Canyon Red Extra-Long Silicone Mitts

Fourteen and seven-tenths inches is a deliberate number. It is the length at which a mitt stops ending at your wrist and starts covering the part of the forearm that actually touches the oven rack when you lean in for a pan at the back. This is that mitt, finished in a warm brick red that reads as terracotta rather than fire-engine.

The outer shell is moulded silicone with a raised texture across the palm and fingers. The point of the texture is friction: a glazed casserole dish or an enamelled Dutch oven has almost nothing for a smooth glove to hold on to, and the ridges give the mitt somewhere to bite. Inside sits a quilted cotton liner, which is the part that does the insulating and the part that makes the mitt comfortable to wear for more than a few seconds.

Silicone does one thing that fabric cannot: it refuses water. A cotton mitt that touches a wet rim or a steaming lid wicks that moisture straight through to your skin, and the burn arrives before you have registered what happened. A sealed silicone shell has nowhere for the steam to go, so lifting a lid off a stockpot stops being a small gamble.

The red is practical as well as decorative. Kitchens punish pale textiles, and a mitt in this tone carries splashes of tomato, turmeric and grill smoke without looking neglected between washes. When it does need cleaning, the silicone wipes with a soapy cloth, and the whole mitt takes a machine cycle when the liner needs a proper wash.

The short version

• Extra-long 14.7-inch cuff covers the forearm, not just the wrist
• Textured silicone palm grips glazed and enamelled cookware
• Quilted cotton liner does the insulating and keeps the fit comfortable
• Sealed shell blocks steam and spilled liquid rather than absorbing it
• Wipe the outside clean or machine wash the pair when the liner needs it

Who it suits

Specification