[ANSWERED] Are Oven Mitts Safe?

Oven mitts have rescued us from scaled burns more efficiently than traditional towels or pieces of cloth. They’re widely used to hold hot dishes and remove them from the oven. Even though they’re meant to prevent our hands from getting burned, there are many people who have a doubt about it. While some consider oven mitts to be fireproof, others feel that they aren’t suitable enough to resist heat. So, the final question is – are oven meats really safe?

For the avoidance of doubt, yes, oven mitts are safe as long as they withstand heat within their capabilities. Keep reading till the end to get a clear concept of this topic. 

How Safe Are Oven Mitts?

Typically, most oven mitts are safe to use. But that doesn’t mean they’re completely safe. How safe the oven mitts are depends on several factors including material, condition, the way they’re being used and maintained, etc. Let’s talk about them in detail. 

1. Mitts Material

For your information, oven mitts are made of heat-resistant materials like silicone, cotton, neoprene, silnylon, or fabric that has a coating of heat-resistant material. Among them, silicone and silnylon are considered the best materials for oven mitts as their heat resistance is better than others. That means oven mitts made of these two materials can be used undoubtedly as they ensure better safety. 

2. Mitts Condition

It’s a must for oven mitts to stay in good condition. Otherwise, it won’t be safe enough to use them. Oven mitts can deteriorate, lose their heat resistance, or develop tears and holes over time; which ultimately compromise their safety purpose. Therefore, if your mitts are worn or damaged, you shouldn’t use them and replace them with better ones. 

3. Mitts Usage

This part is pretty important as no matter how good the mitts’ quality and condition are if you don’t use them safely, they’ll ultimately cause burn your hands. For example, if you use dirty oven mitts that have wet residues or simply wet mitts, it can cause almost heat-related burns. This is because when you use wet mitts to hold the hot surface of the dishes, it leads to scalding steam exposure that potentially can scald your hands. So, dry oven mitts are always safer than wet ones. 

4. Mitts Maintenance

Where and how you keep your mitts can also vary whether they’re safe or not. If you keep your mitts clean and in a safe place, they won’t cause any at all. But if you mistakenly keep them on your stovetop or near the burner after using them to take out hot dishes, they can be a potential fire hazard. You’ve to understand that oven mitts are heat-resistant but not fireproof. So, when you keep them at such places, they can ignite at a point and cause a fire accident in the worst-case scenario. Therefore, oven mitts are safe when they’re clean and away from fire. 

Are Oven Mitts Toxic?

There are a number of people who are concerned that oven mitts may have toxic chemicals in the materials that get into the food while in use. But the truth is the mitts don’t contain such toxic chemicals at all, especially the modern oven mitts. That means they’re non-toxic and you can definitely use them around food. Moreover, they’re built with the same materials that are used in most kitchen items. So, this isn’t something that you need to worry about.

Final Verdicts

To conclude, it can be said that oven mitts are obviously safe as they’re designed to be used against hot surfaces or high temperatures. But as we’ve already mentioned under specific circumstances oven mitts can be harmful or unsafe. Therefore, you need to make use of oven mitts made from high-quality materials that can withstand such harmful impacts to ensure your safety and avoid such activities that make the mitts vulnerable to potential dangers. Feel free to share your feedback in the comment section so that we can be assured that the post is useful.

Relevant Questions

What do oven mitts usually consist of?

In terms of fabric oven mitts, there’s a layer of thermal insulation coated by cotton fabric on the mitts. On the other hand, silicone mitts are protected with silnylon layer which is water, heat, and stain-resistant. Some other mitts have a strong layer of kevlar, which is one of the robust synthetic materials. 

Are oven mitts or gloves better?

The traditional oven gloves are better in terms of finger movement and usage agility. That means it’s more convenient to use oven gloves than oven mitts. But when it comes to ensuring better safety from high temperatures or scaled burns, undoubtedly oven mitts can easily beat oven gloves. The simple reason is they’re made from better heat-resistant materials. 

What can I use instead of an oven mitt?

There are a few alternatives that can be used instead of oven mitts. Those are – kitchen towels, potholders, dry thick foldable cloth, flour sacks, etc.