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In-Depth Product Reviews: Silicone Spatulas, Turners, and Scrapers Comparison

BACKGROUND

In a busy kitchen, nothing beats universal utensils for ease of use; you don’t want to think about whether a spatula is going to scratch nonstick cookware or not. Thus I’ve gone almost 100% silicone.  Plastic and (most) wood utensils won’t scratch up your nonstick pans, either, but they generally don’t tolerate heat and/or moisture as well as silicone.  In particular, nylon plastic utensils can soften and melt when exposed to temperatures above 400 degrees Fahrenheit (the exact temperature depends on the plastic).

Furthermore, some manufacturers coat their entire utensils in silicone, instead of just the head of the utensil. A seamless silicone covering does a few things:

  • No seams = no place for food/grime to build up
  • Makes the handles impervious to heat as well. (Uncoated plastic handles can melt if you rest them onto the rim of hot pans.)

DEFINITIONS

Let’s get definitions out of the way.

  • Turners are for cooking.  The head of a turner will be angled, to allow you to reach the bottom of a saute or fry pan more easily to flip food.
  • Spatulas are mainly for baking and food prep.  They are relatively straight from end to end and allow you to scrape the sides of bowls/jars/cans/etc. effectively.
  • Scrapers are small spatulas you can use to scrape food from the insides of narrow jars.

WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD SILICONE SPATULA/TURNER/SCRAPER?

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Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint (Reuters)

Flint is famous for failing to keep lead out of its drinking water, but in December 2016, Reuters found nearly 3,000 areas with recently recorded lead poisoning rates at least double those in Flint during the peak of that city’s contamination crisis. And more than 1,100 of these communities had a rate of elevated blood tests at least four times higher. http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-lead-testing/

Reuters attributed this to the decay of American water-delivery infrastructure.  Yet many of these lead hotspots are receiving little attention or funding.

No amount of lead is safe; tiny doses hurt your brain less, but they still hurt.  Whether you use bottled water, Brita filters, water distillers, or other means of purifying your water, make sure you keep your water pure somehow.

In-Depth Product Review: A Guide to Feminine Hygiene Products (Menstrual Pads, Diva cups, etc.)

A History of Menstrual Products:

  • The first time historians saw menstrual hygiene products mentioned was around the 10th century A.D.  Women used rags as pads and lint wrapped around a small piece of wood or used materials like moss, animal skins, and grass as tampons.
  • By the early 1700s, most women would use old rags as pads and would wash and reuse them.  A few other options were using sheepskin, boiling it clean with each use, or cheesecloth sacks stuffed with flattened cotton.
  • In 1896 the first commercial sanitary pads, Lister’s Towels,  went on sale. They failed to sell because women hated the thought of declaring to the public that they were menstruating by buying pads.
  • French nurses in World War I figured out that Curad bandages were much more absorbent than their homemade menstrual rags and started using them as pads. In 1920 Curads by Kotex, worn with a re-usable belt, hit the market.
  • The first commercial applicator tampon with a cord for removal was invented in 1929 by Dr Earle Haas under the name Tampax, hitting the market in 1936.
  • The 1930s saw the invention and production of the first reusable menstrual cup.  After becoming used to disposable products many women resisted a ‘backwards step’ in menstrual products.
  • In the 1970s most companies started selling pads with adhesive backing, putting an end to the need for belts. Cloth pads made a comeback during this time as they saved money and were better for the environment.
  • After the 1970s, the biggest change to sanitary pads and tampons was to become more discreet. Tampons got smaller, pads got thinner, and the packaging hid the products inside.

Current Options:

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