Saturday, July 31, 2010

Hey, Nice Glove!

Whenever someone sends me a link to check out a new food-related product or invention, my first question is, "is this a real product, or a joke?" After watching half of this video, I still wasn't sure. What do you guys think of this invention? Great idea? Totally ridiculous? Too hard to match with your shoes and belt? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Speaking of turning meats with your hands, Michele and I are headed up to Sacramento to grill some steaks with the in-laws. I hope you all have a delicious weekend, and stay tuned for a bunch of tasty new video recipes!


35 comments:

Greg King said...

For some reason, I know if i got this, I would end up setting my house on fire trying to melt it...

Hollis K. Lee said...

Well I popped over to the 'neighborhood' amazon.com and I guess what...I found it- and for a whole cent cheaper than that what that guy was pitching!

Seriously though I think I will 'grab' one as I'm sure it will come in 'hand'y since it can 'hand'le heat up to 500 degrees.

Nancy said...

I would use it and then forget and toss the hot food into the other hand not covered by a Grill Glove...

I'll pass...

uncivlengr said...

Why would you want the mitt? "You already have two gloves that you can stick into fire, but we'll throw in a less convenient version for kicks, just for all those people out there that don't like using their fingers.

Douglas Gaxiola said...

Flipping food bare-handed when I grill is the only thing that keeps my knuckle hair growth in check. If I regularly used the "Grill Glove", I'd have sasquatch hands in no time. IMO: just another marginally useful cooking gimmick for those afraid burns, blisters and the smell of singed hair. It ain't cooking without a little burned flesh.

Barr Soltis said...

In my opinion, the grill glove would be fairly useless as a grilling tool. I had to laugh when I saw the video with the rib turning escapade. Let's get real.

Additionally, I think that you would spend more time taking the dang thing on and off and I can only imagine what you are going to go if you have a flare-up. I think that I would keep a phone nearby with 911 on speed dial. Better yet, just use long sturdy tongs.

With that said, I do see some utility with these gloves. I love to BBQ (no not grilling) and trying to life a hot 8 pound pork butt or a 10 pound beef brisket out of a smoker can be a daunting task with tongs so I use similar gloves for that purpose and that purpose alone.

milkshake said...

I have seen heat-protective gloves just like these in the lab: I think the product is real and his kiwi accent is fake. By the way, it must be quite heavy and cumbersome to wear it the whole time.

Eric Yu said...

I AM TIRED OF CLUMSY TONGS AND RUSTY UTENSILS! THIS IS THE PERFECT PRODUCT FOR ME! I'M GOING TO ORDER 2 SETS!

Razors Edge said...

Pretty good idea.. I have a silicon hand mitten but it doesn't have place for each finger (just the thumb.) Works very well... I throw it on for just about everything (although I haven't tried it for eggs out of boiling water... but I'm sure it would work there as well.)

$15 for two of them.... thats okay.

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't the larger surface area of this glove increase the potential risk of bacteria transmission and/or bug-stuff compared to a meat fork or tongs?

...I could be way-off here tho...

Basia said...

Honestly, I actually considered getting one of these curling irons with colour-coordinated heat-resistant gloves just to have a cuter glove and be able to get the baked goods out of the oven without adding to my Ritual Scarification! I've got enough oven-induced body mods, thx! The problem is always the same: if the glove is functional, it's ugly. This silicone deal also seems to be male-sized. Y'know what that leaves me? An unusable piece of crap. SRSLY, guize, there's a market here. Make a Kevlar glove that works better than a potholder and looks nicer than this POS, and you're in the money. We'll buy it. Not to play truth-or-dare with the barbie, but just to function better in our kitchens.

PS - it should look nice with my apron, pearls and pumps.

Anonymous said...

Real men would not be afraid of fire or touching hot things of meat on a grill. Thats the fun part of grilling. These are for man-like wimps who like soft hands and manicured nails.

Anonymous said...

guys probably a millionaire by now and sipping mai tais' on his yacht.

Anonymous said...

First off, these seem kind of dangerous. A set of tongs puts some distance between you and the grill, this thing means you need to be right up on the grill, and that can be dangerous.

Second, it's just another stupid one trick pony. It's 15 dollars for a product with one use that a set of tongs can do better, for cheaper.

Seriously the video is ridiculous. No one has that much trouble with tongs, in fact they're some of the best utensils in the kitchen in terms of ease of use.

Scott - Boston said...

I feel like I say this quite a bit, but really, what the hell do you think the BBQ Pit Boys are making of this? You mean, no more rusty machettes to turn over your burger? No more tetanus shots? What the hell- Does anyone want to "BBQ" anymore?! Yeesh!

If anyone cares, this is old technology. It's all pretty well covered in the 1976 made-for-tv movie "The Boy In The Plastic Bubble." Renting it on dvd and scurrying to it's "bonus footage," I can attest to the glove's many applications.
There are other deleted scenes in the bonus features as well, but let's just say that the public wasn't quite ready for it.

