Plastic free spatula alternative?

Hey! Anyone heard of a plastic free spatula? I can only find ones that are with some amount of bioplastic but not completely. Anything else is plastic free in our kitchen now, but I cant find an alternative. I don't want to waste leftover food in glass jars or scrape at dough forever to get it out of the bowl... how do you deal with this?

Can you tell us more about what you look for in a spatula?  It's one of those words that vary from place to place.  

My friend's family calls their metal flippers spatulas (like you flip pancakes with).  My father's family usually refers to a long flat metal, almost like a blunt knife thingy as a spatula (probably because it looks like a science spatula). This was great for jars and scraping things from dishes that don't have to worry about scratching - ie, ceramic, never stainless steel as a scratch on that makes it harder to clean.   My mother's family used a plastic scraper stirring thingy and when I learnt to cook, I melted many ones of these in the bottom of pans.  

These days, I use a wooden one that has a shape almost like a flat flipper, but the angles are just right to gently scrape things out of a pan or bowl.

What qualities and shapes do you look for in a spatula?  Does it need to be flexible?  a big one for baking or just for the last jam from the jar or both?

I have seen various natural rubber scrapers/ spatulas with bamboo or wooden handles. This is one available in the EU and it says "natural rubber" although I do not know if there might be ingredients in that production you prefer to avoid: Uulki spatula set

For purposes of your search, I assume silicone doesn't count? That's what we've been using as a compromise when we really need a flexible edge. We also have steel and wood spatulas.

I switched to silicone about ten years ago.

These work well for me as long as I just wash them with water, no soap.

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/ccba38f1-34c8-42f8-b0a1-88d7d51a0e41.5900cecf8fb8ea2b0b794b78753457d6.jpeg?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFF


This is what I am referring to
We have one like these made from silicone, but as far as I've read they are also pretty toxic and whatever I lick from there tastes awfully like plastic. Like, disgustingly so. And it is a high quality, 20 dollar one. And as it ages  it releases all kinds of toxic byproducts into my food.. yuck.

My main criterion is dishwasher safety and that it is a bit flexible to get into the really tight edges of nut butter jars, for example. But also for getting thick liquids and cake batter from bowls and pans without a trace left.

Mercy Pergande wrote:I have seen various natural rubber scrapers/ spatulas with bamboo or wooden handles. This is one available in the EU and it says "natural rubber" although I do not know if there might be ingredients in that production you prefer to avoid: Uulki spatula set

Sadly, it says "synthetic rubber" in the description, so its plastic thank you though!

I've been gradually converting away from plastic implements and we're most of the way there now. My go-to now is a hardwood scraper and I will probably make a set of them with varying corner radii. I just use offcuts from projects and a disc sander is an easy way to shape them. As they wear, I can either reshape them or turn them into biochar if they're too far gone for that.

One I made earlier today from a scrap of walnut:



And some others from various makers showing how they've been used. I sand out the smushed edges and give them a topup of olive oil every now and then:

Phil Stevens wrote:I've been gradually converting away from plastic implements and we're most of the way there now. My go-to now is a hardwood scraper and I will probably make a set of them with varying corner radii. I just use offcuts from projects and a disc sander is an easy way to shape them. As they wear, I can either reshape them or turn them into biochar if they're too far gone for that.

That sounds really good! Would you mind taking a picture so I can understand better? :)

I wonder whether a version of a palette knife would work?


source

I have a couple, one of which the blade is flexible enough to be used to scrape bowls. You don't get the 3D flexibility of plastic though. I think a curve to the edge might help.
The other palette knife I have is stiffer and more useful as a lifter or pan scraper. Ideally you need try try before you buy....

You just prompted me to grab my smallest 4.5 inch metal offset spatula to see how it fits (it fits nicely into a pint jar with the handle protruding!) and the offset makes it fit under the shoulder of the jar and down the side to the curved bottom of the jar - might be a great option! It's like the palette knife but with the little bend to get up flush against the side of the jar.

Nancy Reading wrote:I wonder whether a version of a palette knife would work?


source

I have a couple, one of which the blade is flexible enough to be used to scrape bowls. You don't get the 3D flexibility of plastic though. I think a curve to the edge might help.
The other palette knife I have is stiffer and more useful as a lifter or pan scraper. Ideally you need try try before you buy....

I think maybe the correct term is bowl scraper? The ones I have were crazy expensive, from pampered chef company. The description from their website-
A spoon and scraper in one. Heavy-duty silicone head is fused to the nylon handle for strength and durability. Won't come apart, split, stain, burn, melt, or crack. Head is heat-resistant to 650°F.

