I’m Convinced the Best Cooking Utensil Is This Long, Flat Wooden Spatula—Here’s Why

Just a few months ago, a tow-truck, itself, couldn't pry my rubber spatulas out of my hands. I swore by them for both baking and cooking. 

And while I still think they're an essential for baking especially, my hands have fully loosened their grip for what I now tout as the best cooking utensil: the Earlywood Wooden Spatulas.  

To buy: Earlywood 3-Piece Wooden Utensil Set, $40 at amazon.com

These caught me by surprise pretty swiftly. I bought them on a whim after seeing them across a few of my favorite food bloggers’ feeds, though I wasn’t too sure just how useful they’d be since the shape is so different from the typical spatulas I’ve used. 

They’re thin flat pieces of wood, starting out wider at the bottom and tapering up where you hold them. Each end is slightly thinner than the body of the spatula, which I found is pretty integral to the design. I purchased the three-piece set, which comes with the brand's small flat sauté utensil, which is 9.5-inches long, plus the medium flat sauté at 11.25-inches long, and the large flat sauté at 13-inches long. They come in different wood colors and combinations, and I selected the Mexican ebony, jatoba, and bloodwood combination on Amazon. 

I immediately gravitated toward the simple tools, from sauteing eggs, to pan frying tofu, making stir fries, tossing pasta dishes, making sauces — the options feel seemingly endless. I find them easy to hold, plus their thin, perfectly wide shape turns food around gently but efficiently. Because Earlywood thins the thickness of the base of the spatula a bit, they’re still really easy to shimmy underneath foods for easy flipping and turning too. The shape and sturdy material also lends itself perfectly to scraping bits at the bottom of pots or pans without the stress of damaging their surfaces. 

To buy: Earlywood 13-Inch Wooden Utensil, $19 at amazon.com

Because I grabbed a set, I’ve also used a couple at a time to toss and serve salads, sides, and more. You can use them as a bench scraper to push foods into a pan, off of the counter into a bowl, or the garbage, which I love to do as well. 

They’re super easy to clean by hand too. They just need to be maintained with a touch of oil every so often like cutting boards, but aside from that, they’re easy breezy. All three stack together, which means they take up little to no space no matter where you pop them. 

You can buy individual spatulas outside of a set if you only want one, and you can also grab other shapes, like this cast iron scraper. However, if you want the perks of versatility in sizing, grab the three-piece set. The long one is ideal for when I’m cooking in a deeper pan, that way my hands stay further away from the heat. But the short one is great for smaller meals where I need a bit more control. I find the medium-sized one is my most used, since it’s smack-dab in the middle.

This set of spatulas has made cooking most of my meals a total breeze, and I’m so glad I took the plunge. Pick up a set or a singular spatula of your own, and experience the ease yourself. 

To buy: Earlywood 10-Inch Cast Iron Scraper and Turner Wooden Utensil, $19 at amazon.com

At the time of publishing, the price started at $19.