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In my post on Calibrating Cookie Pans - Step 1, I mentioned that the heavy-weight Wilton pan held so much heat that my oven mitt was woefully inadequate for protecting my hands for more than a few seconds. Last weekend I decided to buy a pair of new ones that would do a better job.
I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to see what they had. I saw three likely-looking prospects - oven mitts made by Ritz, KitchenAid, and Calphalon. The Ritz mitts were under the brand name "KitchenSmart." They all had a distinct feature in common - they were not simple cloth, but instead had some sort of rubber-like or silicone substance outside to help give added protection and/or a better grip. They all claimed to protect from temperatures up to 500 F. However, when I tried them on and actually tried to lift something with them, a clear favorite immediately emerged - the Ritz mitt branded KitchenSmart, listed as "KS Solid Oven Mitt Kumquat" with barcode 7521553012. One of the new ones is on the right in the attached photo. My old mitt, a quilted insulated glove sold by Lillian Vernon perhaps twenty or thirty years ago, is on the left.
Obviously I thought a color change was in order. :-) The new mitts came in a wide variety of colors. This dark reddish color apparently is called "Kumquat." Who would have guessed? It doesn't bring a kumquat to mind for me, but I like the shade. The black portion is a neoprene pad protecting the palm and thumb.
Note the shape of the new mitt. The thumb is positioned over the palm of the hand. Initially you might think that would be awkward, and it would be if you were making a snowball. However, when you pick up a pot by its handles, or a cookie sheet, you naturally place your thumb approximately opposite your middle finger. The position of the thumb is exactly what prompted my choice. When I tried to lift something with the other two gloves, it was rather a strain! The other two are shaped exactly like my old glove, but there's a big difference between the old and the new - namely, the external coating of heat-resistant non-slip material, which is really fairly stiff. The shape of the old glove is fine, when the materials are the old materials. The same shape in a new glove is unpleasant - the stiff coating over the glove makes it rather difficult to get your thumb over your palm, so you'd be struggling every time you picked something up. The brilliant pre-positioning of the thumb over the palm in the Ritz KitchenSmart glove completely avoids that strain. It's quite comfortable.
My fingers are on the short side for a man, but probably average for a woman. If I had rather long fingers I could imagine wishing the fold were a little lower in the glove, so that might be one drawback for some people. One would want to try it on before buying it. But it is about perfect for me.
Of course, the key point is how well it protects my hands from the heat. Tonight I made a couple of batches of cookies using the Wilton pan, and to test the gloves I stood in front of the oven holding the hot pan after removing it from the oven until it began to feel hot. I didn't time it with my watch, but I stood still for a bit before I felt the heat begin to come through. When it did come through, it didn't increase rapidly, which would force me to quickly put a pan down whether there was a good place for it or not. I would guess I was able to hold the pan for perhaps forty-five seconds or so, which is more than enough time and vastly longer than with my old glove and a hot pad, which gave me only about eight seconds to get to the same point.
The upper end of the mitts is very nice - they widen nicely as they go up the forearm, and when I wore them while putting a cookie sheet into the oven I felt my arm was very well protected from inadvertently brushing against an upper oven rack or accidentally touching the rack I was setting the cookie pan sheet on.
The price on the Ritz KitchenSmart gloves was $8 apiece plus tax, and I'm very happy with them.
I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to see what they had. I saw three likely-looking prospects - oven mitts made by Ritz, KitchenAid, and Calphalon. The Ritz mitts were under the brand name "KitchenSmart." They all had a distinct feature in common - they were not simple cloth, but instead had some sort of rubber-like or silicone substance outside to help give added protection and/or a better grip. They all claimed to protect from temperatures up to 500 F. However, when I tried them on and actually tried to lift something with them, a clear favorite immediately emerged - the Ritz mitt branded KitchenSmart, listed as "KS Solid Oven Mitt Kumquat" with barcode 7521553012. One of the new ones is on the right in the attached photo. My old mitt, a quilted insulated glove sold by Lillian Vernon perhaps twenty or thirty years ago, is on the left.
Obviously I thought a color change was in order. :-) The new mitts came in a wide variety of colors. This dark reddish color apparently is called "Kumquat." Who would have guessed? It doesn't bring a kumquat to mind for me, but I like the shade. The black portion is a neoprene pad protecting the palm and thumb.
Note the shape of the new mitt. The thumb is positioned over the palm of the hand. Initially you might think that would be awkward, and it would be if you were making a snowball. However, when you pick up a pot by its handles, or a cookie sheet, you naturally place your thumb approximately opposite your middle finger. The position of the thumb is exactly what prompted my choice. When I tried to lift something with the other two gloves, it was rather a strain! The other two are shaped exactly like my old glove, but there's a big difference between the old and the new - namely, the external coating of heat-resistant non-slip material, which is really fairly stiff. The shape of the old glove is fine, when the materials are the old materials. The same shape in a new glove is unpleasant - the stiff coating over the glove makes it rather difficult to get your thumb over your palm, so you'd be struggling every time you picked something up. The brilliant pre-positioning of the thumb over the palm in the Ritz KitchenSmart glove completely avoids that strain. It's quite comfortable.
My fingers are on the short side for a man, but probably average for a woman. If I had rather long fingers I could imagine wishing the fold were a little lower in the glove, so that might be one drawback for some people. One would want to try it on before buying it. But it is about perfect for me.
Of course, the key point is how well it protects my hands from the heat. Tonight I made a couple of batches of cookies using the Wilton pan, and to test the gloves I stood in front of the oven holding the hot pan after removing it from the oven until it began to feel hot. I didn't time it with my watch, but I stood still for a bit before I felt the heat begin to come through. When it did come through, it didn't increase rapidly, which would force me to quickly put a pan down whether there was a good place for it or not. I would guess I was able to hold the pan for perhaps forty-five seconds or so, which is more than enough time and vastly longer than with my old glove and a hot pad, which gave me only about eight seconds to get to the same point.
The upper end of the mitts is very nice - they widen nicely as they go up the forearm, and when I wore them while putting a cookie sheet into the oven I felt my arm was very well protected from inadvertently brushing against an upper oven rack or accidentally touching the rack I was setting the cookie pan sheet on.
The price on the Ritz KitchenSmart gloves was $8 apiece plus tax, and I'm very happy with them.
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