Nylon vs. Stainless Steel Kitchen Tools: Which Is Better?

If you're like us, you have a mix of both (plus a wooden spoon or two). But which do you reach for most often? What would you recommend for someone stocking a kitchen for the first time? Here are our pros and cons.

Our bottom line advice: No one needs a full set of either nylon or stainless steel cooking tools. We're not big fans of sets of anything (pots and pans, knives—buy those individually), but those already-stocked crocks of utensils are overkill. Here are our opinions on plastic vs. metal.

Nylon/Plastic: PROS
• If you use nonstick cookware, enamel-coated dutch ovens, or cast-iron skillets, you need utensils that won't scratch it. We usually reach for a wooden spoon in these cases, but it's helpful to have a spatula or bigger spoon in a forgiving material.
• Nylon utensils are flexible. We find they scrape corners better, and if you cook a lot of fish, you probably want a flexible fish spatula.

Nylon/Plastic: CONS
• They're hard to clean. Eggs, cream sauces, and rice tend to stick to them, and we often end up using a fingernail to scrape them off (a scrub brush doesn't always work on ours).
• They're plastic. They can be ugly, and they can melt.

Stainless Steel: PROS
• Thinner and sturdier, which makes them better for sliding under cookies or lifting a heavy piece of meat.
• Easier to clean than plastic.
• Better for scraping pans, if necessary. We find a wooden spoon is great for deglazing, but if we're, say, tossing a pan of roasted vegetables and want to scrape bits off of the bottom, a metal spatula helps.

Stainless Steel: CONS
• Sometimes the sound of metal scraping metal makes our skin crawl (are we alone?).
• Usually more expensive.

As annoying as it can be to clean our nylon tools, we use them much more often, along with wooden spoons. Here's what we'd buy if we were starting from scratch:

• One metal spatula
• One nylon spatula
• One nylon slotted spoon
• Two pairs of tongs (one nylon-tipped, one metal)
• Wooden spoons

What would you add? Which tools do you prefer?

(Images: Calphalon)

Comments (10)

I don't have any non-stick pans any more. Got sick of buying them (cheap or dear) as they always ended up failing on my. So, I've switched to totally wood or metal cooking utensils other than a rubber spatula for baking and mixing and scraping bowls.

I would add at least one whisk and a small ladle. I use them all the time and both of these can be used for a variety of dishes.

I use wooden spoons and spatulas for pretty much everything. I also have a double-ended fully silicon spatula that I LOVE. The stainless steel utensils are unwieldy and inflexible, so we've relegated them to grilling. I have stainless and cast iron pots and pans, but use a non-stick for eggs.

I have a silicon-coated spatula from Pyrex that I love (http://www.amazon.com/Pyrex-1083781-Slotted-Turner/dp/B002CVTQD2). It doesn't scratch the non-stick pans, or the seasoning on my cast iron pan, and it doesn't melt like nylon. It's not the greatest for scraping, but it works well enough for deglazing, and it's definitely firmer than most other silicon spatulas that I've tried.

Metal spatulas, ladles, tongs, etc. and wooden spoons. I don't own any nylon utensils. For the enameled Le Crueset I am just careful.

I do have silicone spatulas as well, but rarely use those in cooking pans.

Add a whisk in each style! Vacation rentals are notoriously short of whisks. We actually have a whisk we keep in our luggage just in case. I know, I know, in many cases a fork will do. But there's just no whipping with a fork, I don't care how hard you try. And sometimes, on vacation, freshly whipped cream on homemade waffles or pancakes is a must! It's vacation!

As for the nylon/stainless debate, I am the queen of grilled cheese in our circle of friends. Never has one of our late night weekend parties not included 2 am grilled cheeses, and when you have a crowd, you have to be quick and efficient. I use my mostest favoritest spatula, a long flat stainless number I salvaged from my mother ages ago. I even use it on (gasp!) non-stick pans!! I'm extra careful, extra gentle, but I do occasionally scape a little too hard, I'll admit. Though, it doesn't seem to matter much at 2 am, and I have nonstick pans I really only use for grilled cheesing, so it's not really that big of a deal. I've tried tons of nylon options, but I really need something thin and sturdy, and stainless is the only way to go for me. I use nylon spatulas for other applications, but when it comes to delicately flipping grilled cheese, it's gotta be perfect. ;)

Oh! How could I forget?! TONGS! I have a non-stick and lots of stainless. They do the job of wooden spoons, spatulas, and a whole host of other utensils on a regular basis, just because I'm lazy and they are a great all-around alternative.

1 nylon ladle. It's impossible to do a ladle's job with the other tools.

silicon baby! no melting ...

I prefer wood for almost everything followed by metal. I do have some nylon (or is it silicone) stuff because I will not use wood with raw meat. Even with meat though, I tend to reach for the metal.