‘Ove' Glove – The Steam Test
This one filled me with a mighty dread. The worst routine burns, after bare-handed grabs for very hot pans, are the ones you get when using a slightly moist oven mitt. The water converts instantly to steam which steam cooks the hand trapped inside.
Lacking blind faith in my ‘Ove' Glove, I devised the following test: Instead of risking the fingers on my pickin’ hand, a probe from a digital thermometer will be inserted into the middle finger of the ‘Ove’ Glove. The heat source will be a cast iron pan which will be kept in a 350F oven for 15 minutes before each test. Of course, the first test will be done with a dry glove. The second will be done after the area above the probe has been slightly dampened.
Temperatures will be observed continually to one minute after placing the hot pan on top of the ‘Ove’ Glove. Of crucial importance will be the time to maximum temperature and what that temperature is, since these correlate directly to burn potential. “Drop Time” for the ‘Ove’ Glove has already been determined to be an acceptable 15 seconds.
Here are the data:
|
Seconds |
Dry Temp. |
Wet Temp. |
|
0 |
80 |
73 |
|
5 |
80 |
75 |
|
10 |
80 |
75 |
|
15 |
82 |
86 |
|
20 |
82 |
104 |
|
25 |
82 |
134 |
|
30 |
82 |
159 |
|
35 |
84 |
170 |
|
40 |
86 |
181 |
|
45 |
87 |
185 |
|
50 |
87 |
188 |
|
55 |
89 |
190 |
|
60 |
91 |
190 |
|
|
|
|
|
Max |
105 |
192 |
|
Time to Max |
> 2 minutes |
70 seconds |
Comments: The weight of the pan is distributed across an area, so the pressure on the ‘Ove’ Glove, compressing the material, is not a totally realistic test. Normally, the weight is focused on a few points, as in the drop test. 1/8 cup of water was poured along the 5-inch area where the probe was inserted, The initial temperature was 87F, from residual heat. A fan quickly cooled the pre-test temperature to 73F. The layered material of the ‘Ove’ Glove is extremely porous, making it difficult to insert the probe.
Despite the porosity, the temperature delta for the first 15 seconds, 13 degrees, was acceptable. The larger deltas occurred after 20 seconds, which is also acceptable since it allows for even a slowed reaction time to the increasing temperatures. The larger deltas may be explained be the porosity: The hot surface contacts a smaller area initially and only those points on the ‘Ove’ Glove surface directly contacting the heated pan become hot enough to release steam.
The water conducts the heat better than the ‘Ove' Glove material and this effect eventually accumulates. Anything over 130F will cause some wearer distress, but sufficient time remains (5 to 10 seconds) to release the heated object at a convenient location without a “panic drop”. For reference, the temperature of rare beef is 140F, medium 160F, and well done 170F.
5:56:43 PM 
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