ISO cheap flatware set for food prep

[RPCookin]

What would you call forks and spoons used for food prep? Aren't they called flatware? Maybe I'm confused about the terminology.


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

What you posted the photo of is just tableware to me. I have a 3 tine granny fork for kitchen use when I need a fork. Mine is similar to this:

I also have a heavy meat/carving fork with 2 really solid tines like this one:

I have several large spoons, solid and slotted, (both softer silicone for nonstick pans and stainless for my more durable cookware) for cooking as well as some wooden ones. I use the wooden ones a lot for stirring and mixing, but I use the other ones if I need to scoop anything from the pan because the wood ones don't have much capacity. I will just grab a tablespoon from the flatware drawer when I need a spoon for tasting while I cook (and I clean it after each taste!!!).

Like most of the longtime members here, I have drawers full of kitchen utensils. When I walk into Bed, Bath and Beyond, I can't pass the utensil wall without looking, and that usually results in seeing something that I just can't live without. Many of my myriad utensils don't get used a lot, but they all have a purpose.

However, my knives, spoons, and spatulas/flippers, and tongs are the workhorses in my kitchen. They get used every day (usually hand washed because I can't be without them for 2 or 3 days until the next time we run the dishwasher). I also couldn't survive without a couple of good cutting boards and my Pyrex mixing bowl set. When I need it I also have a good set of stainless mixing bowls with nonslip silicone bottoms which can be stirred with one hand while the other one is pouring or adding to the mixture.

Hope this helps you make good decisions. There are some pretty good cooks on this forum, certainly better than me, but we all love being in the kitchen and we do have some very personal ideas of the most needed gear.

 

[Andy M.]

I want to replace some unattractive flatware pieces that I use for food prep—mostly teaspoons, soup spoons, and forks. I just bought this set at Bed Bath but when I took the utensils out of the box and held them, the pointy edges on the handles were really uncomfortable. I think rounded edges on the handles would be better...

I had a thought...

Why don't you just add to your current flatware set and use them.

 

[GotGarlic]

That's exactly what I meant, Andy! I'm looking for simple flatware that I wouldn't use for guests—just for tasting and prep like scooping out avocados and mangoes.

I have a set of good flatware that lives in the hutch in the dining room and an everyday set that I use for food prep and that we use also use for eating. I don't see the need for a third set just for food prep.

 

[Katie H]

I have a large collection of all sorts of cooking flippers, spoons, scrapers, etc. Many of them live in a drawer nearest the stove and prep area. The "workhorses" live in a 3-tiered carousel immediately next to the stove.

The carousel's bottom tier is about the diameter of a dinner plate and has about 6 or 8 amply-large compartments. The remaining two tiers are gradually smaller, but quite adequate to hold all kinds of tools, especially those with extra-long handles (think wooden spoons here).

There are a number of "pet" spoons, scrapers and flippers that rarely make it to the dishwasher they're used so often. As someone else already mentioned, they are the ones that get the handwash treatment.

Several of my granny forks are so old I can't remember where they came from and it's obvious from the slant of the tines, I'm right-handed. Don't know what I'll do if they have to go to the trash.

I suggest you observe what items you use most often and either head to the thrift store, dollar store or, when the season begins again, yard sales to fill the gaps you have. Many of my favorite tools came from those sources. Take your time. There really shouldn't be any rush on acquiring what you need. It could be a fun scavenger hunt and you never know what you might find that you absolutely can't live without.

 

[Kayelle]

I had a thought...

Why don't you just add to your current flatware set and use them.

That's exactly what we did. We were always running out of forks and spoons before the dishwasher was filled. We never ran out of table knives. SC found our matching flatware pattern on Ebay. We purchased 6 extra forks and spoons and the problem was solved. I don't like mismatched flatware.

 

[kitchengoddess8]

Heh! I was just going to suggest returning the set you got and trading it for
Hampton Forge Clark 20-Piece Flatware Set - BedBathandBeyond.com

Love it Princess Fiona! We're on the same wavelength

I may order the set, and if I don't like it I can always return it. BBB has a great return policy.

 

[taxlady]

When I'm tasting something that I'm cooking, I use the same spoon repeatedly. But, I take a different spoon, possibly the one I'm stirring with, and drip the stuff into the tasting spoon so the used spoon never goes into the pot. Then, when I'm done, the spoon goes in the dishwasher.

 

[Kayelle]

When I'm tasting something that I'm cooking, I use the same spoon repeatedly. But, I take a different spoon, possibly the one I'm stirring with, and drip the stuff into the tasting spoon so the used spoon never goes into the pot. Then, when I'm done, the spoon goes in the dishwasher.

+1 I remember Mama doing the same.

 

[GotGarlic]

 

[RPCookin]

When I'm tasting something that I'm cooking, I use the same spoon repeatedly. But, I take a different spoon, possibly the one I'm stirring with, and drip the stuff into the tasting spoon so the used spoon never goes into the pot. Then, when I'm done, the spoon goes in the dishwasher.

I've done that too, but I almost always have a sink full of hot soapy water when I cook so I can clean as I go, and that makes it just as easy to give the spoon a quick wash and set in the drainer until the next taste.

 

[Kayelle]

I've done that too, but I almost always have a sink full of hot soapy water when I cook so I can clean as I go, and that makes it just as easy to give the spoon a quick wash and set in the drainer until the next taste.

On the other hand, that's an unnecessary step and maybe many more "steps" than you may have away from your stove. My Mom's big kitchen didn't have her sink near the stove.

 

[RPCookin]

On the other hand, that's an unnecessary step and maybe many more "steps" than you may have away from your stove. My Mom's big kitchen didn't have her sink near the stove.

I can reach both without moving. And right in between is my usual prep area

 

[Addie]

I can reach both without moving. And right in between is my usual prep area

I can stand in my kitchen and place the palms of each hand on the opposite counter from each other. Stove is next to fridge, sink is right in the middle across from the stove on the other side. It is a galley kitchen and to narrow for two people to be in there together. But everything is within quick reach. Perfect for a senior person who can stand too long, like me.

 

[GotGarlic]

I can stand in my kitchen and spin around till I get dizzy without touching anything

But I have a couple of pretty bar stools on either side of the peninsula so I can sit down when doing my prep. And I can put visitors on the other side of the peninsula so they don't get in my way while I'm cooking.

 

[Addie]

I can stand in my kitchen and spin around till I get dizzy without touching anything

But I have a couple of pretty bar stools on either side of the peninsula so I can sit down when doing my prep. And I can put visitors on the other side of the peninsula so they don't get in my way while I'm cooking.

If I still had the whole family at home, I would definitely want a much larger kitchen. Today, I look on larger as "more to clean." A damp mop for 30 seconds and the kitchen floor is done. When I had all the kids home at the same time, it meant a bigger floor to clean. More spills, more scuff marks, more bigger appliances to clean. Today, I live by my signature line.

 

[Kayelle]

I can stand in my kitchen and spin around till I get dizzy without touching anything

But I have a couple of pretty bar stools on either side of the peninsula so I can sit down when doing my prep. And I can put visitors on the other side of the peninsula so they don't get in my way while I'm cooking.

I thought you were going to finish that sentence with "and I see Russia".

 

[GotGarlic]

I thought you were going to finish that sentence with "and I see Russia".

 

[Cheryl J]

I thought you were going to finish that sentence with "and I see Russia".

LOL