Best Insulated BBQ Gloves For 2024

best insulated bbq gloves

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A good pair of bbq gloves is essential to any pitmaster’s arsenal.

From arranging coals to moving food around a hot grill, you want to protect yourself.

We’ve narrowed down the best bbq gloves for you so you can spend less time nursing blistered fingers and more time sucking ribs sauce off ’em.

Our Smoke Kitchen BBQ Gloves offer heat resistance of up to 1,472℉ and good dexterity for moving items around.

From Our Shop
Smoke Kitchen BBQ Gloves
$24.95

Protect your hands from temperatures up to 1,472℉ with heat-resistant aramid fiber gloves.

Pros:
  • Non-slip silicone grip keeps hot items secure in your hand
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The 10 best grill gloves for protecting your hands in 2024

1. Best Overall – Smoke Kitchen BBQ Gloves

smoke kitchen bbq gloves

After testing dozens of different types of BBQ Gloves, our team of pitmasters has come up with our own design.

Made from heat-resistant aramid fiber, our Smoke Kitchen BBQ Gloves protect your hands from temperatures up to 1,472℉.

Aramid (short for aromatic polyamide), is a high performance fiber known for its lightweight, low flammability and high strength properties.

You can handle burning logs, shift around charcoal or touch hot pans without having to worry about blistering your fingers. Unless you moonlight as a superhero, you won’t encounter anything too hot for these gloves to handle.

The silicone pattern helps you maintain a secure grip, while the cotton lining keeps your hands comfortable.

The only drawback to this design is that they aren’t waterproof.

Anything more than a few tablespoons of liquid will soak through and decrease the heat resistance. We think it’s a worthwhile tradeoff, as waterproof gloves tend to suffer from poor dexterity.

Why we think it’s the best:

  • Balances high heat protection and ruggedness with the need for dexterity
  • Silicone adds extra grip so hot and heavy items stay secure in your hands
  • Cut resistant
  • One size fits most, with plenty of protection for your wrists
  • Machine washable

These gloves give you the best of both worlds, with plenty of heat resistance to handle all the duties of a pitmaster.

2. Runnner-Up – Extreme Heat Resistant Grill Heat Aid Gloves

pouring hot coals wearing grill heat aid bbq gloves
Keeping hands safe with the Grill Heat Aid Gloves

Coming in second we have a similar design from Grill Heat Aid. These gloves are lightweight, flexible, and heat resistant up to 1,472℉. Made of protective Aramid fiber that has been coated with silicone strips.

At the same time, you get an extreme grip from rubber like silicone. 

The tightly woven fiber distributes heat very effectively across the glove so no matter what you grab, you won’t feel it, and the fabric fits snugly around the wrist.

You can pick a few different size options, including One Size and One Size with a longer cuff for extra protection.

What we like:

  • Super protective – These gloves offer the best level of protection, you only feel a tiny bit of heat when holding the hottest items for a long time. Moving around super hot grill grates or coals isn’t a problem.
  • Good dexterity – Some gloves can feel quite cumbersome to wear, but with these gloves, you can still easily use your hands like your normally would.
  • Well fitting gloves – I would say I have average size hands and the gloves fit well and offer good wrist protection. There is plenty of room in them, so they could fit someone with larger hands, although they don’t feel loose when I wear them.

What we don’t like:

  • Not good with moisture – If these gloves get wet, they will lose a lot of heat resistance. I find with a little dampness they can still hold hot items, but you start to feel the heat faster.
Essential smoker accessories

We suggest you stick to the cautious side with these gloves. Even steam can lower their thermal resistance, causing you to burn your hands.

The fingers on these gloves also run a little large, so if you have really small hands you might want to consider the small size.

3. Also Good – Grillaholics Silicone Barbecue Gloves

These gloves are made from 100% aramid 1313 / kevlar insulated fibers with 100% cotton lining which makes them among the most comfortable gloves we have tested and keeps your hands safe up to 660°F.

These gloves fit well, which makes it easy to pick up items on your grill.

We tested them out with a hot grill basket, and found it easy to pick up and toss some veggies.

Not only did my hands not get hot from this, but the “grippiness” of the gloves helped me keep a firm grip on the basket.

Several times, I lingered while holding the basket just to see if the gloves would get hot. After ample time, you could feel that the gloves were starting to get warm, but not enough for concern.

