold a claw device closed and the nature of having a weight on the end of a lever is more demanding than picking something up with a glove that lets me hold it

[TdeV]

@Dr. Teeth, 

My oven gloves have big fat LONG fingers, so I'm always sticking them in food; it would be good to find tighter gloves. Do your chemical clean up gloves protect your hands from hot surfaces?

 

Edited to add that I have arthritis so my knuckles are too large for the gloves I wore when younger, part of the reason I have excess length. Chemical clean up gloves might be a bit stretchy, which would help.

 

 

Edited September 7 by TdeV
More to say (log)

[Dr. Teeth]

I have a couple pairs of such things I bought years ago.   The glass blower gloves are Kevlar with shiny stuff on them.   The chem gloves are Kevlar with neoprene over them.   They both give me enough dexterity to pick things up and are generous in size.   With the chem gloves I can put my hands into boiling water to grab things.    They are long, and make me look a bit silly 

[blue_dolphin]

5 hours ago, TdeV said:

@Dr. Teeth, 

My oven gloves have big fat LONG fingers, so I'm always sticking them in food; it would be good to find tighter gloves. Do your chemical clean up gloves protect your hands from hot surfaces?

 

Edited to add that I have arthritis so my knuckles are too large for the gloves I wore when younger, part of the reason I have excess length. Chemical clean up gloves might be a bit stretchy, which would help.

 

 

Sounds like @Dr. Teeth has given you the info you asked for but I thought I’d add my recommendation for these grill gloves (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). I’ve had them for about 10 years now and would order another pair if someone swiped them. 

I have the Ladies Small size and there’s about 1/3 to 1/2 inch of fabric at the end of my fingers which isn’t bad compared with other options though I suspect you could still manage to stick them in food if you try. They are fabric, so not suitable for dunking your hands in boiling liquid. 

They’re the best I’ve found for a reasonable dexterity oven glove for smaller hands. 
 

 

[dscheidt]

16 hours ago, Dr. Teeth said:

My mother raised me that it’s rude to answer a question with another question.   So please forgive me.   But in the absence of a wet environment, like steaming, why would this be better than towels or a hot mitt?

 

I have a few pairs or glassblowing gloves and chemical clean up gloves I bought for such things.   Work better than stuff marketed to home cooks and cheaper too

If you're picking up something hot, and need to hold on to it, a mitt will let heat though, and the radiant heat from a hot pan can burn exposed skin.  a grabber keeps your hand further away, and takes longer to transfer heat into your hand.  the other place they're used is for grabbing pans out of a shallow oven -- pizza cooked in a 2" deep pan in a 5" oven is pretty tight, and grabbing with a tool is safer.  You can reach in with one hand, grab the lip of the pan, pull it out, and put it on the counter.  you'd need to use two hands with mitts or gloves, which is likely impossible to do in a crowded oven.

 

@Shel_B the grabbers you list work on pizza pans, and get used in every pizza place in Chicago that does deep dish.  some places, the wait staff use them to carry the pans to the table.  I don't see why they wouldn't work on a sheet pan, as long as the jaw is short enough.  (pizza pans are taller than sheet pans.)_

[weinoo]

Dry side towels all day...

[TdeV]

2 hours ago, weinoo said:

Dry side towels all day...

 

Could you please re-state this?

[weinoo]

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

Dry side towels all day...

 

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

Could you please re-state this?

 

I don't know if I can - but maybe this topic will help? Or this...https://www.seriouseats.com/kitchen-towels

 

Side towels are what are used in basically every restaurant kitchen, not oven mitts, not gloves, not pliers.  You just want to make sure you're using a dry one when grabbing anything hot.