Customer Reviews

Orka 12-Inch Stainless and Silicone Tongs

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is what I have discovered after using them only once:
PROS:
1. Adequate Silcone-covered tongs that offers a good size grip on food. I originally ordered them for use in my non-stick pans. They are great for that purpose!
2. They are easy to use, and even have a pull tab on the top that draws the tongs together and keeps them together for drawer or hanging up storage.
3. They are perfect size for my use
4. The price was good.
5. They arrived within reasonable time, in fact, even ahead of schedule.

CONS:
1. The inside (back) of tongs arms is open & hollow, allowing food to become easily lodged in lower end of this narrow channel. When I washed them, an extra step was required to clean out the channel of trapped pieces of food and sauce. This really wasn't such a big deal, but I would rather have had the arms of the tong constructed so it was all the way around enclosed on both sides.
2. The "Stainless Steel" is more like aluminum (very light weight, rather than the "stainless steel" as shown in the description. I suppose I made the mistake in thinking it was more like 18/10 stainless steel. It is not! I should have known better, especially for the price ($11.95).

Although I have not owned them long, they appear to be sturdy enough for use in my kitchen. All in all, I would say that if you need an inexpensive silcone-covered tong, this one will probably serve your needs. Just don't assume as I did, that they are made of "a quality stainless steel". Perhaps if OKRA had someone who actually cooks and washes the utensil, give future input into its design, they would come up with an even more practical tong!

I love the Orka products, and this is no exception. The Orka silicone used on the ends won't ever melt like plastic tongs, and it won't scratch like metal ones. It is also plenty firm to pick up small items.

My only complaint would be that the small slider ring used to lock and unlock the tongs on top has a bit of a cheap feel and I've seen slightly more expensive tongs with a much nicer design.

This will match OXO kitchenware very well if you already have some, and is better made than the OXO tongs.

I am very happy with these tongs, they are the perfect size for most cooking applications. They are well made and stand up to repeated dishwasher use. The silicone grips food well and protects non-stick pans from scratches. Another nice touch is the silicone on the handles, this provides a solid grip whether your hands are wet or dry. Storing these tongs is easy since they lock in the closed positon. I would recommend these tongs.

No matter how careful I am, I always end up scratching the surfaces of non-stick cookware with all-metal tongs; plastic tongs usually get too flexible when hot, and really don't pick heavier items up too well.

I've already used these tongs on an outdoor gas grill, as well as indoors, and they're a very good combination of strength and gentleness.

Very glad I bought them.

This product does what it says on the box. The silicone makes the tips a bit wide so not easy to pick up snall or thin items.

I have several colors of these tongs, and although I love them generally, they've got one problem that's been mentioned elsewhere: The handle curves in on both sides and leaves a channel that food is always getting caught in. But I rely on them for everything, and that flaw isn't enough to cost them a star. The silicone tips are essential if you're using them on anything nonstick or easily scratched. I have two non-silicone tongs as well that I use on the grill.

Usually buy oxo but tried this brand (since oxo doesn't make a true silicone one) LOVE this, they feel very sturdy and well made and the silicone is soft but not flimsy. Great price too. Will try other Orka products in the future!

When they came in, I compared these to my OXO non-silicone tongs and found they are nearly twins in function and design. 1 difference with these Orka tongs is they use a much heavier spring that's wider/more coils so they are stiffer. And being wider, the coiled portion of the spring extended side to side so the locking "lever" slides directly on the spring. My OXO has a nylon bushing between the lock and spring to the lock slides more easily. What this means is the lock and unlock takes a little more effort as it's sliding metal on metal.

I dabbed a little liquid dish washing detergent on the slide lock and it did help smooth it out until I get some use on them and it loosens up naturally.

That said, it's not a deal breaker, and works fine, but is a little stiffer all around.

Another review knocked it because of the silicone tips, claiming they were too thick so I was curious. The tips are obviously going to be thicker, but the shape profile of the tong is shaped to a nice angled edge/point. Sure, you can't use it as a scraper, but I wouldn't expect to. If the edge was that thin, it would be too weak and flexible to hold anything. It's slim enough to pick up anything that's not stuck and needs to be scraped with a dedicated scraper. I can't even use my other non-silicone tongs as an effective scraper simply because it's curved, to pick up and hold, not scrape. I'm going to really enjoy having these, which won't cut into more tender food items.

Overall, they are nice and solid, thicker gauge steel than my other ones. Very well made.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is the lack of bushing to isolate the lock from the spring so it can slide more smoothly. I'm a detail demon so this won't bother most people. If the spring were narrower the lock would be way too loose and not function properly, but with a barrier to eliminate metal on metal for smoother operation it would be smoother and possibly easier to use when you don't have both hands and like me, sometimes use you teeth to pull the slide out to lock them and bang it into your hip to unlock them. Over all I'm happy with them.

Oh, someone did a great video about the size. I really appreciated that video and the detail that went into it as it made me aware that tongs aren't always measured the same. These however, being 12" over all, and 10" tong arm size are plenty long for anything I will use them for which includes moving large pieces of meat (up to 20# briskets) on a smoker. If you get too much longer in the tong arm size, they get too long to be able to effectively use with your hand, unless you can increase the grab of you hand. The longer they are, the less leverage you have which is critical. Nonetheless, the video review was really informative and helped me realize the length of the tongs is pretty critical as control and function diminishes you go longer.

Ha, all that for a pair of tongs!

The Tongs are ok, they look nice and are easy to clean, but the grip is tough to manage. It takes way to much pressure to hold these things closed when turning over items on the stove. Overall they do their job, but I've used other tongs in the past that were much easier to handle.

These tongs are very nice - I like the coated tips and if anything, I would have purchased the longer length.