If you’ve got any experience in the kitchen at all, you know how many different threats your hands face while cooking. Cooking gauntlets can keep your hands safe from high temperatures, knife cuts, and many other common kitchen injuries.
Your hands are the most valuable tools you own! Keep them safe and healthy with a great pair of gloves for cooking.
Types Of Cooking Gloves
There are many different types of cooking gloves that can serve a lot of different purposes.
Heat Resistant Gloves
Most often, people think of big bulky fabric oven mittens. However, heat resistant gloves can also be made in more functional designs. For example, you can get fingered gloves made from silicone.
These can withstand higher temperatures and allow you to keep the full range of motion of your hands—something you can’t say for a big mitten with no individual slots for your fingers. When choosing heat resistant gloves, you want to consider the maximum temperature it can withstand, the length of time you can hold a dish for before the heat transfers and injures you, and the style it is designed.
The first two considerations are probably pretty obvious. The last will depend on how you most often take dishes out of the oven or how much flexibility and movement you need in your hands while cooking.
Cut Resistant Gloves
Whether you’re cooking courgettes or onions, most cooking involves a lot of chopping. And using a sharp knife that close to your hand is just an accident waiting to happen. No matter how great of a chef you are, you’re bound to accidentally nick a finger now and again.
With cut resistant gloves, those accidents don’t have to result in injury. We highly recommend getting a set of different colored cut resistant gloves so that you have a pair for each type of thing you cut. This prevents cross contaminating between meat, veggies, dairy and so on.
Long Cooking Gloves
If made of a flexible yet durable design, long cooking gloves that stretch over your arms can be an effective way to protect your hands and arms from injuries while cooking on the stove.
Whether it’s spattering oil while frying or superhot boiling pots that you have to reach over when you’ve got all burners occupied, long cooking gloves help keep your arms as well as your hands safe from pain and injury while cooking up your latest delicious meal.
As you can see, there are many different kinds of cooking gauntlets that can help you steer clear of injury while you’re in the kitchen. You may need to get multiple kinds of cooking gloves (and multiple pairs of each) in order to have a full range of protection. But trust us, the investment is well worth it since they allow you to cook safely without having to be overly protective of your hands.
Tips For Shopping For Cooking Mittens
Here are a few tips to help guide you as you look through the many different products that are available:
- Identify your needs. Are you just looking for heat resistant gloves for cooking with the oven? Do you need something that is knife proof? Do you want a pair of fingered gloves that can be worn comfortably while cooking on the stove? Figure out exactly what you want to be able to use the gloves for before you invest in any.
- Set your budget. You don’t want to just buy whatever’s cheapest but you also don’t need to just jump for the most expensive item either. Set a budget range for what you are willing to spend (bearing in mind that investing in quality pays off in the long run) and then shop through the products that are in that range.
- Consider material and design. The material of the gloves and the style they are designed in will be determined by your needs. Know what the best material and style is for your needs so that you can avoid falling for false advertising.
- Sizing. With oven mittens, size isn’t the biggest concern. They shouldn’t be way over or under sized but you have a lot more flexibility. With cut resistant or other kinds of cooking gloves, however, you want a relatively snug fit that kind of acts like a second skin—offering protection without getting in the way or limiting the movement of your hands.
Another thing to consider is cooking gloves for children. When you have young kids eager to help out in the kitchen, you want to be able to encourage that eagerness and let them get involved. But letting them handle things on a hot stove or use a knife can put them at risk for injury.
With a great pair of gloves that fits their smaller hands, you can let them get to work, feeling like they are really contributing to the cooking process without putting them at risk of getting hurt. Who knows, you might be inspiring the next great chef to follow their passion and develop their talents right there in your very own kitchen!
Final Word
Whether you just need a quality pair of heat resistant cooking gloves or you want a pair that you can wear throughout the entire cooking process, there is a product out there to meet your needs. Just take the time to identify what your top priorities are and do your research to find the very best cooking gauntlets to suit your needs.
