And they have a fine edge so it can clean the side of a bowl easily.” “It’s great for stirring, folding, and stir-frying. “They have some kind of armature on the inside that’s better than others,” Baldwin says of her classic flat Tovolo, adding that its handle is also unbreakable. Tovolo also makes an excellent all-silicone spatula, one that Kierin Baldwin, chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, prefers. Because it’s all silicone, I don’t worry about using it on nonstick or enameled surfaces, and it hasn’t peeled, warped, bent, or picked up weird smells.ġ00% BPA-free silicon-coated, nylon core | Dishwasher safe | Heat resistant to 600 degrees In the seven years I’ve owned mine, I’ve used it to make sheet pans’ worth of birthday cake, to caramelize onions, and for searing a steak on the cast iron. “I grab it for scraping cake batter, shuffling scrambled eggs, and much, much more,” Laperruque says. Emma Laperruque, author of Big Little Recipes and senior cooking editor at Bon Appétit, also points to the GIR spatula as the one to get behind. “The GIR is just a really solid overall spatula,” says Kelsey Youngman, food editor at Food & Wine. It has a fine edge but a sturdy core, cleans easily, and comes in 21 different colors. The GIR is made of 100 percent silicone and is heat-resistant to 550 degrees, meaning that it can easily tackle anything you have on the stovetop. And the best one-piece silicone spatula is the GIR Ultimate Silicone Spatula, which performs all of the functions listed above: flipper, scraper, and spreader. Ideally, you want a few tools to do those jobs, but if you could only pick one, every expert I talked to would choose a one-piece silicone spatula.

And there are spreaders, which allow you to smooth out cake batter or make sure the surface of a quiche is even. There are flippers or turners, which you use to get under a steak or a fried egg. You’ve got your scrapers or stirrers for, say, sautéing onions or loosening the brown bits from the bottom of a pan. There are several categories of spatulas. It should also last you a long time without needing to replace it.ġ00% BPA-free silicone | Dishwasher safe | Heat resistant to 550 degrees Temperature resistant: You should be able to use your spatula to cook, of course, which means that it needs to sustain high temperatures without warping, melting, staining, or burning. For that reason, all our experts warned against spatulas that have detachable heads, where gunk and soap can get caught, making it a breeding ground for bacteria. It should have an edge that allows you to scrape a pan or side of the bowl cleanly, and not peel or bend.ĭishwasher safe: Like any kitchen tool, a spatula is only useful if you can thoroughly and easily clean it, either by hand or in a dishwasher. It should be easy to grip, not heat up to uncomfortable temperatures when you’re using it, and neither too clunky nor too flimsy. To help you find the best one for you (and your culinary needs), I reached out to some fellow spatula enthusiasts, including cooks and food writers.īest overall | Best less expensive | Best for baking | Best fish spatula | Best less expensive fish spatula | Best mini | Best for grilling | Best wooden | Best combination (spoonula)Ĭonstruction: A good spatula should feel like a natural extension of your hand. “A bad spatula is so flaccid and disappointing.” On the other hand, a good spatula is still inexpensive and can go a long way toward making your dishes turn out the way you want them to.

“I definitely have some that I hate,” says New Yorker food writer Helen Rosner. Sure, any spatula you pick up will probably do the job of transferring pancakes to a plate or spreading brownie batter, but a bad spatula isn’t just frustrating - it can make your cooking worse. As a food writer, sometimes recipe developer, culinary-school graduate, and general cooking enthusiast, I know that having the right spatula for your dish - whether it’s soft scrambled eggs, a buttercream-frosted cake, or a perfectly crispy piece of salmon - is crucial.

Spoon rest for stove