If you find yourself struggling to turn over food or move it around precisely where you want it, you’re probably missing a pair of tongs. Many cooks turn to a spatula or spoon when tongs would be much more useful. Tongs allow you to grab onto the food and turn it rather than having to carefully slide a spatula under it and “flip” it. You’ll rarely see a professional chef handling a steak or piece of chicken with a spatula.
Recommended Product: OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Locking Tongs
What Are Tongs Used For?
Tongs are great for turning sauteed foods. They can be used for lifting things out of boiling water or from a steamer, especially larger vegetables. And, tongs are a must-have for the outdoor grill aficionado. Here is a list of things you can do with tongs:
- flip hot steaks or other meats in a pan or on a grill
- move hot food around in a pan and manipulate it
- remove larger items from water or a steamer
- stir pasta around and remove long pastas from the water
The Right Type of Kitchen Tongs
What’s important, however, is buying the right style of tongs. There are many to choose from but most of them are subpar compared to stainless steel tongs with scalloped gripping tips. If you buy a pair of tongs with scissor-like handles, like the ones shown below, you’ve bought the wrong kind of tongs.
This most useful and popular style of tongs consists of long metal arms that are attached with a hinge at one end. The working ends of the arms flare out into flattened and slightly rounded scallop-shaped grippers for holding onto foods. These types of tongs are spring loaded so they open by themselves and they have a locking mechanism to keep them closed so they don’t take up too much room during storage.
- Great for turning and lifting vegetables
- Versatile for cooking, tossing and transferring food
- Tongs lock closed for convenient storage
- Sturdy, brushed stainless steel construction
- Scalloped edges securely hold food
- Soft, comfortable, non-slip grips and thumb rests
- Dishwasher Safe
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However, since some spring-loaded tongs can be more difficult to close than others, you may want to try them out before buying, especially if you have small hands or have problems with arthritis. For nonstick pans, which might be scratched by the edges of metal tongs, you can buy similar stainless steel tongues with silicone tips.
I am quite happy with my pair of OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Locking Tongs, shown in the picture below. I use the 12-inch pair, usually, and I have several others including a long one for the grill.
They also come in 9-inch and 16-inch. A 16-inch pair is useful for handling larger items, high-heat cooking on a grill or reaching into an oven or smoker.
