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Selecting a Cut-Resistant Glove for Food Prep
I already found out the hard way that I'm better safe than sorry when it comes to using a mandolin. Those blades are sharp!!
Date: 7/10/2009 10:12:31 PM ( 15 y ) ... viewed 3875 times I have really begun to miss the mandolin I used to have. For those who are not familiar, a mandolin (also spelled mandoline), besides being the name of a stringed musical instrument, is a fruit and vegetable slicer famous for wonderfully paper-thin slices -- and, unfortunately, nearly as famous for kitchen accidents because most mandolins do not have finger guards adequate to all cutting jobs (especially for small vegetables such as radishes, mushrooms, small carrots).
Anyhow, I had an accident some years back with my mandolin and after that had a hard and fast rule: NEVER use a mandolin when you are in a big hurry, under a lot of pressure or stress or not being totally conscious. That last one is hard to stick with, since when we aren't "totally there" is when we are least likely to realize it! Therefore, along with my order of a new mandolin I feel a strong need to purchase a cut-resistant glove.
Actually I DID buy a cut-resistant glove a few years ago after my mandolin accident that scared me so. However I did not really know what I was doing and ended up with something more like chain mail or a baseball mitt. Not only was it too big and clumsy for use in the kitchen, it wasn't really washable either, so I ended up continuing to go without a protective glove.
This time I promised myself to get the glove. Oy vay! This is a hard decision to make online, especially as far as sizing. There are no stores (to my knowledge) at which I can go try them on to see which size fits, either!
One common problem people have with sizing of cut resistant gloves when using a mandolin is improper fit. Glove fingers longer than the person's actual finger tend to get caught just in the places one doesn't want -- and shortens the life of the glove as well as being clumsy. I've been reading about different gloves and searching out reviews and at this point, because my fingers are NOT long in relation to the size of the palm of my hand, I'm figuring I'll do well to find a glove that will allow me to "push in" the finger ends to where they will not get in the way. (Not my idea but something I read in one review of another short-fingered lass who had had her own mandolin accident in the past.) Now I think if I can find her review again I'll probably get the glove she was reviewing since I know she is SUCCESSFULLY pushing in those fingertips. Then once I get them I'll see if I can both push in the fingertips AND sew them down. I'll sew them down if I can!
Aye. All for the love of a mandolin. But yes, it is true, if you love food preparation -- and perhaps most especially if you love raw food preparation -- there is a special place in the heart for the wonderful culinary help one can get from this slightly testy slicing instrument!
I'll update this post later and let you know which glove I'm going to order -- and how it works out!
Cheers,
Michele
UPDATE: Yea, I found the review I was looking for! This is the glove I am going to get. Let's hope it works out good. I'll let you know! Steelcore II Cut Resistant Gloves, Tighter Weave #10. I'll be getting size small. While my hands are not small, these protective gloves seem to be made for men, and from what I could determine from my research I THINK size small will be the right size for me (full-sized ladies palm with not-very-long fingers). This is the glove the person said in the review, "I just pushed the finger tips "in" and the tips don't get in the way." This person also had a mandolin cutting accident before purchasing the gloves. She also complained that these gloves stain badly, but I'm not concerned about stains at this point. Clean and stained works for me! (smile)
UPDATE: After reading the fine print on one of the inserts that came with this glove -- and after I made it my own (due to sewing down the fingertips) I have discovered that this glove has been seriously treated with antimicrobials. I distrust this the same way I distrust antibacterial soaps. For instance, according to Dr. Mercola, "antibacterial soap kills bacteria, but triclosan, the active ingredient in most antibacterial soaps, has been found to kill human cells as well." I SERIOUSLY do not trust the industries that are supposedly protecting our health, and I prefer to take the more NATURAL methods (such as: a cut-resistant glove made with hemp in place of the synthetic material, since hemp is NATURALLY mold-resistant).
Anyhow, I'll keep my glove and I'll use it, but more sparingly than I had planned.
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