Empire Red Long-Cuff Silicone Mitts

The range carries two reds and they are not interchangeable. Canyon red has brown in it and reads as terracotta. Empire red is the cooler, deeper one, closer to a dark cherry, and it is the shade that looks right in a kitchen with white cabinetry or dark wood. Underneath, the 13.7-inch silicone build is unchanged.

A deep red is unusually practical in kitchen use. The stains that defeat pale mitts are almost all in the same family — tomato, paprika, chilli, wine, beetroot — and on a dark red shell they simply do not register. The mitt goes on looking presentable long after a cream one would have been demoted to the grill.

Construction is a moulded BPA-free silicone outer with raised texture on the palm and fingertips, over a quilted cotton liner. The texture is what holds a glazed casserole; the liner is what keeps the heat away from your hand and lets you wear the mitt for a whole afternoon of baking rather than a single lift.

The sealed silicone surface is the reason this style handles the hob as well as the oven. Steam off a lifted lid has nothing to soak into and no path to your skin, and neither does the water that pools on a rimmed tray. Cleaning is a wipe with warm soapy water, with a machine cycle in reserve for the liner.

The short version

• Deep cool red: darker and less orange than the canyon shade
• Hides tomato, paprika and wine marks that ruin light mitts
• Textured silicone palm for glazed dishes and enamelled cookware
• Quilted cotton liner does the insulating and the cushioning
• 13.7-inch cuff; wipe clean or machine wash the pair

Who it suits

Specification