How to Make Kitchen Tongs More Durable
Taking glass jars out of hot water, whether it’s a boiling canning bath or a cold temperature situation, always seems a little dangerous. The concern, of course, is the fall of the bank. Even if it doesn’t break, dropping the can from any height can result in hot water splashing out, and hot water is known to burn human flesh. To avoid all this pain and suffering, you just need to make the forceps more grippy, and you can easily do this with rubber bands.
Even if you’re not working with hot, wet jars, a pair of rubber-band tongs can help you remove hot crème brulee tins or baked eggs from the deep fryer basket . Cook’s Illustrated uses any old rubber band for this task, but I like to wrap the end of my tongs with thick blue bands that wrap around the broccoli stalks.
These stripes are thicker and, because of their bulge, are less likely to break when immersed in hot water or exposed to hot porcelain. They last much longer than dull, little office-style rubber bands, and they’ve been wrapped around food, which means they’re food safe . Really, I don’t know better than a rubber band.
Simply wrap it around both ends of the tongs (see the photo above for reference), then grasp them with confidence. If you want anything else to wrap around the bandages, try using one to open the jar , or as a wallet . (However, replace the strap if it starts to lose strength. I hate to see you lose your credit cards.)