Visit the kitchen department of any store and you\u2019ll be bombarded by the latest, greatest equipment and the most attractive kitchenware and gadgets. Most of these shops put the average kitchen to shame with their displays of perfectly coordinated equipment. It makes us wish that our kitchens were as lovely and beautifully outfitted.<\/p>\n
I wonder what kind of spell kitchen shops cast upon us… We walk through an idyllic scene, more like a museum than a real, honest-to-goodness kitchen. Anyone who cooks knows that a kitchen is a workroom – the farthest thing from idyllic. There’s heat, spills, splatters, water and other liquids – all kinds of potential dangers and messes. Even if our equipment starts out pretty and color-coordinated, it doesn\u2019t stay that way for long!<\/p>\n
I recently had occasion (after receiving yet another nasty burn on my hand) to rethink my potholder situation. For the purposes of this article, I\u2019ll be using the terms “potholder,” “hot pad” and “oven mitts” interchangeably, as equipment used to protect your hands from excess heat and burns in the kitchen. The ones I currently use were purchased, not because they would do the best job at protecting my hands, but because they matched my towels, which, of course, matched my kitchen decor.<\/p>\n
The lesson to be learned from experience is that it\u2019s more important to invest in the \u201cright\u201d equipment than the pretty stuff. Rule of thumb: Use what\u2019s functional and save the pretty things for decoration. Not to say that functional kitchenware can\u2019t be attractive – it just shouldn\u2019t be the major criteria for choosing it.<\/p>\n
So, as for hot pads, I\u2019ve been conducting some research. This time around, I want to make absolutely certain that I\u2019m choosing what will protect my hands and prevent me from dropping the dishes I\u2019ve prepared. There doesn\u2019t appear to be one all-purpose solution but I\u2019ve narrowed the field to these two options:<\/p>\n
1. The \u2018Ove\u2019 Glove<\/strong> is a heat-resistant glove that protects your hand from temperatures up to 540\u00b0 F. It allows for natural hand movements because, unlike a mitt design, it has fingers so you can retain your grip. It\u2019s outer layer, constructed of Nomex and Kevlar, make it possible to hold hot items in your hands for a longer period of time before the heat penetrates. They will not catch fire or melt, even when exposed to an open flame (which my pot holders are routinely at my gas stove top). Machine washing doesn\u2019t lessen their effectiveness.<\/p>\n There are a couple caveats which prevent the \u201cOve\u201d Glove from being the perfect solution: It\u2019s a glove and as such, only covers your wrist. You could still receive burns on your forearms from hot oven racks. Also, it\u2019s not waterproof so hot liquids can penetrate and cause a scald.<\/p>\n 2. Orka Plus<\/strong> is a 100% silicone mitt which is heat-resistant to 480\u00b0F and is long enough to protect the forearm. They\u2019re waterproof (even in boiling water) and feature a non-slip surface to aid with gripping hot dishes and handles. Because they\u2019re silicone, they can be wiped clean and won\u2019t stain.<\/p>\n As for the downside of this product: It will not stand up to open flame, so they\u2019d serve me better when removing items from the oven than when working at my stove top.<\/p>\n I\u2019m considering buying both to meet all of my potholder needs. They won\u2019t necessarily match my kitchen decor but my hands will stay safe.<\/p>\n Leave pretty for other rooms in your house. Where safety is concerned, spend your money on functionality first.<\/p>\n What do you use to protect your hands in the kitchen?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Visit the kitchen department of any store and you\u2019ll be bombarded by the latest, greatest equipment and the most attractive kitchenware and gadgets. Most of these shops put the average kitchen to shame with their displays of perfectly coordinated equipment. It makes us wish that our kitchens were as lovely and beautifully outfitted. I wonder […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[514],"tags":[44,72,53],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/couponshoebox.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}