What to look for when choosing or replacing cooking utensils at home

Australia Broadcast Center

6 days ago

Have you considered replacing your plastic spatula after seeing a much-shared study that found black plastic kitchen utensils were unsafe?
The study was corrected in early 2025 due to a major miscalculation that impacted the results.
So what should you be looking out for when choosing or replacing cooking utensils at home and weighing up their functionality, durability and your health?
Fiona Mair, a home economist and kitchen expert with consumer group Choice, says it's important to think about your kitchen as a whole before you buy something new or rush to replace an item.
"Think about what you're cooking at home and what cookware you have," she says.
For instance, "if you have a lot of non-stick cookware, then you're not going to want to buy stainless steel [utensils] because it's just going to scratch".
Space is precious in most kitchens and she recommends looking for versatile utensils to reduce your spending.
She also says price does not necessarily equate to quality. The best vegetable peeler she has found comes from the supermarket.
The chef and owner of Indian restaurant Enter Via Laundry in Naarm/Melbourne, Helly Raichura, says she opts for metal spoons, whisks and spatulas.
Unlike with plastic alternatives, she says there's no risk of stainless steel tools accidentally melting in a busy kitchen.
Raichura says some types of stainless steel will last forever and others will turn grey and show signs of wear and tear over time.
It can be helpful to keep note of what grade of stainless steel you're using, she says.
Ms Mair says she's had some wooden spoons for more than 20 years.
They're very versatile, durable and can be kinder on the surfaces of your cookware, she says.
Ms Mair says they need to be handwashed well in hot, soapy water and then dried completely, and there are also products to help prolong the life of wooden items.
For example, food-grade beeswax can be rubbed into the wood to help it last longer.
Wooden spoons are also a staple in Ms Raichura's utensil drawer, but "don't put them in the dishwasher," she urges. This can cause them to dry out, warp, crack and for splinters to form.
Oliver Jones, a professor of chemistry at RMIT in Naarm/Melbourne, says cookware and kitchen utensils sold in Australia are "quite strictly regulated", with manufacturers required to demonstrate they're safe.
Professor Jones says the quality will vary among plastic and silicone cooking utensils, and more expensive products can often withstand higher temperatures.
"Usually, [plastic utensils are] designed for particular use and they're very safe for that use."
If you have a damaged plastic utensil, Professor Jones says to replace it if you want to.
"If you're not comfortable it's probably safer to get a new one, but it's not actually a very high risk," he says.
Professor Jones also says: "There's a lot of concern about microplastics. A lot of it, I think, is not data driven … but that's not to negate the real concerns that people have about it."
He says microplastics are usually produced "when you get something grinding against something else".
Something like a plastic salt grinder is likely to create some microplastics, he says, but "you wouldn't be rubbing two [plastic] ladles together, for example".
For anyone who prefers to do their washing up with the help of a dishwasher, Ms Mair has this advice.
While the manufacturers of some stainless steel and plastic products will mark products as dishwasher friendly, she says they may "deteriorate over time and become brittle depending on the type of material that's used".
Look for things that seem hardy and well made, paying special attention to handles, if you're a dishwasher devotee, she says.
If you can, Ms Raichura suggests looking at what's on offer in hospitality stockists, especially if durability and quality are priorities.
"They almost always have a retail outlet open for everyone," she says.
She also recommends visiting Asian or Indian specialty stores for a variety of kitchen tools.
You can find better quality items at a lower price point, she says.