The Hardest Working Cookie Flipper In The Business – Ateco's Cookie Spatula!
Written: Jun 18 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to use, cleans up nicely, inexpensive, thin blade = no broken cookies!
Cons: Hard to find unless you shop at restaurant supply stores.
The Bottom Line: You’ve tried the rest, now try the best!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Ateco Cookie Spatula |
I have a wide variety of spatulas but until recently I didn’t have one that was specifically designed just for cookies. Leave it to Ateco to make a great inexpensive “cookie flipper” and leave it to Smart & Final to carry it in their baking and kitchen supply section. When I first saw this I wasn’t all that impressed with it – it sort of looked like it was cheaply made and would fall apart after a few uses. That much I could handle but what I was really worried about was rust – my arch nemesis, the one thing next to mold that I simply won’t tolerate. Seeing as how this was only $3.09 I couldn’t pass up giving it a try to see if it would work better than the plastic T-Fal ones I’d been using for removing cookies from the sheet to cool off. These plastic spatulas were extremely sturdy and had been in my kitchen for years but they were a little thick around the edges so thin cookies like Snickerdoodles would often bend or break when removing them from the tray. If you’ve ever tried to make thin cookies or move anything that’s chocolate covered from one surface to another, you will really appreciate the thin but sturdy body of this spatula.
Ateco Cookie Spatula
When you first see this, chances are you’ll think the same thing as me – it will never be able to support heavy cookies. I bake everything from triple chocolate chip cookies to biscotti, so I need something that will be able to handle delicate goods as well as those that are pretty hearty. My biggest concern was the thin handle that looked like it would bend easily – granted you won’t be able to lift bricks with this but so far it’s held up nicely to everything that I’ve used it on. It’s made of thick rolled metal that’s affixed to the underside of the cookie blade. The area that’s actually used to connect the two pieces of metal is minimal so you will be able to use the spatula almost completely flat if need be, simply put, the metal handle and how it is connected to the spatula is minimal and doesn’t interfere with the overall use of the piece.
The handle is something that some people may find bothersome, it’s thin but not so much so that it bends or flexes when you are using it but it doesn’t have that “feel” when you are using it and when you first start out using it – it sort of feels ‘sloppy’, like you can’t control it. This passes after you use it a few times so don’t give up on it. I like the fact that it’s smaller in size than the T-Fal ones, I have a little more control over it and can pick up the cookies, biscotti and even the dog bones without having to worry about them cracking or coming apart. Usually I try to remove them from the cookie tray as soon as I take them out of the over so the bottoms don’t overcook, this means that most of the things that I bake are still extremely sensitive, gooey or prone to breaking. The Ateco cookie spatulas thin blade slides under the baked goods with no effort, plus I’ve yet to have anything stick to it – something that is a true blessing when working with sloppy doughs and grainy dog biscuits. The body of the cookie spatula is solid, something that is a real blessing when it comes to cleaning or working with smaller cookies; the T-Fal ones have small holes through the body of the spatula and while this helps to easy in moving the cookies around and prevents moisture build up it they are notorious for snagging cookies making it harder to clean and leaving behind little bits that could rub off on other cookies – something you definitely don’t want if you are working with plain cookies that have colored sugar sprinkles.
Cleaning
This cleans up nicely however if you’ve been working with gooey or sugary things like molasses or honey you will want to make sure that you really clean the entire spatula well before you store it away. If not you run the risk of the connecting areas rusting and essentially rendering it a useless piece of equipment. I never put this in the dishwasher – I am too phobic about certain things getting ruined or not cleaned properly so I hand wash almost everything. When I make the triple chocolate chip cookies I end up with chocolate all over the place and it gets all over the spatula as well, a good five minute soak in hot soapy water usually does the trick to remove all the stuff that’s built up on the blade and handle but it never hurts to give it the once over before you allow it to air dry.
The Bottom Line
The Ateco line of cooking and kitchen tools might not be one that you are familiar with unless you shop at restaurant supply stores but it is one that is well worth tracking down. Most of the time the items are the same price or less than similar products from other manufacturers and the quality is of a higher standard. This cookie cutter has seen a lot of use already and no doubt will be one that will see a lot more use in the future, it’s easier to use with thinner more delicate cookies and smaller than the T-Fal ones. If you are in the market for a new “cookie flipper” or thin blade spatula, this is a great pick. If you can’t find it locally there are several online stores that carry the Ateco line of products or you can check out their main website at www.ateco.com.
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2004 Freak369
Other awesome kitchen aides ….
• Pizza Screen - 14 Inch • Norpro Marble Mortar and Pestle •
• Meat Tenderizer with Wooden Handle • OXO 9 Inch Meat Tenderizer •
• Ateco Parchment Paper • Ekco Magnetic Bottle Opener •
• Ateco Bowl Scraper • Ateco Cannoli Kit •
Please note: the photo for this product is slightly “incorrect”, the cookie spatula is on the right hand side and the pie spade is on the right.
Recommended:
Yes
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