What we like:

  • Excellent flexibility – The way these gloves are constructed lets you still use your fingers to easily grip hot items.
  • Clever use of materials – These gloves don’t look at heavy duty as our top pick, but thanks to the aramid insulated fibers and silicone pattern on the fingers they still offer protection up to 660°F with excellent mobility and gripping.

What we don’t like:

  • Limited wrist/forearm protection – These aren’t the longest gloves, so if you need forearm protection they might not be the best choice.
  • Can’t use with steam or water – Again these aren’t a good choice to use when wet.

I don’t mind having my forearms exposed as I don’t use them for anything that would splatter.

Get the latest price on Amazon.

4. Best waterproof bbq gloves – The Pit Glove Waterproof BBQ Glove

These insulated grill gloves from American company The Pit Glove do a great job at balancing comfort and dexterity with extreme heat resistance.

The outside has a premium neoprene rubber coating which is great for water resistance including grease or steam. The glove itself is knitted and has a soft jersey cotton liner. This combo gives you more flexibility than you get with silicone gloves while still keeping your hands safe from burns.

The gloves only come in size 10/XL and the assumption is one size fits. If you have extra large or small hands you might want to consider another glove.

At 13″ they sit high enough above your wrist so that you do not need to worry about getting burned when reaching in to your grill, or smoker. The neoprene coating provides excellent grip.

This grip extends up to the wrist line but at this point, grip is not required.

The gloves are also easy to clean, which is handy for grabbing meat off the grill. When you’re done using them, simply wash them in the sink with your gloves still on with hot water and soap.

When you wash these a bit of dye might come out, so wash them on their own and avoid ruining other clothes.

You get a 3 month guarantee. Not the longest out there but enough time to get your money back in case anything is defective.

Get the latest price on Amazon.

5. Best budget bbq gloves – Silicone heat resistant Barbecue Gloves

Just like the Ekogrips above these gloves are made from heat resistant silicone. With a similar max temperature of up to 442° F, these gloves can be put through the dishwasher and perform OK under wet conditions, at the expense of dexterity though.

You can choose between S/M, L or XL, and these silicone gloves seem to run a bit large. We suggest sizing down.

And if you’ve got smaller hands then the bulk of these gloves may make it more difficult to grab items or perform tasks like basting a brisket with these gloves on.

The manufacturer promises a 60 day money back guarantee which is nice if you’re concerned about choosing the wrong size. We find it a bit odd that they’ve lumped small and medium together. This makes them less than ideal for females or smaller handed men (we’re not judging but maybe consider another type of glove…)

You also need to be careful not to turn the back of the glove towards the source of heat, as the textured part on the front helps protect your hands.

The lifetime replacement guarantee is also a nice bonus for a bit of added piece of mind.

Get the latest price on Amazon.

6. Best welding gloves for grilling – Caiman 21-Inch Deerskin Welding Glove

Any bbq glove made from genuine American deerskin with a boarhide heat shield and cuff was always going to get out attention.

While the glove is marketed as a welding glove, we find that welding gloves make some of the best heavy duty grill gloves for outdoor cooking and fire management.

The folks over at eggheadforum.com agree:

“A good set of welding gloves is what I use, however you don’t want to hold on to a hot plate setter (or a hot anything, for that matter) for very long!”

The leather gives you good initial protection and the length of the gloves helps to ensure your wrists and arms stay protected.

Unfortunately the leather is also not the most heat resistant fabric. Fine for most tasks you’ll encounter while smoking but just watch out if you’re holding on to something hot for more than a second or two.

You’re going to be paying a premium for the premium materials so if you’re on a budget we say look elsewhere. If you want something more luxurous, that will impress your buddys as well then these gloves are perfect.

And who knows, you might even get some welding done while your brisket is stalling.

Get the latest price on Amazon.

7. A good waterproof alternative – Ekogrips BBQ Grilling Gloves

Heatproof up to 425°F  and made of water resistant silicone these gloves offer excellent grip at a similar price point as the previous gloves.

What you give up in temperature resistance, you gain in versatility with the ability to handle liquid and steam.

For true barbecue gloves, we would like to see higher heat resistance. These gloves are not ideal if you need to handle a lot of charcoal or burning wood. Charcoal and embers can easily exceed the maximum heat range, meaning that handling them can be dangerous.

