Steven Raichlen Signature Series SR8037 Insulated Food Gloves

I received a kamado-style grill this past Christmas and just like anyone would who gets a new gift/hobby, you invest in it. As part of my investment, I realized I would need some insulated food gloves if I really wanted to cook on my new grill (especially if I smoke large meats like turkeys, briskets, and ribs).Even before I got the grill, I knew I would need them for future purposes because this past Thanksgiving, I baked my very first turkey and while carving it, I realized that I had no insulated gloves specific to handling hot meats (especially when I carved it.) At first I thought about oven mitts, which does allow you to handle the meat without burning your hands but I realized it wouldn't be very sanitary considering all the gunk that gets on cooking mitts. The only other gloves I had were these latex gloves that you get out of the "cleaning" section of your grocery store. While it keeps your hands clean, you still 1) burn yourself and 2) don't really know if it's "safe" for handling food.So after shopping around and finding recommendations from several BBQ forums, I decided on these gloves. While other reviewers say you can get "better", I ended up buying these and find they were worth it for the following reasons:1) These are affordable compared to other barbecue gloves on Amazon. The $14.23 price point (as of December 2012) makes it very competitive.2) Is actually designed to handle hot food and is insulated so it won't burn you.3) The outside material is "rubber-like" and is designed to handle food. What this means to the buyer is that 1) it's safe to handle your food and 2) the rubber outside coating means it's WASHABLE. The majority of the gloves on Amazon were made of some type of porous cloth. Anyone who has ever had oil/juices/grease/food touch cloth knows it can get extra dirty over time if you don't wash them.4) I know these gloves aren't "GRILL" gloves, but I've also used them as such (meaning I've touched the grates on my grill/smoker with these and it didn't seem to damage them). There is a disclaimer though, that says it's not designed for temps beyond a certain temperature (can't remember what), so if you're doing high-heat cooking, I'd advise you not to handle things that are beyond that temperature. It's listed on the box.Overall, very happy with these as I've already used them a few times with my smoked turkeys. My next cooking project is pulled pork!

Big fan of his show. I thought these would be great but I was disappointed that they now have burn marks on them and they do not handle high temperatures well. I understand these are not made for high temperatures as much as they are designed for better manipulation of the food. I have an electric smoker and depending on the amount you are smoking, you can have some tight spaces I need to get my hands in, adjusting probes, turning meat without pulling the dripping rack out, or pulling the rack out when finished etc. The max temperature in the box is only 275 so I thought these would keep me safe enough, which they do, but I still end up using my silicon mitts and in fact now I have to have these AND the mitts nearby depending on what I need to do. Putting wood chips in you have to pull the loader out and the end of it has been sitting over the heating element so its hotter than 275 and I can't use mitts to load chips and that's where these failed. I would not use these for oven use of course or hot charcoal grills. I suppose I expected more from them than what they were designed for.Edit 2/23/17As stated above, I understand fully that these gloves are only intended for handling food. I've seen all the warnings. But because I received a comment I don't think I was clear enough. These gloves are great if you want to move a chicken from rack to tray without brushing the back of the glove on anything above 275 degrees or don't like using forks and spatulas, etc. If you don't mind having an extra set of gloves (besides your high heat mittens, etc) laying around and adding to your clean-up then by all means get some. But if you want to hold on to a brisket while repositioning the probe inside a small space like a smoker, these probably are not safe enough according to the description. I bought these without thinking too much about their only intended purpose. When they say 275 degrees, that's it. Your food is hopefully not 275 degrees, but your grill is and your lid are and you had better not touch them wearing only this glove. So I use my insulated high heat silicone mittens because I KNOW how hot the grill is, hotter than 275 degrees. So 5 stars if you want to move a chicken to the tray, but 3 stars for usefulness and probably would not have gotten 3 except I like the show. I hope this clears up any misgivings about my rating. And I had to change the title from "still need a better glove" to "still need a more useful glove"

Who wants to contaminate perfectly smoked food with dirty gloves? I don't and didn't. How much fun is it to use ever more costly aluminum foil to shield dirty gloves from that beautiful smoked brisket you've smoked for eight hours just to pull it off the smoker? From experience, it's not fun (or sanitary) at all. These gloves end those problems.The best thing about these gloves isn't the heat resistance or how using them gives you more dexterity to move whatever it is you are grilling or smoking, but that when they inevitably get dirty after each use you can just wash them like you wash your hands. It couldn't be any easier.Before purchasing this product I read many reviews on this site, focusing on some of the negative reviews to see what I might not like about them. I was concerned these gloves would not be heat resistant enough based on some of those reviews, especially for me who has sensitive hands. If you have those same concerns, put those to rest. I've grabbed whole chickens, turkeys, briskets and sausage out of my smoker with these gloves and have never once had any issue with heat.Other reviewers wrote with concerns about the size of the gloves. I have medium to large hands and there's plenty of room to spare. While I'm sure some people do have issues with the size, it has to be pretty rare.The Steven Raichlen Best of Barbecue Insulated Food Gloves eliminate the above issues and by doing so, make them a must have for both professional and amateur smokers. I've tried two other brands of grilling gloves and these are not only the best in terms of use, but they also are the best value. I'd recommend these to everyone, and I have.