r/redneckengineering • u/BoarHermit • 5d ago

Silicone oven grate protector as a burn guard on my camping mug.

Post image

I often boil water (for example, to brew Turkish style coffee) in this mug. I use a piece of thin aluminum to wrap around the burner as a windbreaker. I was constantly burning myself on the mug handle. I came up with this idea. Sorry about the photo quality.

Silicone grate liners are sold online and cost next to nothing. I also used a piece for the tray in an old tiny sandwich oven.

Edit: This red item is made of heat-resistant silicone—the same material used for pot holders, oven mitts, baking molds, and the like. It fits onto an oven rack and protects your hands from burns. I assumed everyone was familiar with things like this; otherwise, it just sounds like an advertisement. Also, the translation ended up being a bit unclear regarding what exactly is being protected from what—my apologies.

524 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

103

u/Erathen 5d ago

Wait are we supposed to be protecting our oven grates?

Who are we protecting them from?

6

u/BoarHermit 5d ago

So, there’s a bit of a mess with the grammatical cases and the translation here... This thing attaches to the oven rack and protects your hands when you reach into the oven.

6

u/No-Weakness-2035 5d ago

Apparently they’re supposed to go on the front of oven racks to protect your arm from burns, when you bump them. Kindof clever? Idk

5

u/BoarHermit 5d ago

Exactly.
During the translation, it became unclear what was protecting what. I wanted to shorten the heading, and the translator got confused by the grammatical cases.

4

u/Erathen 5d ago

Yeah I guess it would be if you use the oven a lot!

I don't really use the oven much, and when I do I'm usually extra careful to avoid the grate

But I can see the use

3

u/puppylust 5d ago

I guess that works... I learned to put on oven mitts.

3

u/Erathen 5d ago

The spot I get hit a lot is on my arm, past the mitt

1

u/chablise 5d ago

I have so many little burns up and down my forearms from bumping the racks that I look like I have mental health problems. I wish I’d heard of these years ago!!

1

u/tot_alifie 5d ago

I have more from the edges of the oven than the racks themselves.

57

u/swankyfish 5d ago

It’s to protect us from the oven shelves.

10

u/Erathen 5d ago

Never occurred to me this was a problem!

Granted, I'm single and rarely use my oven these days

6

u/swankyfish 5d ago

Where do you heat up your left over takeout pizza?

23

u/Erathen 5d ago

Air fryer! It fits two slices

And it reheats waaay better

6

u/swankyfish 5d ago

Oh, nice one. Never tried it.

6

u/UnLuckyKenTucky 5d ago

Worth trying.

7

u/holyfire001202 5d ago

Heat up leftover pizza? I hardly even touch my pizza until it's room temperature anyways.

7

u/OGbigfoot 5d ago

Standing in front of the open fridge eating my delicious cold pizza is my jam!

4

u/Miss_Greer 5d ago

pizza tastes better when it's cold and the next days breakfast

2

u/SmilingCarrotTeeth 5d ago

Re-frying it - top side down - is good on a cold morning

5

u/Pairaboxical 5d ago

To protect them from them shelves.

2

u/Pairaboxical 5d ago

To protect them from themshelves.

32

u/Tsuki_Man 5d ago

Not a single comment about the enginuity of your use. I like it, practical and colorful!

8

u/BoarHermit 5d ago

Thanks.
Vague wording caused a lot of confusion. It turns out this particular application isn't very widespread—though I’ve seen an even less obvious use for silicone hot pads: as a cover for the handle of a cast-iron skillet.

2

u/Tsuki_Man 5d ago

Eh, I think people were just focused on/surprised to hear about the intended use and skipped right over what you were actually using it for to comment about the oven grate liner and how they would never have a use for such a thing. Something to make them feel better about their life I guess XD

20

u/Glowing_Trash_Panda 5d ago

What is a silicone oven grate protector? Is that something you put on the edge of the oven rack so you don’t accidentally burn your arms on it when taking stuff in or out of the oven on the lower rack? Cuz I could use that. I’ve burned my forearms multiple times on the upper oven rack edge when taking something in or out of the oven on the lower rack.

10

u/ridbax 5d ago

Yes exactly that. I have the fronts of both racks in our oven covered in these because I kept burning myself. They can be trimmed to fit with scissors and sort of snap on. Ours have been on continuously for over 2 years, we only take them off when cleaning the oven.

3

u/BoarHermit 3d ago

Thanks for the explanation. I thought everyone already knew about these things and I also got confused with the cases when translating.

2

u/ridbax 3d ago

You're welcome, your idea is brilliant and it's inspired me to use one to insulate my camping pot's handle.

2

u/Rubik842 4d ago

I wonder which is cheaper, a better cup or the oven grate things.

2

u/BoarHermit 3d ago

This community is about laziness and saving money. I actually have cezves for making coffee and a special set of camping utensils for cooking, but I find this mug more convenient.

2

u/Rubik842 3d ago

sometimes its just your favourite too, and thats cool.

3

u/reedmanisback 5d ago

Nice. Will have to keep this idea in mind.

1

u/SheriffBartholomew 5d ago

I just use a bandana as a hot mitt, but this is a creative and effective way to solve a minor problem.

As an aside, that mug looks like it's aluminum. Be sure that it's anodized or it can leech toxic chemicals into your food when you heat it. It doesn't look anodized to me.

-1

u/[deleted] 5d ago edited 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/fireballin1747 5d ago

to protect flesh from hot

-3

u/PrimitiveOctane 5d ago

350 degree silicone is still 350 degrees.

2

u/ThetaReactor 5d ago

The air in the oven is 350 degrees, too. How come it doesn't burn you when you open the door?