ArticlesIf my high school Craft teacher was correct, there are two types of plastics:
- Thermoplastics that melt and can be reshaped, and
- Thermosets that don’t melt; they decompose at much higher temperatures.
If I was taught this basic fact at the age of 12, then presumably it is well-known to those skilled in the art of producing mass-plastic items.
So riddle me this:
Why are plastic spatulas (of the type used for flipping food on Teflon-coated frying pans) made of Nylon – a thermoplastic that leaves melts black muck all over the frying pan if it is absent-mindedly left on the heat?
Why can’t they make it out of a heat-resistant thermoset, so I don’t have to keep looking for a clean place to rest my greasy spatula?
This question has plagued me for years – and several spatulas.
Article proudly sponsored by: Spatula City
Comment by MrRohan on April 16, 2010
The expensive ones are silicone – melts at 300+ degrees
Comment by Sunny Kalsi on April 16, 2010
Thermosetting plastics will often burn, and the fumes are toxic (at least, they smell terrible). My guess is it’s got something to do with that. Also, they tend to be not very flexible, something I’m guessing is desirable for a spatula.
Comment by Jo Davies on April 19, 2010
l tried spoon bending once! almost the same as spatula melting.
Comment by Alastair on April 24, 2010
My favourite scene from that movie.
Comment by Julian on April 20, 2011
After scrimping and saving my kitchen utensil budget for 12 months… oh and wandering past a chef supply store near my home, while simultaneously remembering that I need to replace the melted spatula, I am now the proud owner of two silicone spatulas. Thanks for the recommendation, MrRohan. I look forward to my next absent-minded fry-up as the real test.
Comment by John Y. on April 20, 2011
So do I! I have bought spatulas that seemed not-that-cheap to me, and that sported labels claiming to withstand very high temperatures, which still melted during what I consider normal cooking. I have yet to use a spatula that simultaneously does not melt and does not unduly harm nonstick coatings.
Comment by John Y. on January 23, 2012
I went ahead and bought a silicone spatula for myself some months ago, and can now report that it is vastly more thermally durable than any of my previous nonstick-safe spatulas. I don’t know if there are different kinds; mine appears to be a metal spatula permanently encased in a rubbery, translucent sheath.
I will say that I’m not prone to leaving my spatula on the pan, so perhaps mine would not stand up to the Julian test, but it has survived many uses with no blatantly visible signs of damage (which is more than I can say for any of the black nylon utensils I’ve tried before).
Comment by Julian on September 17, 2014
Today, I learnt that the heating element at the bottom of my dishwasher must be more than 300+ degrees, because one of the silicone spatulas I bought three years ago dropped through the basket and landed on it, leaving me with a kitchen smelling of burnt plastic and a spatula melted open. Silicone spatulas are good, but not indestructible.