Archive for: spatula

There are two main types of spatulas out there. There are the flexible, usually silicone, spatulas that are good for stirring and scraping. There are also flat spatulas made for flipping. The latter type of spatula is an underappreciated kitchen implement because it doesn’t seem to have as many uses as its more flexible counter part. What can you use your flat spatula for? Scooping food out of a frying pan? Taking cookies off of a cookie sheet? Flipping pancakes? Most of these spatulas are used to slide under food and transfer it from one spot to another. They’re useful, but they’re not typically a multitasking tool that you rely on in the kitchen and this is largely because the design of the spatula hasn’t changed all that much over the years. The Chopula Smart Spatula was designed with an eye towards improving the spatula and turning it into a more functional kitchen tool.

The Red Dot award-winning Chopula may look light an ordinary spatula at first glance, but it has an unusual curved head that allows you to scrape along the sides of curved pans easily, much like a silicone spatula can do. It also has one flat side on the head, which allows you to break things up easily or coarsely chop things as you cook. A bend in the handle keeps the head off of your countertop, and it also allows the spatula to securely rest over the lip of a pan or pot. And, of course, the head is very thin and easily able to slip under anything that you might need to move, turn or flip over. It might not start a spatula revolution, but it definitely will get a lot more use in the kitchen than its predecessors.

Fusionbrands StirStiks

January 3, 2012
Gear and Gadgets
3 comments

They may look like something that you’d keep in the garage for blending paint colors, but colorful Fusionbrands StirStiks are actually a nifty little kitchen tool. These silicone-coated nylon sticks are truly a multipurpose item to add to your kitchen collection. They can be used for stirring, spreading, mixing dough, just to name a few things, and it is their simple shape that gives them this versatility, as well as that heat-resistant silicone coating.

Most traditional spatulas have small, flexible silicone heads that are great for scraping the bottoms of pots and bowls, but that shape can have its limits. For instance, it isn’t necessarily good for working with particularly sticky products, such as caramel or melted chocolate, which often need a larger tool to really mix them effectively. Smaller spatulas are also not ideal for spreading frosting on a cake, which typically requires a broader, stiffer offset spatula that is not typically made of silicone and is not ideal for regular cooking applications. The StirStik can do the job of a regular spatula and an offset spatula in one tool – and that actually comes in handy in the kitchen, especially if you have multiple tasks (and I find this often when baking) that require multiple spatulas and want to streamline your equipment a bit while adding a pop of color to your tools.