Using the right kitchen utensils

[Corzhens]

One time I was in a hurry to cook in an ordinary pan and the paddle that I used was the plastic for non-stick pans. It didn't occur to me that plastic paddles should only be used in non stock pans. And what happened next was the edges of the plastic paddles were ruined. With non stick pans, we are careful to use on the plastic paddles because the metal paddles will tend to scrape the surface of the non-stick pan and ruin the teflon.

 

[Caribbean girl]

I'd call that a carving fork. The sort you stick into the meat to hold it still whilst carving it up with a knife.

This kind of fork has many uses. Although I would scramble eggs with it, or turn something over in the frying pan with it, it could also be used to assist in carving meat. Actually, I have seen it used this way on more than one occasion. Over here we refer to it as a kitchen fork because it is so versatile.

 

[sidevalve]

some have a flip up guard on them

+1 for those guards - they must have saved me losing lots of the red stuff due to slips with the carving knife.
As for the OP we just use anything that's to hand.

 

[kgord]

Do you always use the right kitchen utensils for what they are intended for? For instance, when scrambling an egg, would you always use a kitchen fork, or would you at times grab an ordinary fork to do the scrambling? How about a butter knife or a butter dish? What about salad spoons? Do you always use these for salads or do you think an ordinary table spoon does the job just as well? These are just a few examples.

When I am scrambling an egg, I tend to use an ordinary dinner fork to do the scrambling. For me, it does the job just as good. I have not used a real butter knife in years. When I am spreading butter on bread, I use an ordinary dinner knife. I do use a butter dish now though, but for many years I used a cereal bowl in which to store my butter. I find using a butter dish much more convenient though, since it has its own cover. As for salad spoons, these are only seen when I am having guests over for dinner.

I am not always sure what are the proper utentsils to use. It is one of the things that I need to understand I guess. I think there are utensils that are designed for various things and I am guilty of just usually using what I can grab. I figure as long as the food gets cooked and the cookware doesn't get damaged what does it really matter? I just don't know that it does.