The Best Metal Spatulas

Our former winner continues its reign: Its perfectly proportioned head supported foods of all shapes and sizes and maneuvered nimbly even in tight spaces. And because it's also moderately thin and flexible, it excelled at getting under food. The head's pronounced curve provided extra leverage for prying up food and kept our hands higher above hot pans. All users found its handle easy to hold, though some wished the otherwise comfortable plastic were grippier.

This fish spatula was nearly identical to our winner, with one small but important difference: Its head was almost flat, lacking the curvature that would allow users to summon extra leverage and keep their hands higher above hot surfaces. It still excelled at every task we gave it and was comfortable to hold, although its handle, like the one on our winning model, was a bit too smooth.

Like our winner, this fish spatula had a well-proportioned, nicely curved head of moderate thickness and flexibility, which allowed it to effortlessly flip, transfer, and support foods of all sizes. But testers were mixed on its handle: While the textured wood surface helped us keep our grip on the spatula when handling greasy, splattering foods, a rough metal edge stuck out from that wood, digging into our hands and making the spatula unpleasant to hold for extended periods.

This fish spatula's head was well proportioned, moderately thin and flexible, and gently curved, allowing it to perform every task well. We liked the grippy plastic material of its handle, which was easy to hold even when covered in grease. The only problem? The handle itself was quite thick, which made it slightly harder for even larger-handed testers to hold comfortably for extended periods.

While this turner performed ably in every task, its head and handle were a touch undersized next to the other fish spatulas in the lineup. Because the spatula had a smaller surface area, it felt less secure when flipping or transferring larger items such as pancakes. The metal handle was a bit short, narrow, and slick, which made it slightly harder to hold.

This conventional spatula had plenty of surface area for supporting and transferring foods, so it did a fairly good job on most tasks. But its head was more rectangular than the fish spatulas', which made it more unwieldy to maneuver in tight spaces. Since the head was also somewhat thick and very rigid, testers found it tricky to slide the spatula under fragile foods such as pancakes and cookies. Finally, the metal handle was slicker and narrower than we preferred, which made it less comfortable to hold.

Faced with stiffer competition, our previous Best Buy fell in our rankings. Most users still liked its grippy plastic handle, though it was a touch thick for some. The real problem was its ultrathin, very flexible head. Although it hugged the surfaces of pans closely and did a great job of sliding under food, it was too flimsy; holding a ½-pound burger felt like a risky proposition. It was also a bit small, so long fish fillets drooped over the edge and threatened to break.

The head of this conventional spatula was moderately thin, allowing it to slip under food fairly easily. But it was also on the smaller side, providing less surface area to support the food and allowing fish fillets and large pancakes to drape off the sides. Its squat profile made it feel clunky, and testers disliked the smooth metal handle, which was too long and thin, providing less control and proving uncomfortable to hold for long periods.