Oven mitts/gloves (merged)

[ghostrider]

I'm strictly a potholder guy. I had a bad experience* with an oven mitt in my youth & swore off them & have not used one since.

*The bad oven mitt experience: I was in my 20s & still learning the ways of ovens. Somehow a poorly insulated mitt got into my kitchen. While I was maneuvering a hot roasting pan, the heat from the pan went through the mitt and into my hand. I was able to put the pan in its cooling spot in fairly short order, but the heat that the mitt had absorbed continued to burn my hand for the several additional seconds it took me to wriggle the thing off, making the resultant burn worse than it needed to be.

Since then I have never trusted oven mitts. A faulty potholder can quickly be dropped: end of burn.

[purplewiz]

I probably should use oven mitts because I'm firmly in the "if there is any possible way to burn myself on the oven I will find it" school.

But by the time I find the mitts, wash my hands, dry my hands, and get them on, the food is burned. Or I can put my hands in all yucky which makes the mitt all slippery and yucky. And there's never any good place to put them down when I'm done which isn't in the way or in the food.

I most often use towels but as others have mentioned they slip all over the place.

The best compromise I have so far are these silicone "mini mitts" I was given - they just cover the thumb and fingers. They're relatively easy to clean because they're not very deep. They don't protect my arms, but neither did traditional mitts.

The only time I use my remaining oven mitts is when I'm heating up metal skewers to burn holes in the bottoms of Solo cups for potting up my African violet babies. I don't need a lot of precision grip for that.

Marcia.

[Kim Shook]

Oven mitts and ov glove hang on my fridge right next to the stove - I use the glove more than the mitts.

White towels folded next to the stove on the counter - I use them a lot. Everyone who cooks in my kitchen knows the rule - white towels do NOT get wet, colored towels are for drying wet things. Keeps things straight and cool!

I use whatever works best for the job. Most of the time you need more than one tool .

[Taboni]

Jomac Kevlar wool lined gauntlets. I bought them to use while grilling but they have become the default ones inside as well. I have managed to burn myself several times with towels and puny oven mitts. I like the fact that I can pick up the pizza stone if I have to, or lift the grill off my Weber without worry.

Kevlar Gauntlets

[DTBarton]

The Kevlar Gauntlets look great, but $379 for 12 pair kind of blows my potholder budget!

Potholders and oven mitts used to be great products in my youth. They were relatively thin and flexible and easy to use. This was because the old ones had a thin layer of asbestos built in. The asbestos frenzy by the lawsuit professionals has taken away our ability to have good mitts and potholders (even though they pose no danger from airborn dust). That's why a modern day thin potholder or mitt burns your hands or they make them so thick that you're all thumbs, as one above said. As an aside, that's why your winshield wipers don't last very long any more if your car sits outside, can't have asbestos in them any more either.

My solution is to use towels for smaller stuff and keep one pair of thick clumsy mitts for big heavy hot things.

[andiesenji]

Something for everyone here at Fantes.

I have several of the handle covers that slide onto the long handles of my cast iron skillets, other pots and pans. They can go into the oven but I usually remove them and slide them on to remove the skillet.

I used a leather punch and punched a hole in one end so they can hang on hooks next to the oven and cooktop.

[kristin_71]

I'm a fan of the silicone hot mit and the silicone pot holder.

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Target sells the Orka hot mit too, but they don't cost as much, so if you are looking for them go there. I love the silcone potholders, they are fantastic for really hot stuff, when you are in a hurry and cannot put the hot mit on. Have two of the hot mits tho and they are just fantastic.

Edited October 19, 2006 by kristin_71 (log)

[FabulousFoodBabe]

I use pot holders at home and just folded-up towels when I worked in restaurants. Oven mitts just become so completely nasty in no time (in restaurants), plus they just aren't conducive to a chef's macho image. 

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Especially the "Hello Kitty" ones.

I have some leather potholders that are so pretty I just look at them; I have no idea if they are useful or not. Mitts .. I have a few and they are used for non-food things (putting on the dog's head and watching him shake it off; boys hit one another with them). I love plain white bar towels for anything; they're cheap and easy to maintain.

[chile_peppa]

I have tried many different kinds of potholders and mitts, but alas, all have failed me. My oven and stove burns became so ubiquitous that my younger son took to saying, "If the smoke alarm goes off, food's ready. If Mom burns herself, it's going to be good." And, of course, everything I cook is good!

I now rely on a handy stack of kitchen towels. They relieve me of the false sense of security that I got from potholders and mitts, which all too often proved to be spottily thin, unexpectedly holey, or a bit too flammable. I know that if I don't position the towel just right, I will definitely burn myself, so I am more careful. Now if I can only remember not to leave them on top of the stove when the burners are still hot (it's an electric).

