on the head or a more triangular profile is totally up to you.
Like my favorite Beatles album, my favorite wooden spoon
tends to waffle back and forth among the different spoons in
my set.
- Slotted Flexible Metal Spatula
Flexible enough to flip tender pieces of delicate fish without
breaking them yet sturdy enough to get every last bit of a
smashed burger off the bottom of your pan, a slotted metal
fish spatula is an absolute essential in your tool kit. It’s ideal
for blotting excess grease off cooked steaks and chops. Just
pick up the meat from the skillet and put it on a paper towel,
still on the spatula, then transfer to the serving plate—the
wide slots allow the grease to drain off easily. The spatula is
lightweight and maneuverable enough to flip fragile
eggplant slices in a skillet of oil, but it will also handle
whole grilled pork chops with ease. Its slight flexibility
lends it agility and control, unlike stiffer spatulas (which
have their place in the kitchen—we’ll get to that).
And here’s some good news: most of the expensive
models are far too stiff to do the job well. I keep a $25
Lamsonsharp model in my kit, and the even cheaper Peltex
(around $15) is the standard in most restaurant kitchens. - Tongs
A sturdy pair of tongs is like a heatproof extension of your
fingers. Robust construction, slip-proof grips (ever try to
grab a pair of stainless steel tongs with greasy fingers?), a
spring-loaded class-3 lever design,** and scalloped edges
perfect for grabbing everything from tender stalks of spring