Whenever we have bread dough to separate, icebox cookies to cut apart, or even onions to scoop into a prep bowl, we find ourselves reaching for our bench scraper. As those of us diving into the Kitchn Cure this week start to think about trimming down the number of utensils cluttering our drawers, this one is definitely a keeper.
Handy Kitchen Tool: The Bench Scraper
A bench scraper is primarily intended for baking, where you'll sometimes hear it referred to as a bench cutter or pastry scraper. It's the perfect tool to portion out doughs and transfer delicate pastries onto baking sheets or serving platters. We also use it to keep our pie doughs from sticking to the counter as we roll them out by lifting up corners as they begin to stick and throwing a little flour underneath!
The dull edge isn't meant to cut through anything hard or tough, but the bench scrapper has plenty of uses on the savory side of cooking, too. The square shape of the blade makes it useful for quickly cutting dishes like our Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole and Chunky Cheesy Lasagna into equally sized portions. And as we mentioned above, the bench scrapper can make quick work of collecting all our diced veggies and clearing away scraps.
When buying a bench scraper, find one that has a thick, sturdy metal blade that won't buckle. Avoid scrapers made of plastic--these have their time and place, but we think they're less versatile than a metal one. Since our hands are often sticky or greasy when we're using bench scrapers, a good grip is a must-have. We like ones that have a rubber grip like the OXO Good Grips Multi-Purpose Scraper.
(Photo: Emma Christensen for The Kitchn)
Tags
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From the NY Times Dining Section 03.26.08
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I like mine because it is flat on one side (the handle is only 3d in one direction --- like this one). Better for smashing garlic with.
view simpliciter's profile
I resisted the urge to buy a bench scraper for the longest time, feeling that it was an unnecessary "gadget" for the kitchen. I rarely make dough, and use my knife blade to scrape mirepoix in the pan. After countless numbers of times of having onions/carrots/celery scatter on the floor from my narrow chef's knife, I bought the bullet and picked up an $8 scraper from BB&B.
The scraper is now one of my favorite tools. I can get much larger quantities of veg into pans without littering the floor, and I use the wide surface to smash up garlic as well.
view Rog's profile
The woman on the new Food network show, Simply Delicioso uses one of these. I had never seen anyone use one before, but she scoops up everything with her scraper.
view kkf's profile
I never bought a scraper because, like so many others, I was sure I had no use for it. I find I use it for everything now and couldn't imagine being without it. I've moved it out of the messy kitchen drawer and on to my counter.
view Rain's profile
I adore this tool! Bought it for help in making pie crusts, but now I use it to divide dough (fabulous for scones), scooping veggies and it can even double for a spatula.
view madteaparty's profile
must add it to my registry!
view kdb's profile