[Angela Alaimo]

I tossed out the oven mittens a long time ago. And the kitchen/side towels are usually wet because we are using them as well, towels. I'm in the pot holder prefer category. We've got all sorts, from the regular quilted cotton-ish ones to a cool Viking leather one (yes Fabby, it works), and several that one of my boys and I made with those little looms and loops. They might be my favorites for everything save a really big heavy roasting pan.

Oh, and we got a pair of those little potholder-like sleeves you can put on a pan handle at Cracker Barrel a few years ago. We could use a fresh pair--these are a bit burned (see, they work!).

[Anna N]

. . . 

I now rely on a handy stack of kitchen towels.  They relieve me of the false sense of security that I got from potholders and mitts, which all too often proved to be spottily thin, unexpectedly holey, or a bit too flammable. I know that if I don't position the towel just right, I will definitely burn myself, so I am more careful. Now if I can only remember not to leave them on top of the stove when the burners are still hot (it's an electric).

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Right on!

My burns are all in the same place - just below my elbow - don't ask me why but you can understand why oven mitts just don't do it for me.

Thanks to all for participating in this topic - I am fascinated by everyone's preferences and alternate solutions.

[Kouign Aman]

Wasnt planning on getting new pot holders, but ...

Kinda want these ones....Thai Elephant pot holders

With two elephants to help, ANYone could lift up a full cast-iron cassolet pot!

Edited February 5, 2008 by Kouign Aman (log)

[paulraphael]

For most things just a towel.

But for a hot oven (450 degrees or more) I reach in the drawer for the Orka silicone mits. They're great. They give a solid grip, insulate well, and unlike any fabric (nomex included), I don't have to worry about dampness insta-steaming my hands on contact. They're also easy to clean.

The company says they're only good to 500 degrees, but I've occasionally grabbed roasting pans out of a 550 degree oven with them. No damage to the mits. This was pushing what my hands can take, though. Even at 500, if the pan is heavy, I start to feel the heat in a hurry. It's important to to have a path cleared and get the thing out of the oven and out of your hands pretty fast. Some silicone spatulas have a 900 degree plus melting point, and are rated for continuous use at over 600, so I doubt a few seconds at 550 degrees will damage the mits.

I still don't like reaching deep into a very hot oven with the things. they don't have enough coverage. I have some 16" tongs that I can use to pull out the rack, or reach in and rotate pans, etc.. I only need the mits for picking up and putting down.

Edited February 5, 2008 by paulraphael (log)

[Just loafing]

Welders gloves get our vote for yarding bread pans out ... flexible, sturdy and cheap. And when we do wear a hole through a finger (of the glove, that is) ... off they go to the shop for another life as work gloves. Don't find them as handy for cake pans or muffin tins ... we generally use pot holders for those. I had a pair of the neoprene-like mitts for which I paid something like $50 ... they wore through in a few months and the makers weren't too gracious about honoring the lifetime guarantee. Told the store where I'd bought them that they wouldn't replace them another time if I were using them in a commercial kitchen. And I didn't find them as flexible as the welders gloves. We did have several of those heavy-duty "professional" oven mitts, but we wore holes in them at a crucial spot in pretty short order.

[Terrasanct]

I was thinking about potholders while baking something the other day. I had two beautiful handmade potholders and two silicone ones. The cloth ones seemed a bit thin and I just didn't trust the silicone ones at all--they were slippery and seemed flimsy. I wondered if I could put the silicone inside the cloth to get the benefits of both.

Over the weekend I contacted the woman who had made the potholders and we're going to try some to see how they work. I'm also thinking it wouldn't hurt to have something on the potholder to slip the hand into so the potholder won't fall down while trying to use them.

As long as I'm having her design these, any helpful ideas? I haven't been happy with most potholders, and I don't like oven mitts at all; too clumsy. The Kevlar ones all sound interesting but pricey.

[baroness]

I was thinking about potholders while baking something the other day.  I had two beautiful handmade potholders and two silicone ones.  The cloth ones seemed a bit thin and I just didn't trust the silicone ones at all--they were slippery and seemed flimsy.  I wondered if I could put the silicone inside the cloth to get the benefits of both.

Over the weekend I contacted the woman who had made the potholders and we're going to try some to see how they work.  I'm also thinking it wouldn't hurt to have something on the potholder to slip the hand into so the potholder won't fall down while trying to use them.

As long as I'm having her design these, any helpful ideas?  I haven't been happy with most potholders, and I don't like oven mitts at all; too clumsy.  The Kevlar ones all sound interesting but pricey.

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I would put the silicone on the OUTSIDE, insulation and fabric on the inside/hand side.

Silicone can be wiped clean but could use more heat resistance. I don't find it slippery at all, though my items have ridges or bumps on the likely gripping surfaces.

[Terrasanct]

Well, that's a thought, but then they wouldn't look pretty, which is part of what I was going for. I'd like to have something that's nice looking and functional as well.