It’s easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of grilling! Especially when you’re preparing large cuts of meat, like brisket or a roast. You get so caught up in the process that you may throw the meat on the grill and not realize until after it’s started cooking that you haven’t quite planned how you are going to flip the meat or get it off the grill. This is why grilling gloves are a must-have in any grill master’s tool kit.
If You Can’t Stand the Heat
When you’re grilling, searing temperatures can range from 600 to 1,000ºF or more. Grill grids, pans, and grilling utensils are therefore exposed to extremely high and potentially unsafe temperatures, which is why it pays to seek out maximum protection for your hands and arms.
Therefore, you cannot simply rely on your kitchen oven mitts for help. Kitchen mitts were created to quickly take a pan out of the oven or handle a boiling pot. They don’t offer the kind of heat protection you need for grilling when temperatures can far exceed 500 to 550ºF, the maximum temperatures for most home ovens. Most oven mitts are resistant to temperatures ranging from 350 to 500ºF.
When grilling or smoking, gloves or mitts designed for extremely high temperatures are a necessity.
Material
Grilling gloves and grilling mitts are able to withstand higher temperatures because of the materials out of which they are made. A great pair of grilling gloves or mitts is made of a synthetic heat-resistant material, leather, or suede.
Length
When picking out gloves it is also important to consider what your grilling process will entail. With grilling, it is especially important to make sure that your wrists and forearms are protected, depending on what you will be grilling. When working with charcoal, there is a certain amount of finagling with the coals required to maintain the intended temperature. It is important to protect your hands and wrists when dealing this these elements. In these instances you want a tall, heat resistant grilling glove.
Dexterity
Dexterity is also an important element to consider when choosing grill gloves. Grilling mitts, while they offer protection in the grilling heat, offer little dexterity with their one large area for four fingers and another for your thumb. If you are looking for full dexterity, there are fully insulated 5-finger grilling gloves. Grilling gloves are perfect for flipping large, cumbersome cuts of meat. By using gloves to flip the meat, you are not using tools that could potentially poke holes in the meat and result in the loss of precious juice. Some grilling gloves have silicone grips on the palm side of the glove that help the wearer securely handle their grilling tools and meat to ensure that dinner will not end up in the grass!
Found: The Ultimate Grilling Glove
If you want the ultimate in heat protection, consider using foundry or welder’s gloves that are traditionally made of heavy-duty leather and designed to protect against burns from molten metals and other high-heat sources. Leather styles protect up to 800 to 1,000ºF, while newer versions made of Kevlar blends are safe at temperatures up to 2,000ºF.
In leather, the 5-finger variety can be a bit stiff and difficult in fine movements. You wouldn’t be able to pick up a dime off a tabletop with leather foundry gloves, for example. But they do their biggest job incomparably well: Protecting you from burns while grilling with high heat. Most foundry gloves also offer the advantage of providing full hand and forearm coverage, almost up to the elbow.
Kevlar gloves offer greater dexterity and higher heat protection than leather.
Do you use grilling gloves or grilling mitts? What is your favorite style of grilling glove?
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