Scott - Boston

ViralViralVideos said...

If its an infomercial for a food cooking product on tv, its probably crap.

Chef John said...

So, my real intention for posting this video was to get a whole bunch of hilarious comments... And it totally worked! Thanks for coming through like I new you would!

Andrea said...

The video is hilarious! I guess if you had a life-changing traumatic event that involved tongs, you might consider it....

"Hot potatoes are hard to handle". If you can't handle a hot potato and tongs... you really shouldn't be anywhere near a grill. seriously.

Anonymous said...

it just isn't the same without Billy Mays

J Birdsall said...

I have a pair of kevlar gloves that work slick. I know some joker with a silk shirt is going to reach into his grill to turn his foie gras and light his shirt on fire. He will deserve it for grilling foie gras anyway. Anyway, they look silly so I just might get a pair.

Susanna said...

I bought a similar silicon glove for 20 bucks in Tokyo 3 yrs ago just so I could lift hard-boiled eggs out of the pot! It totally works well for that job, but then again, I don't know why I don't just use a spoon?!! Like the rest of my other "innovative" kitchen gadgets, the glove hasn't seen the light of day for many many months! >_<

Wendy B. said...

Oh, man, now I have to take my "Ove Glove" back and exchange it for the much more stylish Grill glove. Being on top of kitchen fashion trends is so difficult...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR1YD1uq3Eo

Tim said...

I bought a silicon glove around one year ago, i mostly used it for the oven until the glove split between my right thumb and the pointing finger, and i touched the oven rack with my skin plus a goose on it, well i did not want to drop the goose so i burned my hand awfully.

That was by the way the only thing I used it for, i guess there should be no problem to turn around a steak or a potato with the conventional grilling utilities - I wouldnt buy it again even for 1$...

Ed Charbeneau said...

Grilling aside; if they provide that much insulation then why don't they make roof shingles out of them. This year's electric bill is killing me!

Chris K. said...

I'm a big fan of new cross-contamination methods, so this should do nicely!

Unknown said...

I want it for only one reason, getting my "beercan chicken" off the grill and getting the hot chicken off the beer can stand...I always have trouble doing that cause I can never find the right tools to use.....

Anonymous said...

I found one of these at a yard sale and used it in my wood fired pizza oven. The only thing is that if they are held in the heat too long they start retaining heat and it takes a long time to dissipate. Consequently, I burned the crap out of my hand before I could tear it off my fingers. I felt like the guy in the Indiana Jones movie with the gold medallion burned into his palm only my burn said "made in China."

Steve said...

Two words: Welder's gloves.

I don't handle food with them (though Alton Brown sometimes does on Good Eats) but for dealing with big, bulky hot items, they're all sorts of useful. They're relatively cheap, you can even find them in a range of sizes, and even come in some pretty cool colors.

Jason: If you have trouble finding the right tools, organization will set you free. Mise en place is your best buddy when cooking.

Asha said...

One doubt.. At one point this guy says it can resist temperature up to 500 degree. Another time he demonstrates the glove resisting 3,400 degree heat.. If so why cant he say that in the first place?

Anonymous said...

I have one. Wouldn't you sweat in that thing? And how would you get it off if it is to fit like a glove? Also, down the line they will find that it leaks silicone into the sweat pores and now you will be sick for the rest of your life. Come on what is wrong with using Utensils? I like to keep the distance of the flame away from me.

Unknown said...

I live in a hot climate and bought them to just wear when I'm driving my scooter around town. Chicks love 'em.

Anonymous said...

Chef John, how could you miss a witty title like "no glove, no love"?

Alexandre Eftimov said...

Hello everyone. Hi, chef John!
Love your blog. I am actually trying to make a no-knead ciabatta bread at the moment. I think you're one of the best out there on the interwebs. This is my first comment and, since I am not of an English speaking country, I would like to apologize in advance for any grammatical error I may make.
One quick question: how many, do you think, of these gloves would a six feet two inches tall super-villain need to build himself a dashing fireproof suit? One, I am sure, could find plenty of uses for this kind of a suit...Does "Lava-Man" sound too tacky?
Keep up the good work chef!
Cheers.

Chef John said...

Thanks for the comment, and btw, your grammar is better than mine!

Artsygal said...

I'll go against the flow here and say I have one - the mitt sort that is, not the glove. I picked it up for $5 on clearance at some big box store, and it was one of the best $5 I ever spent. Granted, I didn't buy it to use for food, but to lift yarn out of near boiling water when dyeing it. That is a task where tongs really don't cut it. The glove works fantastically for that sort of task. I tried it in the kitchen, and while it works, it's not nearly as flexible as a traditional oven mitt, so I don't bother using it there. But it does do a great job of keeping my hands safe when I'm dipping them into near boiling water. If my hands weren't so small that the glove ones would just make me clumsy, I'd be all over them!