The area around the wrist is also on the loose side, so radiant heat can find its way in, potentially making things uncomfortable. If required they can either be wiped clean or placed in the dishwasher.

The waterproof benefits of these gloves are balanced by the fact that you lose some of the dexterity you have with fabric gloves. Fabric gloves provide much more dexterity and are far more comfortable than these gloves.

But if you don’t want to worry about getting steam or water on your hands and aren’t planning on handling a lot of charcoal these gloves will perform for you.

For the best of both worlds, consider buying a pair of Ekogrips bbq gloves for handling food around steam or water, and grab the Extreme Heat Resistant grill gloves for anything really hot.

The rest of the competition

You should be able to find a great pair of gloves from our list above. There’s a lot of different gloves out there though. And they’re all of varying quantity. Here are some of the gloves we looked at that are worth considering.

8. Steven Raichlen Insulated Food Gloves 

Better known for his excellent book Project Smoke, Steven Raichlen has thrown his hat into the bbq gloves ring. Personally we’re not a big fan of the grey appearance, but looks aren’t everything so we had a deeper look.

Turns out that these gloves can get rather slippery (not ideal for handling greasy meat), and they can stain.

We would recommend going for a glove with a bit more grip / texture, but the gloves are otherwise well liked among the smoking community, and are a good buy if you can get them on special. Get the latest price.8.

9. G&F Premium Grain Leather Gloves

These are a good option if you want to go down the leather glove route. The 14.5 inch sleeve provides decent protection, and 100% genuine grain cowhide is nice if you prefer to stick with natural materials.

You’ll need to be pretty careful with these though, and we don’t think it’s worth the added worry when a pair of silicon gloves can give you better heat protection.

If you’re really set on leather gloves though this is a great option at a good price point.

10. Weber Premium Barbeque Glove Set 

Normally anything by Weber would be at or near the top of any best of list on this website.

That’s not to say these gloves are “bad”, but we’re not convinced it’s worth spending the extra money for this premium brand. Like everything by Weber, these gloves are built well and do the job, but there are a lot of other manufacturers selling similar gloves for much cheaper.

If you want the peace of mind that comes with buying a known brand like Weber, then these gloves will still work great.

Who is this guide for

The recommendations made in this guide assume you’ll be using these gloves for smoking meat or grilling.

While not as dangerous a job as welding, there are still many times during a long smoke when you’ll need to protect your mits.

From handling a chimney starter full of hot lump charcoal, to rearranging coals, moving grill grates, adjusting air vents to finally pulling your meat off a hot grill and foiling it, you need to have versatile bbq gloves to protect your hands.

While we’ve focussed on using them for barbecue, the gloves we’ve selected are also ideal for seasoning cast iron skillets, grabbing hot pans, pulling candy or taking things from the oven.

Why not just use tongs?

This is a legitimate question, that we should get out of the way now. Tongs alone can be useful for moving coal around or knocking an air vent closed.

But you don’t want to rely on a pair of tongs to pull a 12lb brisket off the smoker (good luck balancing that!). Trying to move food off the cooking surface could end up with things falling apart on you, or with you burning yourself.

And there’s nothing fun about picking up heavy, hot grill grates with some cheap tongs only to have it fall on your foot!

Common kitchen tongs aren’t long enough to protect your hands so consider also grabbing a pair of 16″ grilling tongs to give yourself some extra reach.

Use both gloves and tongs, and make sure the gloves you purchase are rated highly enough to protect you.

What to consider when choosing barbecue gloves

When deciding which gloves would make our best bbq gloves guide, we considered the needs of an outdoor chef, and narrowed them down to several questions that apply to a variety of situations.

You should consider the following before deciding on a pair.

  • Does it cover the wrist? Grill gloves come in many different lengths. Some gloves just cover your hands while others provide protection all the way up your arm so you’ll still be protected when reaching into a smoker or across hot coals.
  • Are they water resistant? Some materials offer amazing heat resistance but are nearly useless when they get wet. Think about if your hands will come into contact with steam or meat juices.
  • Do they offer good dexterity? – We find that waterproof gloves made from silocone generally don’t provide the same level of dexterity as gloves made from other materials. You need to make sure you can still use tongs or a thermometer with the gloves on?
  • Do they stain and how easily can they be cleaned? – Gloves that can go in the washing machine are much easier to keep clean.