I paid close to $25 for a pair that are different sizes. I love them specifically because the head and handle are fused, so no problem with contamination getting in there. I cannot find any significant information about silicone being toxic. We don’t use a dishwasher or the chemicals in soap associated with one, and these scrapers have held up wonderfully over ten years of almost daily use. They are never subjected to anything hotter than boiling, which is 400 degrees less than they are made to handle.
I think the only alternative is wood, but it’s not flexible, so not nearly as versatile if you use these a lot. I don’t taste anything odd when I occasionally lick food off them. The handles are strong enough to not break even wrestling heavy cookie dough.

We have several bamboo utensils.  They work just fine for most things.

The link below is to a spatula that the company claims is natural rubber. They sell other ones as well where they state they are silicone. So the one that says natural rubber may actually be just that! Wouldn't that be nice. It has a bamboo handle.

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/kitchen-supply-rubber-bowl-scraper-spatula-with-bamboo-handle/300116659?keyword=natural-rubber-spatula

Wow Phil, your hand carved spatulas are terrific. Nice assortment of shapes for bowls and jars. I can see how the edges can be sanded down to as fine a slant as you need. Are they all made of walnut wood?  What other types of wood would be suitable and not too hard to carve from?  I'm thinking oak might be too hard and pine may be too soft.

I have tried my bamboo spatula and spoon that I use in my pans and pots and they worked really well! I simply never thought of trying that because I thought it had to be flexible material to work. I tried a bowl with the spoon and more of a straight edge with the square shaped one. I have these because they are dishwasher safe, so problem solved Woohoo! Thank you! Now I will use of the extras I have in my workshop for replacement to make an edge specifically for jars.

Thanks, Denise. The ones in the bottom photo were made by different crafters, but all local. One is the daughter of the bass player in my band, and another is a good mate who used to live down the street but has now shifted to a piece of bare land on the other side of the saddle. Not entirely sure what those woods are, but I think the top one is tōtara (a durable conifer, related to the yew, highly prized for waka and traditional Māori carving). The middle one is probably mātai, another native conifer which is much harder, and the white one is probably poplar.

I'd agree with your take on pine being too soft and oak too brittle. Maple might be nice. I have some pieces of chestnut and olive wood I want to try next. Cherry would also look good and be easy to carve. Apple, pear and plum would also be worth trying.

I have been using a silicone bowl scraper spatula but I guess it’s time to start looking for a natural rubber one.

Fun fact, the direct translation of the finnish word for bowl scraper spatula is licker. Very descriptive, it does lick the bowl really clean!

For anyone considering making kitchen utensils, especially if you are using only hand tools, basswood, ash and poplar are good choices. All are lightweight, straight grained, strong enough, and easy to carve by hand. If you have a table saw and a band or scroll saw, most hardwoods will work fine. Red oak is very open grained, so not a good choice, but white oak is fine. If you are carving by hand, green wood is easier to shape, but may split and warp as it dries. For faster drying I usually cut blanks from green wood but, depending on the specific project- which could be a spoon or a pickaxe handle- make them 20-50% bigger (in all dimensions) than the finished product will be. Once they dry I can get rid of the ‘problems’ and achieve the size and shape I want.
If I get the picture to attach, that’s the various stages of a wooden spoon before actual hand work to finish. I am far too busy (and impatient!) to not use power tools to get to ‘almost done’ stage. These blanks are 3/4” thick, the finished spoons will be about 1/2”.

I have a long, narrow bamboo spatula that works pretty well for cleaning out jars. I've sanded down one edge to make it work better, but now I'm feeling rather covetous of Phil's gorgeous, specifically shaped spatulas.

For scraping out bowls, I use the same tool my grandma did - the edge of my forefinger 😁

Denise Cares wrote: What other types of wood would be suitable and not too hard to carve from?  I'm thinking oak might be too hard and pine may be too soft.

Fruit woods are often very suitable for this sort of thing, and you know there are no poisons if you're eating the fruit.

I can't speak for the temporate stuff, but tropical/subtropical woods that "wood" work well:
guava
avocado
olive
jabong/zubon/pomelo--starts off a nice yellow, but that does fade
other citrus--likely to work?
lychee
mango (although bugs tend to like to eat this after you've put so much hard work into making something)
monkeypod (not a fruit; a legume)

Found this, one way to make these:


I was going to say, if you make a shape like the one in the video, where the top edge is slanted, be sure to get the slant going in the proper direction.

I made these for Christmas gifts one year, and when I cut the blanks, at one point, I turned the pattern upside-down, which made the slant go in the opposite direction.

Would have worked fine for someone left handed, but that wouldn't work for me, nor for most of my friends!

Live and learn, haha.

Maybe not exactly a spatula but saw this free pattern offer on Anne's website and wanted to give her mention here.  https://www.anneofalltrades.com/project-plans/free-butter-paddle-template

I love making spatulas in the winter. Or at least what I call spatulas. They are an easy woodworking project, good gifts, work well.

These are a few—the one on the top is birch and the two on the bottom are honeysuckle wood.