Gear

9 Silicone Uses for Barbecuers and Grillers

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I am reassured all’s right with the world—the barbecue world, anyway—when I meet pit masters determined to do things the traditional way. To whit, tending pits that have burned for decades and stoking the fires with local hardwoods. And of course, pulling pork when screaming hot out of the smoker with their bare hands.

Suggest that such masters might be more comfortable and improve their grip on all that slippery hot meat by wearing special gloves, and you’ll invite withering looks or get yourself and your good intentions kicked off the premises.

But good hand protection is essential in barbecuing and grilling—not just for pulling pork, but for handling hot chimney starters, “uncanning” beer can chickens, and testing ribs for doneness by tearing them apart with your fingers.

I recently test-drove a pair of grilling gloves from a Florida company called Pofinity that are game-changers, in my opinion. Made of silicone, a polymer that has many uses in grilling, the 5-fingered gloves are heat resistant to 425 degrees, waterproof, flexible, food-safe, and thanks to a nubby textured surface, grippy as all get out. They do what grilling gloves made from conventional materials do, and much more. Here are some examples:

• Quickly turn a grill grate full of chicken wings with your hands.
• Test ribs for doneness by carefully lifting the rack from one end. If the ribs flex in the middle, revealing meaty shreds, they are done. (Perform this test directly over the grill rack.) You can also test the doneness of bone-in pork shoulder: Grip the bone and pull. It should release easily.
• Retrieve eggs, potatoes, or artichokes from boiling water without tongs for finishing on the grill or smoker. (People will be amazed when you do this.)
• Move a smoke-roasted turkey, beef shoulder clod, prime rib roast, or ham to a platter or cutting board; the HeatShield gloves will protect your hands while giving you a secure grip.
• Fearlessly transfer beer can chicken or turkey to a serving platter and remove the hot can when you’re ready to serve it.
• Rearrange food on a hot grill grate without the need for forks or tongs.
• Shred (pull) pork, beef, or chicken by hand while the meats are uncomfortably hot to the touch.
• Comfortably handle smoke-roasted potatoes. You can scoop them while hot for grilled potato skins or Steven’s stuffed, smoked potatoes with bacon and cheddar cheese.
• Slip the gloves on before giving your grill or smoker a deep-cleaning with chemicals or steel scrubbing pads.

The gloves wash up easily with soap and water. They are also dishwasher safe. One size fits most, according to Pofinity.

You could put them on your wish list, but why wait? Check out the gloves here.

For more tools designed to protect your hands when grilling, click here.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, we must disclose that this post contains sponsored links from Pofinity, and that they provided products in order to write this post.