It just depends on what you're handling. I don't think I could safely handle a 12 pound brisket or an 8 pound pork butt with tongs. A cooked pork butt might just fall apart when grabbed with tongs. Tongs with ribs or chicken halves would be fine. But it's all about what works for you, Alfred! You'll figure it out!I'm guessing I can handle food with tongs (for now)...
I have gloves just like the ones Jeff F suggested. They are generously sized and the little heart bump thingies add thickness, which provides a bit more heat protection. Still, if you expose them to high heat for any extended time, they get hot! Also, being silicone, they get real slippery when wet or greasy and the thickness hinders sense of touch. As far as handling food goes, I have not used them to pull a pork butt or do any work that requires being able to feel what I'm working on, but I can get a rack of ribs or a pork butt out of the cooker without too much trouble. I have small hands and these gloves are way too big for me. It's hard to bend my fingers because of the thickness. Plus the ends of the fingers stick out at least and inch! Not a real problem as most gloves don't fit me anyway and I simply deal with it. Bottom line is they're just fine for my purposes. YMMV
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00T4019K2/tvwb-20
It just depends on what you're handling. I don't think I could safely handle a 12 pound brisket or an 8 pound pork butt with tongs. A cooked pork butt might just fall apart when grabbed with tongs. Tongs with ribs or chicken halves would be fine. But it's all about what works for you, Alfred! You'll figure it out!
I have 3 pairs of gloves I use for grilling/smoking. First is a pair of simple leather work gloves like someone might use in a garden. I use these mostly for handling charcoal or other sooty stuff that isn't hot, and they show it.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001G0MS2Q/tvwb-20
The second pair I have is a pair of Lincoln Welding gloves, which I use for dumping the charcoal chimney, moving charcoal with tongs, picking up cooker sections or cast iron pans that are hot from the grill... basically all high-heat, non-food handling tasks.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00IYX04YC/tvwb-20
The third gloves are a pair of the orange silicone EkoGrips, which is a design that is basically used by many, many manufacturers. I'm not over the moon with these gloves, to be honest. They are pretty good for handling large items like pork butts, though they don't give enough dexterity for something like pulling the pork. They are not good at all for handling small items like chicken wings, for the same reason - lack of dexterity. They are also a little slippery, they're hard to clean well, and they retain smells. As Linda stated, they are moderately heat-resistant, but not for a very long time.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00HLPXL80/tvwb-20
I have used silicone mitts, but not silicone gloves. They're okay, but for me, handling grills, pizza stones and pans there's nothing like a good pair of long shanked fire handler gloves. I have a pair that is so stiff from close encounters with hot greasy items that they have lost what little flexibility they ever had. My silicone mitt would be completely useless in handling food (awkward and only one), so I can't comment on that aspect.
For those times when I need a little bit of protection, but I'm not picking up a piece of the sun, I have been looking at woven lined gloves. Both Weber and Big Green Egg offer them now. I have an older one called an "Ove Glove", which I have used for years, but the newer ones are a bit thicker and longer. Funny that this thread came up today...I was in an Ace Hardware just about 2 hours ago looking at them. At first glance, I thought the Webers were the most expensive, but the no-name and Big Green Egg packages were for one reversible glove, while the Webers are packed as a pair.