Good Product: Chef'n Switchit Dual Ended Long Spatula

OK, let's face it. When it comes to plain, basic tools like spatulas and spoons, there's not a lot of room for improvement. You can't pry our rubber spatulas or wooden spoons away from us; we tend to get irritated with novel and "innovative" designs. The classics work, which is why they're, well...classic.

But we have to make an exception for this new spatula from Chef'n. It may improve on a classic, if that's possible! Here's why.

We bought this spatula on a tip from an acquaintance. We were initially intrigued by its dual design. Both ends function as a spatula; one wider end is better for normal bowl-scraping while the other end is really excellent for swiping the last bits out of the peanut butter jar or getting the bottom scrapings of sauce out of the blender. We love multipurpose design - so great in small kitchens. Of course, it's rather messy to have both ends in use at the same time; we only use one end for any given kitchen job!

Well, not only does this spatula work very well in two capacities, but it also just works. It seems to wipe out bowls of cake batter and pots of soup better than any other spatula we own.

Its one downfall is that it isn't always great for really thick or heavy doughs. It can handle normal cookie dough just fine, but the silicone blade often folds up on anything thicker.

Do you have one of these spatulas? What do you think?

• Chef'n Switchit Dual Ended Long Spatula, $10.99 at Amazon.com

Related: Chef'n Palm Peeler

Comments (14)

I've got their initial configuration on this spatula. My one disappointment with it is that I wish the handle was a bit longer.

I do not have one, nor do I really need another spatula, but I really like the shape. (And I suppose it's good that they're actually functional ;) )

I really like mine. My husband always complains about the direction, though - he'd like a "lefty" one, with the bowl on the same side, but with the angled edge running the other way.

We have two--one large and one small. One reason I especially like them is that there are no "seams", where the rubbery part meets a handle. I feel like I can get these cleaner.

I tried one of these on a whim, it was marked waay down as it was in a discontinued color that happened to match my kitchen. Instant spatula love! I agree that the one piece construction is a particular good point, they clean up very easily. My old spatula was prone to having the rubbery head fall off in sticky foods. I like this one so much that I bought a second one. I haven't noticed any difficulty with the spatula "folding up", I guess I don't cook anything stiffer than cookie dough...

I like the one piece construction, and that having two sizes on one object means less clutter in my kitchen. And they do work very well for scraping bowls.

However, like marisab's husband, I wish there was a lefty version. And the handle is a bit awkward for me because it's thicker than most kitchen tools (and I have small hands).

That and I am fond of my "spoon-spatula" for scooping things out of the bowl. You can't really do that with these.

I like these because they're stiff enough to stir fry or scramble eggs with. I've has serious trouble with nylon spatulas melting in non-stick pans, and wood can be a pain to clean, but it's hard to find silicon that's stiff enough to be any use. These won't handle serious scraping, but the metal insert makes them far more useful than than anything else I've found.

This looks very cool, added to my wish list.

BTW, clicking the chef'n tag brings me to a large SQL error. The ' is most likely the cause of the problem.

I bought one of these a couple years ago from our wonderful local kitchen store, and I LOVE it; it's my favorite spatula. I don't know what you could be scraping that it won't handle--it even did an admirable job scraping my melted chocolate butter sugar for brownies yesterday (and that was really thick).

It won't scrape the delicious slightly burnt brown stuff off the bottom of my frying pan. But it's good for stirring in pans and scraping in bowls.

I love this one!

Cleaning it is its best feature-- no more having to separate the spatula from the handle to make sure food parts don't end up molding in the handle.

I have 3 different Chef'n spatula shapes and I LOVE them. The one-piece construction is brilliant (no gross crevices and no need to take the handle out of the blade to get everything clean). Also, the metal skeleton provides a lot of strength. They are well worth the $.

i have 2 of them, i guess an older model that doesn't have the scoop shape that i guess has a side. i am a lefty and my 2 switchits are my primary mixing tool and spatula. the best part is the no groove for whatever you are mixing to get stuck in. the only time i use other spatulas or mixing spoons are when i am making pancakes or they are both already in use.

I have a pale blue one of these. It's the same style but it's around 5 years old. A friend gifted it to me and it's my all time favorite tool. Some times I use it half a dozen times a day. Honestly. So often that I am buying another one (in the new, darker blue) so I don't have to wash it so much.

Other then slight browning on the tip from using it in really hot pans, it's in perfect condition after 5 years of almost daily use.