This $10 “Micro Tool” Has Me Ditching My Oven Mitts for Good

If you don’t make a single move in your kitchen without stopping to put on an oven mitt, stop reading right here. You’re not going to love what I say next.

You see, our oven mitts collect a lot of dust. On a super-busy week (which is most of the time), my husband and I order takeout more than we cook. While I love to bake cookies and pies on the weekends to put a smile on my family’s faces, on a typical weeknight, when we’re not reheating our leftovers, we’re making what we like to call “quick and dirty dinners” — one-dish meals (usually a large Pyrex) that can easily be made in the oven, air fryer, or microwave. We’re usually just quickly grabbing a hot dish or tray, so there never seems to be a true need to “put on” a set of oven mitts. I say “put on” because every set we have is too bulky to just slip on easily and getting into them feels more like I’m putting on boxing gloves just to remove dinner from the oven.

Because burning off my fingertips is clearly not on the menu, I would dutifully grab the oven mitts for handling anything hot in the kitchen — but I knew there had to be a less cumbersome way. Then I found a very simple (and affordable!) solution for home cooks who don’t Cook with a capital-C like me: the Dexas Micromitt Silicone Oven Mitt.

Ever since I discovered them, these Dexas Micromitts have been a big help around the kitchen. They absolutely do live up to their name — they are super tiny — but they’re surprisingly functional and a huge space-saver.

Each silicone mitt will cover up to three fingers per hand, which doesn’t sound like much, but I only need my fingertips to quickly grab hot or slippery dishes and handles around my kitchen and the raised nibs provide a sturdy, effortless grip. Despite being small, they can handle high temperatures with the same heat protection my traditional oven mitts provide. They nest into each other, so they take up virtually no space in my kitchen drawer — another gripe I’ve always had with traditional oven mitts.

I understand that some people may want the comfort of knowing their entire hands are protected from the heat when they’re reaching in and out of the oven. I get that, I do. But for me, when it comes to grabbing a hot plate or air fryer basket handle, these little helpers are all the protection I need.

I’m not the only one who’s converted from bulky oven mitts to these itty-bitty mitts. Shopping Director, Jada Wong, has all but stored her oven mitts in the pantry because the mitts are much easier for day-to-day cooking. “They actually give me a better grip on hot handles because the silicone sits more securely and tightly on my hands than a large oven mitt,” she says. 

Because a set of two sells for just around $10, I say don’t knock them until you try them. I did and now there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t reach for these space-saving kitchen gems.

Buy: Dexas Micromitt Silicone Oven Mitt, Set of Two, $8.99 (originally $11.99)