When you’re taking something hot out of the oven, do you prefer hot pads (flat squares made of heavy quilted material) or oven mitts (large mitts made out of heavy quilted material)?
My sister’s an oven mitt person, and I find them annoying; they seem cumbersome and annoying to me. Ugh, the number of seconds per lifetime wasted putting the mitts on and taking them off – it’s gotta add up.
Other: silicone pads
I ran across these in some kitchen store a few months back and grabbed them for their cleanability - pleasantly they work very well. Even better than my old quilted pads.
Other: Ove-gloves
Since I got mine a few years ago, I’ve never used anything else.
They seem like they’d be even more annoying than mitts to put on/take off.
I chose the either/or option but I often treat oven mitts as if they were hot pads.
Other: Kitchen Towels
I like oven mitts. They seem safer to me. I can see myself having a clumsy moment, dropping the oven pad, and grabbing a hot dish with my bare hand.
I agree silicone is a better material than cloth. But this doesn’t limit you to pads.
I voted that I use them equally, because I put a mitt on one hand and use a square pad with the other.
Me too. I thought they were dumb, until my mother bought me some as a gift. Now I use them more than anything else.
For some reason, they’re not. I’m with you - I hate oven mitts, I don’t even own any. But the ove-gloves are easy to throw on, and they really protect your hands while allowing you pretty good dexterity.
I pretty much just use side-towels or the ove-gloves. The ove-gloves win more often because I’m clumsy and it’s too easy to drop the side-towel.
Mostly I use kitchen towels. Sometimes if I’m wearing a sweatshirt, I will pull the sleeves down over my hands and just use the cuff to protect my hands from the heat.
We do have some hot pads, but often I can’t be bothered to find them when I am ready to take something out of the oven. As far as I know, we do not have any oven mitts.
I like the certainty and coverage of mitts. I know I’m not going to miss the edge and hit hot pan, or bump the other oven rack with bare parts of my hand. Also, as opposed to the OP, I feel like I have more dexterity with the mitts, because I don’t have to juggle the hot pad and make sure it stays put. Towels scare me. They just feel too thin and you have to fold them into multiple layers to get good coverage. My mitts live in the drawer right next to the stove, and I can get them on in no time flat.
Oven mitts. I burned myself once when I was using a hot pad because my thumb knuckle touched the rack above the pan.
Hot pads are ridiculous, but both pads and mitts are inferior to this: http://www.amazon.com/Scienceware-Hot-Hand-Protector-special-279/dp/B0017YATD6
We have oven pads that have a sort of half-pocket on the back for your hand; it’s just a piece of fabric that’s as wide as the pad but not as deep, if that makes sense. Super easy to slip your hand into, but gives you a little protection on the back if you brush the oven. They’re awesome.
Another vote for kitchen towels. We have mits and hot pads but the towel is nearly always hanging on the bar to the oven door. Why hunt around for some other piece of thick cotton when I can just double over a towel?
Definitely kitchen towels. Williams-Sonoma sells ones that are big enough to reach both handles of a big pot and thick enough to handle the job.
Since this is an examination of cooking practices, essentially, I’m throwing this hot topic to Cafe Society, from IMHO.
Yup, towels.
Oven mitts, because I’ve scorched the back of my hand before.