Do you like the overly dramatic title?
This topic is a bit... well, it's embarassing. And I'm not sure exactly what sort of advice or help I'm looking for, here.
The issue is simple: I am terrified of handling hot casserole dishes. The intense heat of an oven-hot glass permeates a padded mitt or teatowel in a matter of seconds, and I burn easily due to very thin and sensitive skin. So the instant I start feeling that heat come through, I panic.
They're also damn slippery. I've had two 'major' accidents so far: the first, I accidentally tipped the dish slightly while removing it from the oven. The lid slipped off slightly, and its boiling hot liquid content drenched the pads of both of my hands through the oven mitts. The mitts, THEY DID NOTHING TO PROTECT ME. Those burns were not fun. Thankfully I didn't drop the dish, though.
The second incident was when I was replacing the lid onto a dish, both still hot. It slipped
with malicious intent out of my gloved hands, and after a brief comedic moment where I ended up juggling the thing and momentarily losing complete sight of it, it threw itself to the floor. Or, I guess, I allowed it to slip onto the floor with a very loud smash, sending hot shards of glass in all directions. I was barefoot that day, btw. Also not fun.
It just feels like an adventure in risk-taking every time I handle a meal cooked in a dish. I know I only have these accidents
because I'm so nervous handling them, but I don't really know what to do about it. I can't just stop using dishes... can I? Maybe? Is there anything else that might be suitable, except a pot on the stove? What about relatively 'dry' meals? I can't cook those in a pot, or they'd burn/dry out.
Anyway. I've tried various different oven mitts (trying to find ones thick enough to handle the heat, but slim enough that I can pick up the dish lid without feeling like I'm wearing boxing gloves). I just try to hurry it too much when handling them. I'm ashamed to admit I usually ask someone else to dish out the food for me, if anyone else is there. :/
What can I do about this fear of a) getting burned if I hold a hot dish for more than a few seconds, and b) dropping slippery dishes/lids? If anything? I suppose the obvious answer is to just grow some proverbial balls and deal with it, but if anyone has an alternative, I'd love to hear it.