Spatulas are workhorses in the kitchen. They need to be able to lift and support heavy items while maneuvering around delicate foods in tight spaces.
We looked for many types of spatulas that would be a joy to use and help you with a wide range of tasks — from cooking tender cuts of meat or seafood to spreading batter or frosting — on a variety of cooking surfaces, including stainless steel or nonstick. Here are the criteria we focused on for each style of spatula:
Fish spatulas: All of our experts agreed on one thing: If you have one spatula, make it a fish spatula. As Chef Howie Velie, then associate dean of culinary specializations at the Culinary Institute of America, said, “The spatula doesn’t know that it’s made for fish. For me and for a lot of other chefs, it’s kind of an all-purpose, light spatula. I use it for everything.”
The best are lightweight and maneuverable, flexible but not flimsy, and with a sharp, angled edge that can slide easily under delicate foods, even in a tight spot.
Spatulas for nonstick cookware: When you’re working with nonstick pans, it’s important to use only plastic, wood, or silicone utensils, to avoid scratching the coating on the pan. We focused on plastic and silicone spatulas for nonstick cookware, since they can be made thinner and more flexible than wood.
Again, we looked for models that could slip easily under foods, and maintain flexibility for maneuvering and strength for lifting.
Silicone spatulas for mixing and baking: A great silicone spatula can scrape down the straight sides of a sauté pan or get into the rounded bottom of a bowl. It should be stiff and thick enough to press dough together, but flexible enough to wipe down a bowl with ease.
It should also be wide and thin enough to fold ingredients together. The experts we spoke with suggested that seamless, one-piece spatulas were easier to keep clean than those with crevices (say, where the blade attaches to the handle).
Metal turners: When you’re working with metal pans or on a grill, sometimes a heftier metal turner is best. A metal turner also surpasses the fish spatula in its ability to cut sharp, even lines through bar cookies and easily lift heavy pieces of food.
We chose ones that offered an offset angle for easy leverage; a comfortable stiffness for strength; a flat, non-slotted blade for evenly smashing down burgers or pressing grilled cheese sandwiches flat. We also found that a shorter handle allows for great control in flipping, lifting, and carrying.
Wooden spatulas or turners: Wooden spatulas are the best tool to use with a Dutch oven because they won’t scratch the enamel the way metal can. Some have rounded corners for use on sloped-sided pans. We tried to find wooden spatulas that were sturdy and had a blade that could easily scrape both the bottom and sides of a pot or pan.
Offset spatula: These thin, narrow offset palette knives are usually about 9 inches long, and they are designed for bakers who want to add polish to cakes and spread thick batters into the corners of pans.
But they also come in mini sizes (roughly 4.5 inches long), which are great for handling more-delicate tasks like decorating cupcakes and even spreading mustard or mayo on your bread. We looked for offset spatulas with strong, flexible blades that were thin enough for delicate tasks like lifting thin cookies from a pan or frosting a cupcake.
