Handles in the utensil work as a great insulator in cooking wares. It provides better grip and protects the user from the heat as well. To keep the handle away from the heat they always come in non-metallic material such as plastic, rubber, silicone, wood, etc. rubber is one of the cheapest materials and it works as a great insulator as well. But due to its quality of nature, it is not widely used in cooking wares.
Can You Put A Pan Or Pot With A Rubber Handle In The Oven?
No, you shouldn’t. Rubber is very good at withstanding heat but it has a low melting point as well which can be very dangerous in cooking. Also, it depends on the rubber as well, what kind of rubber is used in the handle, and is it even rubber or some silicon material.
Some synthetic rubbers or silicones are really good at handling heat but not most of them are. So if your pans or pots have rubber handles then you must avoid putting them in the oven. High temperature and that too for a long time can be dangerous for rubber it can melt easily, and release some really hazardous gas in the oven. Or if that doesn’t happen color of the rubber will fade away and break off from the handle.
How to know if Pan is completely Oven safe?
You need to consider few components while deciding if your pan, pot, tray, or any utensil is completely oven-safe or not. The material of the utensil, the coating on the utensil, and the handles of that utensil are major components that can give you your answer. From the label and from the guidebook you will know what is the material of your utensil and of the coating as well.
So if your utensil is made from ‘not oven-safe material then you must avoid putting it in the oven. If there is information that says only handles are not oven safe which means the material of the handles is not safe and you can not put that utensil in the oven with those handles.
Those handles are perfectly fine on the gas stove and you can have all the benefits of that but avoid putting it in the oven.