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See why.The Best Pastry Brushes
Finding the best pastry brush is a delicate business.
By Published July 1, 2018
Recently, we learned that our winning pastry brush, Winco Flat Pastry and Basting Brush, 1½ inch, contains BPA, a chemical that some studies link to various health issues. For those who are concerned about BPA, we recommend our runner-up, Ateco 1.5" Flat Stainless Steel Ferrule Pastry Brush, which is BPA-free.
Top Picks
See Everything We Tested
What You Need To Know
We love our favorite silicone brush for basting meat and poultry and for oiling hot pans. But for spreading egg wash, glaze, or melted butter on delicate doughs or pastry and for removing crumbs from layer cakes before frosting them, we prefer to use a pastry brush with natural-fiber bristles. Because these bristles are so fine, they allow you to apply liquids more precisely and with a gentler touch than silicone models, which generally have thicker, spaghetti-size bristles. Moreover, natural-fiber brushes simply have more bristles, so they can wick up more liquid.
We wanted to know which natural-fiber pastry brush was the best, so we bought six models priced from $5.32 to $15.95 and pitted them against our reigning silicone model, the OXO Good Grips Silicone Pastry Brush ($6.99). All the brushes had 1.5-inch-wide heads (the most commonly available size); five were made with boar's-hair bristles and one with silk bristles. We put them to the test, using them to apply viscous egg wash to raw bread dough, slick olive oil to sheets of phyllo, and thick, sticky glazes to fruit tarts.
Bristles Determine Minor Performance Differences
The good news is that all the brushes did a respectable job with every task. Compared with our favorite silicone model, the natural-fiber brushes picked up two to four times more liquid and dispensed it much more evenly, gently, and precisely.
However, there were some minor differences in performance that were determined by the length, uniformity, and density of the bristles; the material itself didn't seem to be significant. Bristles that were just under 2 inches in length provided the right combination of agility and coverage. Longer bristles were great for reaching into the nooks and crannies of the fruit tarts but were a touch unwieldy when applying oil to phyllo. Shorter bristles felt stubby and had less surface area with which to cover the food; they lacked the supple swish and fluidity of longer bristles.
Most testers also preferred brushes with bristles that were uniformly the same length throughout the head; bristles of different lengths tended to stick out like flyaways, making for slightly less precise, controlled application.
Additionally, we liked brush heads that were moderately dense, about ½ inch or more in thickness. The thicker the brush head, the more bristles it generally had and thus the more liquid it could retain, letting us reload the brush a little less often. Still, these differences in capacity weren't all that dramatic—at most, it meant that a brush took three passes instead of two to cover a 14 by 9-inch sheet of phyllo.
And while we wanted a thick head with lots of bristles,...
Everything We Tested
Recommended
- Comfort: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
This brush had the thickest head of bristles in the testing, allowing it to pick up and deposit the greatest volume of egg wash, oil, butter, or glaze in a single pass. And because the bristles weren't too densely packed, they still felt agile and precise. At a uniform 1.8 inches, they were the ideal length for most tasks (though some testers preferred brushes with slightly longer bristles for getting into the nooks and crannies on fruit tarts). While not as grippy as some, its medium-length, relatively fat, varnished wood handle was still comfortable to hold. Additionally, it lost the fewest bristles during testing.
- Comfort: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
With a thick head of uniformly sized bristles that were just a tad longer than our winner's, this model picked up plenty of liquid and was relatively agile. Although we slightly preferred rubbery handles, its fat, varnished wood handle was still comfortable to hold. The problem? It lost 14 bristles over the course of testing, leaving some doubt as to its longevity.
- Comfort: 2 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2.5 stars out of 3.
This pastry brush did a good job on all the tasks, though its wispy bristles didn't pick up quite as much liquid and were a touch harder to control due to their inconsistent length. Testers loved the grippy, rubbery material of the handle, though its shape forced them to choke up on the thinnest part near the head, limiting the number of ways they could hold the brush and cramping their hands a little.
- Comfort: 2 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 2 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2.5 stars out of 3.
The bristles on this petite, paintbrush-like model were shorter, thinner, and less uniform in length than our top choices, picking up slightly less liquid and feeling less precise and controllable as a result. It shed seven bristles over the course of testing, and its rough, unfinished wood handle had testers worrying about splinters. Still, this brush acquitted itself well on all tasks, and it was the cheapest model to boot.
Recommended with reservations
- Comfort: 2 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 2 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2 stars out of 3.
With a thin head of extra-long, wispy bristles, this model excelled at applying glaze to the nooks and crannies of the fruit tart. But for most tasks, both the long bristles and the long handle felt a bit oversize, “like using a paint stirrer instead of a paintbrush,” as one tester put it. The manufacturers of this model recommended soaking the head in water for an hour before the first use to reduce bristle loss, but even after we'd taken this precaution, it shed eight bristles during testing.
- Comfort: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 2 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2 stars out of 3.
With a thin wire loop for a handle and a short, dense shock of bristles, this pastry brush was aesthetically pleasing but not always a great performer. Those tightly packed bristles were fine for brushing egg wash onto a loaf of bread but were a bit too rough on delicate raspberries and sheets of phyllo. Testers found its handle awkward and uncomfortable to hold for longer sessions, and it shed a fair number of bristles over the course of testing.
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The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing.
Miye Bromberg
Miye is a senior editor for ATK Reviews. She covers booze, blades, and gadgets of questionable value.
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