Types of gloves explained

There are several materials that heat resistant gloves can be made from, each with their own positives and negatives, to further illustrate the reasoning behind our choices for the best glove. We will explain each one in detail below.

Silicone

A rubber like material with a varying degree of industrial uses, silicone can be found in everything from bathrooms to computers. Depending on its thickness and density silicone can be fire retardant.

It’s incredibly malleable, often 100% waterproof and can be wiped clean or placed in the dishwasher if desired. If you’re looking to take boiled eggs out of the pot by hand, silicone is your best choice.

But silicone gloves are usually loose around the wrist, meaning radiant heat can enter in, often defeating the purpose of the glove in the first place.

They are typically bulky as well, making it difficult to perform precision takes such as using a thermometer while wearing them. Finally, if silicone gets greasy it becomes very slippery making it difficult to keep a grip on anything. Grabbing ribs, brisket or any meat can turn into an exercise in balance, risking hours of work in the process.

Woven Fabric

Aramid fibres are a class of heat resistant, synthetic fibre that are widely used in firefighting, the aerospace industry and for various military applications.

They are used in ballistic rated body armour, composite materials like kevlar and as an asbestos substitute. Aramid fibre can be broken down into two characteristics, Para & Meta, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

For the purpose of heat resistance they are by far the best bbq gloves. At their highest degree of production quality they boast a low resistance to abrasion, continued fabric integrity at high temperatures and a non existent melting point.

There is a reason why firefighters don’t enter burning buildings dressed head to toe in silicone, but rather in Aramid fibres.

It’s simply the superior choice when it comes to heat resistance. It’s drawbacks are the price of production and it’s lack of water resistance. But for our uses and many others it is the ideal choice.

Treated leather

Unlike the gloves we’ve reviewed above, leather gloves don’t make a big deal about their maximum temperature range. These G&F Grain Leather Gloves recommended by Meatheat contain the warning:

“Caution: Glove made of 100% Genuine Grain Cowhide Leather with 100% cotton lining. Heat resistant, not Heat proof. Avoid prolong contact with active flame”

While they are fine for most barbecue or grilling tasks, you need to be careful not to hold onto a cast iron grill for too long, or when moving around hot coals or logs.

We’ve also heard cases of the gloves shrinking. Leather is often referred to as a living material which requires more care and attention, so if you want a glove to use and then throw in the dishwasher we wouldn’t recommend a leather style glove.

Wrapping it up

The glove market is a saturated one. With each company throwing out fancy words to try and get your attention and hard earned money, it can be an overwhelming choice.

There are times when being frugal is the right choice. But in our opinion, gloves aren’t one of them. Something that protects you from extreme heat should be made of only the most modern and well fitting fabrics.

You can’t go wrong with the Grill Heat Aid BBQ Gloves, with the One Size option being the best fit for most people.

Grill Heat Aid BBQ Heat Resistant Gloves
Pros:
  • Excellent heat resistance
  • Good dexterity
  • Multiple size options
Cons:
  • Any wetness decrease heat resistance
Check Latest Price

It’s also important the gloves you decide on are fit for your purpose. We’ve heard lots of complaints about gloves that were rated as high as 900° F causing burns because the user allowed them to get wet.

It’s vital that you decide upfront if you need waterproof bbq gloves, and buy something like the Ekogrips or if it’s all about heat resistance, in which case the extreme heat resistant gloves above will do the trick.

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6 Comments

  1. Everett Miles says:

    I really like the way you explain the type of gloves. That’s very useful for me. Thank you!

  2. I bought Grillaholics Silicone Barbecue Gloves a week ago and I’m impressed with the quality. We used the gloves last couple weekends, had some friends over for BBQ party at the backyard. I like how these gloves protect my hands very well from the heat and how sturdy they feel.

  3. Renee Miller says:

    The number 1 recommended here is awful – if you pull your hand out the whole inner lining comes out and the fingers are impossible to put back in And the one size on amazon that fits male hands doesn’t

    1. I’ve been using these for years with no problem, sounds like you may have received a defective glove as I’ve never had the inner lining come out.

  4. Scott Schoonover says:

    What about durability? Every pair of gloves I’ve bought the fabric eventually falls apart.

    1. I’ve been using the Grill Heat Aid gloves regularly since 2017. Left em out in elements plenty of times and they’ve also been through the wash plenty of times and they are still holding up great.

      If you wanted something even more tough I’d be looking at some welding gloves.

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