Open almost any kitchen drawer and you'll find all three: a wooden spoon, a silicone spatula, and, more and more often, a flat wooden spurtle.
They look like they do the same job. They don't. Each shape is built for different work, and knowing which one to grab makes cooking a little easier every day.
We make spurtles, so you know where our bias lies. But we also own and use the other two, and we'll tell you where each one wins.
Meet the contenders
The wooden spoon. A handle with a rounded bowl at the end. The classic stirring tool, in kitchens for centuries.
The silicone spatula. A flexible silicone head on a handle. Soft, bendable, and heat-resistant.
The spurtle. A Scottish kitchen tool, originally made for stirring porridge. The modern version is a flat wooden paddle with a straight edge and an angled tip.
Head to head, task by task
| Task | Spurtle | Wooden spoon | Silicone spatula | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stirring thick foods (oatmeal, chili, risotto) | Clears a wide path, nothing packs in | Food packs into the bowl | Bends under the weight | Spurtle |
| Scraping the bottom of a pot | Full edge contact | One point of contact | Good, but flexes | Spurtle |
| Getting into pot corners | Angled tip fits | Rounded, misses corners | Decent | Spurtle |
| Mixing stiff bread dough | Cuts through without bending | Works, but dough sticks in the bowl | Too flexible | Spurtle |
| Sourdough starter in a jar | Fits and scrapes the sides | Too wide for many jars | Fits, scrapes well | Tie: spurtle and spatula |
| Flipping eggs and pancakes | Thin edge slides under | Can't flip | Can, if thin enough | Spurtle |
| Scooping, tasting, or serving liquid | Can't hold liquid | Holds a spoonful | Can't hold liquid | Wooden spoon |
| Scraping a mixing bowl clean | Gets most of it | Leaves a lot behind | Flexes to fit the curve | Silicone spatula |
| Folding delicate batter or whipped cream | Too stiff | Too stiff | Gentle and flexible | Silicone spatula |
| Safe on nonstick, enamel, and cast iron | Yes | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Dishwasher safe | No | No | Usually yes | Silicone spatula |
| Lasts for years | Yes, with care | Yes, with care | Varies with quality | Tie: wood |
The wooden spoon
Where it wins: It's the only one of the three that holds liquid. For tasting sauce, scooping a little broth, or serving, the bowl matters.
Where it falls short: That same bowl is its weakness when stirring. A rounded spoon touches the bottom of the pan at a single point, so it takes many passes to clear the bottom of a pot. Thick foods like oatmeal and dough pack into the bowl, and its round tip can't reach the corners where food sticks and scorches.
Best for: Stirring soups and thin sauces, tasting, and serving.
The silicone spatula
Where it wins: Flexibility. Nothing scrapes a mixing bowl cleaner, and nothing folds delicate batter or whipped cream more gently. Most silicone spatulas are dishwasher safe and rated for high heat.
Where it falls short: Flexibility again. In thick or heavy foods, like a pot of chili, stiff bread dough, or oatmeal, the head bends instead of pushing through. Quality varies a lot between brands, and some can hold onto odors or develop a greasy film over time.
Best for: Scraping bowls, folding batters, and baking prep.
The spurtle
Where it wins: Shape. A flat edge touches the bottom of the pan along its whole length, so one pass clears a wide stripe and nothing scorches while you're not looking. The angled tip reaches corners. There's no bowl for thick food to pack into, so it wipes clean in one swipe. It's stiff enough to push through dough and thin enough to slide under an egg.
Where it falls short: It can't scoop or hold liquid, so you'll still want a spoon or ladle for tasting and serving. It's too stiff for folding delicate batters, and it won't scrape a curved bowl quite as clean as silicone. Like any wooden tool, it needs hand washing and an occasional coat of conditioner.
Best for: Stirring, scraping, mixing dough, sautéing, and flipping. Most everyday stovetop work.
So which should you buy?
If you only buy one, get a spurtle. It handles the widest range of everyday cooking: stirring, scraping, sautéing, flipping, and mixing dough.
If you bake a lot, keep a silicone spatula too. For scraping a bowl clean and folding batter, nothing beats it.
If you make a lot of soups and sauces, a wooden spoon or ladle is still useful for tasting and serving.
In our kitchen, the spurtle lives in the crock next to the stove and does most of the work. The silicone spatula stays in the drawer for baking day. The wooden spoon comes out for tasting.
Choosing a spurtle
Spurtles come in a few sizes, and each suits slightly different work:
- Original (1.5" x 11"): Narrow. Best for sourdough starter, jars, and everyday stirring. Start here.
- Small (2.25" x 9"): Easy to control in small pans, and good for little hands.
- Wide (2.25" x 11"): More surface for flipping and scraping.
- Slotted (2.25" x 12"): Lets liquid pass through for lifting food out of sauce.
- Large (2.25" x 13.5"): Extra reach for stockpots and big batches.
Where to get one
Our Spurtles are handcrafted from teak, a dense, naturally oily hardwood that resists water well. They come in all five sizes, or as a full set. Keep them in good shape with our Wood Butter, a simple blend of coconut oil and beeswax.
Use the right tool for the job. For most jobs on the stove, that's the spurtle.
What about plastic?
You may have noticed one tool missing from this comparison: the hard plastic spoon or spatula, usually black nylon, that comes in most utensil sets. It's missing on purpose. Of every option in the drawer, it's the one we'd tell you to retire.
It melts. Hard plastic utensils soften and warp when they rest against a hot pan. Most kitchens have one with a melted, misshapen edge, and the plastic that's missing from that edge went somewhere. Often, into dinner.
It moves into hot food. Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment tested nylon kitchen utensils and found that small molecules from the plastic migrate into food at cooking temperatures. In their testing, about a third of the utensils released more than the level they consider acceptable. Their advice is to keep nylon utensils' contact with hot food as brief as possible, especially above about 158°F. That's a hard rule to follow for a tool you leave resting in a simmering pot.
You can't always know what's in it. A 2024 study found flame retardants in some black plastic kitchen utensils, likely from recycled electronics making their way into household products. The authors later corrected a math error that had overstated the health risk, and the headlines were louder than the correction. But the core finding stood: chemicals that were never meant to touch food can end up in black plastic utensils.
It wears down and can't be repaired. Plastic edges get scraped, nicked, and rough with use. A worn wooden spoon gets a light sanding and a coat of conditioner. A worn plastic spatula goes in the trash, and it doesn't break down once it gets there.
It holds stains and smells. Tomato sauce, turmeric, and garlic soak into plastic and don't come back out.
To be fair, plastic utensils are cheap, light, and dishwasher safe. But wood and good silicone do everything plastic does, do most of it better, and don't come with any of those questions.
If you have plastic utensils in your drawer, you don't need to throw them all out today. Just let the next one that melts, cracks, or wears out be the last one you replace with plastic.
Use the right tool for the job. For most jobs on the stove, that's the spurtle.
Frequently asked questions
Is a spurtle better than a wooden spoon? For stirring, scraping, and mixing thick foods, yes. A flat spurtle touches the pan along its whole edge and has no bowl for food to pack into. A wooden spoon is better for tasting and serving liquids.
Is a spurtle better than a silicone spatula? For stovetop cooking and stiff dough, yes, because it doesn't bend. A silicone spatula is better for scraping mixing bowls clean and folding delicate batters.
What can a spurtle not do? It can't scoop or hold liquid, and it's too stiff for folding delicate batter.
Are wooden utensils safe for nonstick pans? Yes. Wood is softer than nonstick coatings, enamel, and cast iron, so it won't scratch them.
What about plastic?
