I am a huge fan of silicone spatulas. Over the years, I have counted a number of silicone spatulas among my kitchen utensils. I use my spatulas when baking and when cooking. Basically, any time that something that needs stirred, I grabbed one of my many silicone spatulas from my kitchen drawer.
With all the use that my spatulas get, I must also admit that I have broken quite a few. After hundreds of washes in my dishwasher, the wood handles of some of my spatulas have snapped in half while I was stirring something. Other times, I have left the spatula too close to the flame on my gas stove, igniting the wooden handle. I even once caught the silicone part on fire when I accidentally stuck the spatula into the stove flame.
Recently, I realized that my kitchen drawer of silicone spatulas was getting low. So, while my daughter and I were out doing our monthly grocery shopping, I swung by the kitchen section at Walmart. Looking among the offerings, I ultimately selected two silicone spatulas, one in pink and one in blue, with plastic handles.
As I quickly learned, kitchen utensils with plastic handles are no friend of mine.
When I am cooking, I often leave the spatula in the pot on the stove, especially if I am stirring frequently. With my wooden-handled utensils, I have scorched a few of the handles when the pot was not centered over the flame, resulting in some of the flames licking up over the edge of the pot. After burning a few wood handles, I became much more careful about leaving any utensil sticking out over the side of a cooking pot.
Despite my vigilance, however, plastic melts.
While cooking lunch recently, I turned my back on the stove for a minute to get something out of my cupboard. As I did, I left my new pink silicone spatula in the pot. When I turned back around, I realized that the plastic handle of the spatula was starting to melt over the side of the pot! I quickly grabbed the spatula and tossed the melting plastic into some water in the sink.
Lesson learned! From here on out, I will be buying kitchen utensils only with wooden handles. Wood handles may catch on fire, but at least I will not run the risk of melting plastic into my food. When buying a silicone spatula, even though the silicone is heat-resistant, avoid plastic handles.
Have you ever had a kitchen mishap?
Image Credits
silicone Spatulas © 2013 Heather Johnson
Melted and Burnt Spatula Handles © 2013 Heather Johnson
