The Best Grill Gloves, According to Pitmasters
With open flames and hundred-plus-degree temperatures, grills and smokers can easily scorch unprotected skin. Grilling is far from a set-it-and-forget-it activity and requires frequent turning, flipping, and adjusting — all of which puts hands close to high heat. A grease splash at the wrong time will relocate a backyard barbecue to an urgent care waiting room — a fate that’s easy to avoid while wearing grill gloves.
Grill gloves are like oven mitts but for protecting hands over open flames without inhibiting their movement. While plenty of home grilling enthusiasts get by without them, grill gloves make the beloved summertime cooking method safer and easier, and they typically cost less than a pack of hamburgers. It’s a small investment for a substantial difference.
No more T-Rex-arming away from leaping flames. We’ve rounded up the best grill gloves below.
The Best Grill Gloves: At a Glance
What the Experts Say
SPY interviewed three grilling experts to source the recommendations on this list. We spoke with the mononymous Meathead, a member of the Barbecue Hall of Fame and the founder of AmazingRibs.com and the author of Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling. We also spoke with Steven Raichlen, another Barbecue Hall of Famer and the creator of BarbecueBible.com. He’s authored over 30 books and hosts several television shows, including Steven Raichlen’s Planet Barbecue, Project Fire, and Project Smoke. We also spoke with Forres Meadows, a fabricator of live-fire grills and owner of 4sFire LLC.
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Along with listing their top picks, these pitmasters discussed the different types of grill gloves and the key qualities to look for, starting with heat resistance.“First of all, you need a glove where you can reach in and grab a cast iron frying pan or turn over a hot grill grate,” says Meathead. “So you need gloves that are heat-resistant, and there are a whole bunch of them out there. My favorite are suede welder’s gloves, and they make them for grills.”
Pliability is another important feature, and essential for grip control. “Don’t buy mittens,” Meathead adds. “You want fingers. You want articulation. You want to be able to use your fingers.” If it’s difficult to hold utensils in your hand, grill gloves become more of a nuisance than an asset.
Finally, protection from blades, referred to as cut resistance, came up too. Luckily, most materials used for grill gloves, whether it’s aramid or leather, offer some degree of cut resistance.
Steven Raichlen Signature Series Extra Long Grilling Gloves
Combining a functional design with high-quality materials, the Steven Raichlen Signature Series Gloves are a terrific option for casual and avid grillers. Most grill gloves are leather or silicone, but these are suede, which makes them strong enough to withstand high temperatures and sharp blades yet flexible enough to comfortably maneuver.
Meadows has used these gloves for over 10 years and says they’re “pliable and not super stiff.” Another benefit he mentions is the added length. At 18 inches long, they protect your forearms more than standard grill gloves.
“They’re extra heavy and extra padded,” Raichlen says. “And I designed them so that the sleeve is really long.”
There are slightly cheaper options out there, but the Steven Raichlen Signature Series Gloves are reasonably priced and hold up exceptionally well, as evidenced by the decade-plus use that Meadows has gotten out of them.
G & F Products 8115 Premium Grain Leather Gloves
G & F Products is known for its array of tough, dependable work gloves, and none are better for barbecuing than this pair. The cowhide leather exterior is strong enough to guard against a stray knife blade as well as high temperatures. Meanwhile, the interior is lined with cotton, so you’ll be comfortable grilling all afternoon. At 14.5 inches, the 8115 Premium Grain Leather Gloves are longer than average, offering forearm protection too.
“I love these gloves,” says Meathead. “You can move hot cooking grates or frying pans with them. I have even picked up glowing coals with them. I like that the sleeves almost go to my elbows.”
Despite the heavy-duty look and feel, the gloves are surprisingly inexpensive. If you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck, go with this option.
Grill Armor Gloves
Many grill gloves are so rigid that it’s impossible to maneuver a spatula or set of tongs. We revert to our days before opposable thumbs. In fact, this is a reason some people choose not to buy grill gloves.
Dexterity isn’t an issue with the Grill Armor Gloves, though. The material is so light and flexible that, at first, you may not believe it will protect you from anything, but hold the gloves near a flame and you’ll feel nothing but the comfortable cotton lining. They are cut-resistant too, which means you can wear them when preparing all sorts of meals, not just ones on the grill.
Meathead commends the Grill Armor brand as a whole: “They are all extremely flexible and, unlike mittens, give you finger articulation so you can easily grasp and maneuver objects,” he says. A couple more perks of these gloves in particular — the brand’s signature product — include that they are machine washable and have embedded silicone non-slip grips
Ozero Leather Gloves
Raichlen says any pair of welder’s gloves make a good alternative to true barbecue gloves, and that’s the essence of these Ozero gloves. They are tough, burly, and able to withstand temperatures far hotter than most grills can even achieve.
“I use them more than any of the many other [pairs of gloves] I have,” says Meathead. “They have long sleeves to protect your arms against accidental contact with hot metal.”
The gloves are 16 inches long from fingertip to forearm. Made of cowhide leather, they also protect against sharp objects, as they are cut-resistant and puncture-resistant. Somehow, they’re low-priced too. The Ozero gloves are stiffer than aramid ones, but they offer more than enough finger articulation to work at your grill.
NoCry Cut-Resistant Gloves
The NoCry Cut-Resistant Gloves provide total mobility, plus peace of mind. Their composite fabric thwarts any nicks or slices that might occur while using a knife. It’s important to note, however, that the gloves are cut-resistant, not puncture-resistant; the point of a knife can break through the material if enough force is applied. The gloves aren’t heat-resistant either, so normal caution is needed around a hot grill.
Think of these as all-purpose kitchen gloves more than heavy-duty grill gloves. You don’t want to grab a hot, tinfoil-wrapped baked potato while wearing them, but they’re perfect during the prep stages of cooking. They grip exceptionally well when you’re dicing vegetables and slicing chicken breasts, and you can pick them up for cheap. It’s easy to use them every day too because they’re machine-washable.
While this isn’t the first pair of grill gloves that Meathead reaches for at home, he confirms that they are handy when cutting meat and opening oysters and clams.
Frequently Asked Questions About Grill Gloves
How Do You Clean Grill Gloves?
Cleaning instructions vary by material. Silicone gloves can usually be thrown in the dishwasher or washing machine, they’re the easiest material to clean. Leather or suede gloves aren’t hard to clean either but generally need to be done by hand. Simply use hot water, dish soap, and a towel that you don’t mind blackening or getting greasy.
Can You Use Oven Mitts For Grilling?
It’s generally not recommended to use oven mitts for grilling. Cotton or rubber oven mitts may work to grab a hot pan from an oven, but they will catch fire or melt if they make contact with a flame, countering their protective utility. Fire-retardant oven mitts should work safely, but they usually don’t offer the pliability needed to use grilling utensils.
What Are Some Other Useful Grilling Accessories?
At its core, grilling doesn’t require more than food, fuel, and the grill itself. However, there’s a vast number of tools that simplify and enhance the grilling process. Raichlen says insulated grill gloves are in his “big four” accessories, adding that the others are tongs, a grill brush, and an instant-read meat thermometer. “Those are sort of the four indispensables,” he says. Meathead recommends a similar list of accessories but says, “Thermometers are the single most important cooking tool.” Other handy purchases he discussed with SPY include grill toppers, a reliable knife set, fish baskets, and meat shredders.
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