How to Select Cooking Utensils

Cooking utensils are, in many cases, your contact with the food you cook. Good ones, and the right ones, will make your life easier.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Ladles
• Peelers
• Rubber Spatula
• Serving Spoons
• Slotted Spoons
• Spatulas
• Tongs
• Wire Whisks
• Wooden Spoons
• Spatulas

1. Start with a few wooden spoons, a flexible rubber spatula, a vegetable peeler and a pair of tongs. These are the essentials.

2. Choose sturdy utensils of decent quality. Better ones will last a lifetime.

3. Add to the essentials with a ladle, slotted and regular serving spoons, a metal spatula and a whisk.

4. Make sure wooden utensils are sanded smooth and have nothing that could splinter off into your food.

5. Check for solid attachments in utensils such as whisks and tongs that are put together from several pieces. Cheaper ones will eventually come undone.

6. Choose only wooden or rubber-coated utensils for use with nonstick cookware.

Tips & Warnings

• Flexible rubber utensils are not usually heatproof, but some newer brands are. These can be used in hot pans during cooking. Check the labels to make sure.
• Replace rubber-coated tools as soon as the rubber coating wears out. They're much less expensive to replace than a nonstick pan.

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on 11/22/2005 To make sure your wood utensils are easy to clean, and that they last a long time, it is necessary to season them. I recommend melting some shortening in a pan, then soaking the business end of the utensil in the melted grease.

on 11/22/2005 You don't have to throw away old wooden spoons that become splintery - and they will if you put them in the dishwasher. Avoid the dishwasher, or use fine-grit sandpaper to smooth the wood, then rinse and dry.