It's a super useful microwaveable bowl pot holder (bowl cozy) !
I am so behind the times,
I've never heard of these until recently.
As soon as I saw it,
I knew I had to make one since I cook
oatmeal nearly every morning in the microwave
and my stoneware bowls get hot !
Cooking and reheating foods in bowls in the microwave
that are inserted in one of these bowl cozies makes it
so easy to remove the hot bowls from the microwave:
simply grab the "ears" of the cozy, no more burned fingers !
Depending on how full your bowl is, how liquid the contents are
(and how confident you are that you won't spill it!),
you can simply lift the bowl out by grabbing one "ear" in each hand,
using ears that are on opposite sides of the bowl.
I prefer to slide the bowl out to the edge of the microwave by pulling on an "ear",
then as I continue to slide it out, I slip my other hand under the bowl to lift it.
It is warm to the touch as the cozy
protects my hands from the hot bottom of the bowl.
They are also great for keeping hands/laps warm
while eating ice cream on the couch ;)
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR MAKING YOUR OWN BOWL COZIES:
-Be sure to use 100% cotton fabric, batting and thread
for this project and never leave unattended while using
in the microwave !
Prewash fabrics first and do not use fabric softener.
-Make sure the potholder is clean,
no bits of food on it, before using in the microwave
(I hand wash mine with a mild soap, rinse well and air dry).
That goes for the microwave itself,
general safety in use of a microwave -
bits of food inside of it can cause arcing.
-Do not use it in a microwave
that does not have a turntable. You don't want
to take a chance on getting a hot spot on the cozy
causing it to scorch or catch fire.
Mine work with no problem to cook steel cut oatmeal
(2 1/2 minutes on high)
and to reheat a bowl of soup
(2 minutes on medium).
I have a 1200 watt microwave with a built in turntable.
I've only used them three times as of this writing since
I just made them the past couple of days during the
extremely cold SUBzero temperatures we experienced.
Let it be known that I am no seamstress !
This project was fairly easy
and took me about two hours to make a single one.
It would likely go quicker for someone
with more sewing skills.
Below are step by step instructions.
I've also included links at the very bottom of this post
to the two sets of directions I referred to..
I have the Tea Rose pattern by Pfaltzgraff stoneware bowls.
My bowls are 8" and 8 3/4" so I made my
microwave safe bowl potholders with 9" squares
of both batting and fabric on the burgundy cozy.
I used 9" batting squares and 9 3/4" squares of fabric on the brown cozy.
Slightly different sets of directions were followed for each to see which method I liked better,
both links posted at the end of my blog post.
The first step is to measure from one top edge down
around the bottom back up to the opposite top edge of your bowl.
Whatever that number is, use it to cut your squares of batting
and then cut your squares of fabric slightly larger.
You will need to adjust your
darts for larger bowls. The darts I used were
1" wide by 2 1/4" long for my 8" and 8 3/4" bowls.
It's reversible, too !
The instructions I followed were found here for the first one (burgundy) I made:
http://syzygyofme.blogspot.com/2012/06/microwave-bowl-potholder-and-tutorial.html
The second one (the dark brown one I photographed for my step by step) uses slightly different instructions found here:
http://www.seamshappy.com/2012/08/13/microwave-bowl-pot-holder/
These microwaveable bowl potholders/cozies really are quite easy to make and so useful !
Thanks for looking =)
