The advantages and disadvantages of the two handle designs became clear once we were faced with lifting the hot dishes and removing them from the oven. The dishes with tab handles were problematic. We didn’t struggle much when putting these dishes into the oven, but the handles made it challenging to rotate the dishes midbake and to remove them from the oven. We couldn’t easily or securely grab the tabs, especially while wearing thick oven mitts or while trying to grip them with slippery dish towels (we tested with both). One model’s tabs stuck out just ¾ inch from the sides of the dish, which didn’t give us much room to grip. On two other models, the tabs slanted upward at about a 45-degree angle, giving us much less leverage when lifting. One of these dishes was also one of the heaviest in the lineup at 5 pounds 8.4 ounces, creating a double-whammy of difficulty and making us constantly fearful that the hot dish would slip right out of our hands.
The dishes with looped handles were much easier to maneuver and carry because we could securely grasp the loops with our fingers (even when protected by oven mitts or dish towels). It was also easier to rotate these baking dishes in the oven because we could easily grab the handles, which were longer and stuck out farther from the dishes than the tabs did. Our favorite baking dish had looped handles that offered plenty of room, which is crucial given how heavy these dishes can be when filled with food.
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