When cooking something, you first want to ensure that your hands stay clean. Rightly so, because what you eat has an effect on your body. That's why keeping your hands clean when cooking and handling food is essential.
Many people use gloves to keep their hands clean and germ-free when preparing food. Gloves protect your hands from dust, germs, and bacteria when performing tasks requiring strict hygiene. And when working in the food service industry, you are required to wear nitrile gloves.
Nitrile gloves, for this reason, are the best option. Besides the high-quality material used in their construction, the gloves are highly functional. If you're wondering whether you can use nitrile gloves for cooking, this article is just for you. Let’s get right into the topic at hand - starting with why you need nitrile gloves for cooking in the first place.
Why do you Need Gloves for Cooking in the First Place?
When you're cooking, your hands come in direct contact with ingredients. Your hands carry bacteria all the time, so much of the bacteria remains even if you wash them thoroughly. The cracks in your skin, fingerprints, and your nails all contain bacteria.
This bacteria affects the food - and thus, everyone consuming it, which causes the spread of infections and diseases. So even when you wash your hands, the soap doesn't kill all the bacteria. Hence, wearing gloves is a better option to prevent bacteria from spreading and infecting the food and others.
Of course, gloves can also become contaminated, which explains the availability of single-use gloves. The second way to protect your food from contamination is to only touch utensils, food, and the kitchen area where you're preparing food.
Your hands and things you touch aren't entirely sanitized or sterilized, which increases the risk of contamination to 100%. Wearing gloves reduces the risk of contamination and limits the spread of diseases. Certain processes, such as medical surgeries, cooking, and handling lab samples, should not be done without wearing gloves.
So, can you use Nitrile Gloves for Cooking?
So, in saying all that, can you use nitrile gloves for cooking?
Yes - in fact, this is the best choice. Nitrile gloves are the best type available on the market. These gloves are HACCP and FDA approved and certified. Due to the strong material these nitrile gloves are made up of, they can handle all kinds of food materials without getting affected.
These gloves have a thicker construction, so they're a class apart from their latex counterparts. They don't tear or puncture, and they're also heat resistant and allergen resistant. This is why they're the first choice for most professional chefs worldwide.
Why Nitrile Gloves are the Best Choice for Cooking (Compared to other types)
There are three kinds of gloves available on the market: nitrile gloves, vinyl gloves, and latex gloves. Nitrile is considered the strongest glove out of the three types due to the material. Nitrile is a synthetic rubber copolymer that is highly durable.
On the other hand, latex gloves handle tactile sensitivity the best but may be the most durable material. Vinyl is the cheapest glove and the best for sanitary protection - but the cheap material doesn’t stand up well to heavy use, ripping and tearing frequently.
Latex gloves are not the best choice because of allergy concerns. Latex can be harmful to people with a latex allergy. Latex gloves were once a prevalent choice due to the strength they offered along with tactile sensitivity and manual dexterity. However, this view has widely changed, and people now prefer nitrile gloves over any other glove type.
The gloves you use for cooking purposes should not be prone to allergens and bacteria. For this reason, nitrile gloves are the best choice, as they're the most durable option. Also, they provide you with the best kind of protection.
How to stay safe and comfortable using Nitrile Gloves for cooking?
When people ask us, can you use nitrile gloves for cooking, we often tell them that yes, they can, but with care. One should always use nitrile gloves with extra care and concern. Certain gloves can suck the moisture from your hands, so it is recommended to moisturize your hands to protect against dry skin.
Also, wearing gloves all day can even irritate some skin types, so if you also experience such issues, apply ointment or a medicated lotion to prevent itchiness and irritation. It is also recommended to change your gloves every few hours because they're not recommended for all-day use.
One should also be careful when wearing these gloves, as they should stay as clean as possible. Here are some steps that you should follow when wearing your gloves:
- Wash your hands thoroughly before wearing the gloves. This ensures that you have clean hands under the gloves if they tear.
- Slide the first glove on your non-dominant hand first. Slide it carefully, not to touch the exterior side of the glove with your hands or any other surface.
- Then, carefully slide on the second glove. Adjust both gloves with the help of your hands.
- Once the gloves are on, make sure that they don't have any holes or tears.
Be sure to find the Best Nitrile Gloves for cooking
Nitrile gloves are the best option on the market for cooking purposes. However, there are still some things that you need to consider when buying nitrile gloves. Here are the important factors to consider:
- The thickness of the gloves is the most important thing. When gloves are thicker, they offer more protection.
- Gloves should fit your hand comfortably. Most people prefer to have thinner gloves instead of thicker ones because they fit nicely and are comfortable. So, be sure that the gloves aren't too tight.
- The length of the gloves should be an inch or two longer than your fingers. This length will help you grip and hold onto things better compared to tight-fitted ones.
- Use gloves that have a different color from the food items you're handling. If the food and gloves are of the same color, you risk cutting off your gloves and not even realizing. Hence, try using a neutral color, such as white or black.
Learn How to Size your Gloves properly
Learning to determine your glove size is very important as tight or uncomfortable gloves can increase the risk of holes while you're cutting food. To know the exact size of the gloves you need, it's vital that you measure your hand size. Here's how to measure the size of the glove you need:
- Start by getting a measuring tape to measure the dimensions of your hand. For that, hold the tape in the middle of your palm, wrap it across your palm and bring it to the starting point of the tape. Make sure the tape isn't too tight or too loose. Note the circumference of the tape around your hand.
- Now, measure your hand lengthwise. Hold the tape at the tip of your middle finger, and bring it down to the base of your hand. Note this measurement in inches.
- Now, take both the measurements and round them off to the nearest greater number for a comfortable fit. Leave some room in the gloves for your hands to adjust properly.
Still pondering what size nitrile gloves you need? We wrote a complete guide in our blog - take a look and never worry about nitrile glove sizing again!
Do you need Food-safe nitrile gloves for cooking?
If you are looking to buy nitrile gloves for your at home cooking extravaganzas or for your employees at work, we have you covered at Primo Dental Products. We're known as the #1 place to purchase nitrile gloves.
You can use our high-quality products whether you work in the food or medical industry or in any other line of work that requires you to keep your hands clean all day long.
Working in the food industry means staying in kitchens with higher temperatures most of the time. This can even harm your face if you fail to take proper care. For that reason, our PPE shop offers face masks made in the USA.
Primo Dental offers top-notch products to professionals working in the medical, dental, and food industries or anyone who needs PPE. If that sounds like you, don't hesitate to try our products, you will not regret your decision.
Can you use Medical Nitrile Gloves for Cooking? Final Thoughts
If people ask, 'can you use medical nitrile gloves for cooking?' Tell them, yes, they surely can. Medical nitrile gloves are the most durable and trustworthy option for cooking. That's because they don't tear while cutting food items and also offer the best protection from bacterial contamination.
We hope this guide answered the question, 'can you use medical nitrile gloves for cooking?' and explained how to measure your gloves and use them safely.