The Spatula Giada De Laurentiis Can't Cook Without
When it comes to making comfort dishes like mac and cheese or pasta, many of us have our cooking routine down pat. We place our favorite pan on our favorite burner and stir with our favorite utensil. And there's nothing wrong with that! But, sometimes, it's also worth testing out the affordable equipment the professionals refuse to put down.
Italian food personality Giada De Laurentiis is one of those pros who has her go-to tools. According to an interview with USA Today, she swears by the $13 GIR spatula. The humble silicone scraper is a kitchen workhorse, and one of the greatest to hold their own across baking and cooking projects. This makes the recommendation especially handy come the holidays or for any big feast as hosts juggle multiple culinary projects.
De Laurentiis' favorite silicone stirrer boasts fans across the internet, as many home cooks appreciate its high-heat tolerance, firm flexibility, and slim size. Some equipment testers even credit the colorful spatula with reducing food waste, since it's able to grab every speck and crumb in its path, so no more oily or sticky measuring spoons left behind.
How silicone compares to other spatula materials
Home cooks often stock their drawers with a mixture of metal, wood, and rubber tools. And for good reason, as each material has its own benefits and drawbacks. While you can turn to your trusty metal spoon to taste your food, cooking with one is a mistake that will ruin your non-stick pans. And wooden spoons, while heat-resistant, sturdy, and biodegradable, can't reach and scrape tough corners like a spatula. Nor can the wooden spoons — or wooden-handled, rubber-tipped spatulas for that matter — go in the dishwasher, at least if you want them to last.
Enter silicone. Once vulnerable to melting under high heat, today's cooking equipment is designed to do all the hard-to-reach jobs, no matter the temp. It can withstand temperatures of up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, and the models that are made entirely of the material, like Giada De Laurentiis' favorite spatula, can go straight into the dishwasher.
But not all the bendy scrapers are created equally. Professional and home chefs swear by different models based on their baking needs, kitchen habits, and even aesthetics. Surprisingly, a major complaint against some silicone spatulas is that they're too bendy and floppy.
Add a spoonula and jar scraper to the mix
If you're struggling with an overly-flexible spatula, there's another Giada De Laurentiis-approved shape worth considering. The cooking personality also prefers to work with the GIR brand's spoonula, a curved version of the bright silicone tool. As the spoon-spatula portmanteau implies, the utensil is molded for extra scooping power.
Similar to the spatula design De Laurentiis can't cook without, the rounded edge in this other option offers more grip than a flat shape. This makes it especially helpful when scraping the dregs out of cans and bowls. But it's also capable of maneuvers for small and large curd scrambled eggs on the stove and neatly transporting thick ingredients.
Spoonula and spatula enthusiasts can also test out a narrower version of the two shapes by picking up a jar scraper. An underrated addition to the utensil holder, this silicone tool is designed to fit down the necks of bottles, navigate peanut butter jars, and dip into blenders. Used in conjunction with other iterations of flexible silicone, you'll find there are few ingredients able to evade your grasp.